She Who Dared | Zitkála-Šá, a Brilliant Writer, Musician, Educator, and Activist

Zitkála-Šá (also known as Gertrude Simmons Bonnin) was a brilliant writer, musician, educator, and activist who fought for Native American rights. Born in 1876 on the Yankton Indian Reservation, her Dakota mother instilled Dakota traditions in her from birth.

Quaker missionaries arrived at the Yankton Indian Reservation, marking a turning point in her young life. Promising education and opportunity, White’s Institute, a Quaker boarding school in Indiana, welcomed her and several others. Despite her mother’s disapproval, Zitkála-Šá believed the school would open pathways beyond the reservation. One of the first acts of assimilation was the cutting of her hair—a painful and deeply symbolic severing of her ancestral ties, cultural identity, and spiritual strength.

She began studying music and literature at Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana, in 1895. Zitkála-Šá also began collecting and translating Native American stories into Latin and English. Six weeks before graduation, financial difficulties and ill health compelled her to leave. But in 1897, The New England Conservatory of Music granted her a scholarship. She became an accomplished violinist who performed at the 1900 Paris Exposition. After the conservatory, she left to teach at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania.

Her writing included autobiographical essays and books that highlighted the struggles of Native Americans, including “Old Indian Legends” (1901) and “American Indian Stories” (1921).  

At Brigham Young University, Zitkála-Šá and Prof. William F. Hanson collaborated on “The Sun Dance Opera” (1913). She wrote the libretto and incorporated traditional Sioux melodies and chants into the score for the opera. The cast at the university included native cast members. Later, the opera premiered on Broadway in 1938. However, Hanson changed the story and did not mention Zitkála-Šá.

Zitkála-Šá and her husband, Raymond Talephause Bonnin, a fellow Native American activist, founded the National Council of American Indians in 1926, which advocated for Native American citizenship and voting rights.