Zitkála-Šá
This media is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Open Access page.
International media Interoperability Framework
IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more.
Object Details
- Date
- 1898 (printed 1901)
- Artist
- Joseph Turner Keiley, 26 Jul 1869 - 21 Jan 1914
- Sitter
- Zitkála-Šá, 22 Feb 1876 - 26 Jan 1938
- Exhibition Label
- Born Yankton Sioux Reservation, Dakota Territory
- Zitkála-Šá, also known as Gertrude Simmons Bonnin, was an author and advocate for Indigenous self-determination. At age eight, she left the Yankton Sioux reservation to attend White’s Indiana Manual Labor Institute boarding school. There she was forced to cut her hair, speak English, and adopt the customs of her Quaker teachers. Studious and talented, she attended Earlham College on a scholarship and studied violin at the New England Conservatory of Music.
- Beginning in 1900, she wrote a series of essays criticizing assimilation. In “The School Days of an Indian Girl,” she lamented, “It was next to impossible to leave the iron routine after the civilizing machine had once begun its day’s buzzing.” She also collaborated on the first Indigenous opera, Sun Dance (1913).
- Alongside her many creative pursuits, Zitkála-Šá organized voter registration drives, and in 1926, she cofounded the National Council of American Indians. She has been chosen to appear on commemorative 2024 U.S. quarters.
- Nacida en la Reservación Yankton Sioux, Territorio Dakota
- Zitkála-Šá, también conocida como Gertrude Simmons Bonnin, fue escritora y defensora de la autonomía de los pueblos indígenas. A los ocho años dejó la Reservación Yankton Sioux para ir como interna al Instituto de Trabajo Manual de Josiah White en Indiana. Allí la obligaron a cortarse el pelo, hablar inglés y adoptar las costumbres de sus maestros cuáqueros. Estudiosa e inteligente, asistió becada a Earlham College y estudió violín en el Conservatorio de Música de Nueva Inglaterra.
- A partir de 1900 escribió ensayos contra la aculturación. En “Los días escolares de una niña india”, lamentaba que: “era casi imposible desviarse de la rutina férrea una vez que la maquinaria civilizadora iniciaba su frenética actividad del día”. También colaboró en la primera ópera indígena, Danza del sol (1913).
- Además, Zitkála-Šá organizó campañas para inscribir votantes y en 1926 cofundó el Concilio Nacional de Indios Americanos. Fue elegida para aparecer en monedas conmemorativas de 25¢ de EE.UU. en el 2024.
- Topic
- Costume\Jewelry\Necklace
- Zitkála-Šá: Female
- Zitkála-Šá: Literature\Writer
- Zitkála-Šá: Social Welfare and Reform\Reformer
- Zitkála-Šá: Performing Arts\Performer\Musician\Violinist
- Zitkála-Šá: Social Welfare and Reform\Reformer\Lobbyist
- Portrait
- See more items in
- National Portrait Gallery Collection
- Exhibition
- The Struggle for Justice Refresh
- On View
- NPG, West Gallery 220
- Credit Line
- National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
- Data Source
- National Portrait Gallery
- Object number
- S/NPG.79.26
- Type
- Photograph
- Restrictions & Rights
- CC0
- Medium
- Photogravure
- Dimensions
- Image: 15.9 × 9.5 cm (6 1/4 × 3 3/4")
- Sheet: 16.3 × 9.9 cm (6 7/16 × 3 7/8")
- Mount: 28 × 20.2 cm (11 × 7 15/16")
- Mat: 45.7 × 35.6 cm (18 × 14")
- Metadata Usage
- CC0
- Record ID
- npg_S_NPG.79.26