Download - Gertude Boonin
Gertrude Bonnin
Born in 1876, on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota
Father - Felker (White man)Mother - Ellen Tate Iyohinwin (She
Reaches for the Wind) Simmons, full-blooded Sioux.
Gertrude BonninAge 8 left the ReservationWhite's Manual Labor Institute in Wabash,
IndianaAge 19, Simmons enrolled at Earlham
College in Richmond, Indiana Taught at the Carlisle Indian School in
Pennsylvania
Gertrude Bonnin1902 - Married Raymond Talesfase Bonnin
The Society of the American Indians
1916 - Became the society’s secretary
1926 Bonnin founded the National Council of American Indians
Gertrude BonninPublished short stories and autobiographical
essaysThe Atlantic Monthly and Harper’s Monthly
under her pen name, Zitkala-Sa (Red Bird).
First Period of her LiteratureWas one of the first Sioux women to write the
stories and traditions of her people.
The period she was writing this was the turn of the century 1900 - 1904
Such as:Impressions of an Indian ChildhoodThe School Days of an Indian GirlAn Indian Teacher among Indians
LiteratureShe continued to write after those stories but
she did not publish them, such as the “Sun Dance Opera” & “Dreams and Thunder” which are published to by P. Jane Hafen.
The “Sun Dance Opera” was performed in 1913 presented at Orpheus Hall in Vernal, Utah, a town in the northeast.
Second Period of her Literature This period was almost exclusively made up
of political writings Such as : American Indian Stories.
A strong political voice for Native Americans
Literature
Bonnin's masterful use of language.
For example: "The Big Red Apples" causes white readers to re-think traditional Christian conquests by suggesting that the Indian was corrupted by the dominant culture.
Native Americans Many Natives as well as Bonnin went through
some tough times.
Many Native Americans were sent off to boarding school.
As a Native American growing up they were very free.
Questions1. What College did Bonnin attend?Answer- Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana 2. How was her hair symbolized in “The Cutting
of My Long Hair”Answer- In the Native American culture that she
came from, cutting one’s hair was symbolic of shame and or mourning.
3. Even though the Indians had a tough life in this time period how was Bonnin’s childhood?
Answer- Her childhood was nice she described it as free and was surrounded by people she trusted.