Writer, musician, and activist Zitkála-Šá showed the world how the arts can both preserve traditions and influence change.
A member of the Yankton Dakota Sioux, Zitkála-Šá was born in South Dakota in 1876. She first learned to play the violin at a residential school, and discovered a passion for the instrument. Alarmed by the pressures Indigenous people faced to assimilate, she became an advocate for Indigenous people retaining their cultural practices and traditions. Zitkála-Šá used her music and her writing to disavow damaging stereotypes white Americans held about Native Americans. Her books, including “American Indian Stories” and “Old Indian Legends,” were some of the first texts to bring traditional Indigenous stories to a white English-speaking audience. Zitkála-Šá also wrote the libretto and contributed to the music for “The Sun Dance,” a groundbreaking opera that remains one of the few operas dealing exclusively with Native American themes.
Zitkála-Šá advocated for full citizenship for Indigenous people in the United States, including the right to vote. In addition to her writings, she lectured across the country to promote tribal identities and encourage civic participation. Although the federal Indian Citizenship Act passed in 1924, the power to grant suffrage to Native Americans still rested with the states. In response, Zitkála-Šá and her husband founded the National Council of American Indians, and she served as the organization’s president until her death in 1938, encouraging those who were able to exercise the right to vote to participate in ways that benefitted all Indigenous people.
Learn more about Zitkála-Šá’s writings, music, and legacy in health care and education: http://bit.ly/3vckucB