Zitkala-S̈a

Zitkala-Sa (1876-1938) was a Yankton Dakota writer, educator, and activist who challenged U.S. policies of Native American assimilation. Through essays, fiction, and speeches--including American Indian Stories--she exposed the harms of boarding schools and cultural erasure. Zitkala-Sa also worked for Native rights, citizenship, and self-determination, becoming a powerful Indigenous voice in early twentieth-century America.