American Indian Stories Legends and Other Writings

<b>A thought-provoking collection of searing prose from a Dakota Sioux woman that covers race identity assimilation and perceptions of Native American culture</b> <p/>Zitkala-Sa (also known as Gertrude Simmons Bonnin) wrestled with the conflicting influences of American Indian and white culture throughout her life. Raised on a Sioux reservation she was educated at boarding schools that enforced assimilation and was witness to major events in white-Indian relations in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Tapping her troubled personal history Zitkala-Sa created stories that illuminate the tragedy and complexity of the American Indian experience. In evocative prose laced with political savvy she forces new thinking about the perceptions assumptions and customs of both Sioux and white cultures and raises issues of assimilation identity and race relations that remain compelling today.