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Earlham Notable Alumni

Zitkála-Šá (Gertrude Simmons Bonnin) Attended 1895 - 1897

Activist, Musician, Author

A black and white photograph of Zitkála-Šá, a Yankton woman with brown skin and hip length black hair. She is posed at an angle, looking off to the left of the photograph with one hand raised to her forehead as if to shield her eyes. She has a serious, pensive expression, and is wearing traditional Indigenous clothing; a long-sleeved loose black dress, a woven sash, and many beaded necklaces. Her wedding ring is visible on her hand, and she is standing against a plain black background.

Zitkala Sa, Sioux Indian and Activist, photographed in 1898 by Gertrude Käsebier

CC Wikimedia Commons

A black and white photograph taken in light snow outside of old Earlham Hall. Zitkala-Sa sits in a carriage drawn by four horses, with an additional four ridden horses flanking her. Students crowd the front porch and windows of Earlham Hall to be included in the photograph. American flags are draped overthe edges of the porch and dangle from the windows. The students and faculty have neutral expressions or are smiling, all looking at the camera. Zitkala Sa alone doesn't look at the photographer, a small smile on her face.

Zitkála-Šá arrives back at Earlham by carriage after participating in the State Collegiate Oratorical College, 1896

"Zitkala-Sa (Gertrude Simmons) and Trueblood in front of Earlham Hall: Carriage Photo", EC 16.3, Earlham Photograph Collection: Subjects, Earlham Friends Collection and College Archives, Richmond, IN

I hate this eternal tug of war between being 'wild' or becoming 'civilized'. I am what I am. I owe no apologies to God or men. - Zitkála-Šá

Overview

  • Born February 22 1876, died January 26, 1938
  • Member of the Yankton Sioux tribe, also known as the Ihanktonwan Nation
  • Was a skilled author, musician, and orator
  • Name means Red Bird in Lakota

Biography

Early Life

Zitkála-Šá was born in 1876 on the Yankton Indian Reservation in South Dakota, with the given name Gertrude Simmons. At age eight, she moved to Wabash, Indiana to attend Quaker-run Indian boarding school White's Manual Labor Institute: one of many Indian boarding schools created to "'civilize" Indigenous children through forced assimilation and conversion to Christianity as well as prepare them for manual labor jobs.

Education

At age nineteen, in 1895, she enrolled at Earlham College. Further education was against the expectations of her previous teachers as well as social norms for Indigenous young adults and women. She attended Earlham until 1897, though she ultimately did not graduate from Earlham, not unusual for the time. While at Earlham, Zitkála-Šá was a member of the tennis team, the G Clef music group, the Phoenix Society literary club, and helped found Anpao, a student publication. In 1896, as a freshman, she placed first in the schoolwide oratory contest, with a version of the women's rights speech she had given at a White's Institute graduation ceremony. When she progressed to the state collegiate oratorical contest, she rewrote it. Zitkála-Šá delivered a speech denouncing anti-Indigenous racism and calling for reparation and reconciliation. One judge, awarding her no points in the 'thought' category, cost her first place.

Later Life

Throughout her life, Zitkála-Šá was an accomplished author, and continued to be as she taught music at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania, where she wrote about Indigenous American life. In 1902, she married Raymond Talephause Bonnin, who she had met at White's Institute, and who was now working for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. In 1903, their son Raymond Ohiya Bonnin was born while they lived on the Uintah and Ouray reservation in Utah; Raymond Sr. was now the reservation superintendent. Her experiences in Utah further opened her eyes to the federal government's failure and sabotage in relation to Indigenous affairs. For the remainder of her life, Zitkála-Šá would be a powerful advocate for Indigenous citizenship and voting rights, as well as women's suffrage. She was widely published in leading periodicals, and in 1913 the Sun Dance Opera, cowritten with William F. Hanson, debuted. It was the first known opera to be written by an Indigenous composer. It was performed on Broadway in 1938; Zitkála-Šá would never see this version. She had died at age 61 earlier that year.