Zitkala Sa, Sioux Indian and activist

Kasebier, Gertrude

Description

In addition to photographing the Sioux performers sent by Buffalo Bill Cody to her studio, Käsebier was able to arrange a portrait session with Zitkala Sa, "Red Bird," also known as Gertrude Simmons (1876-1938), a Yankton Sioux woman of Native American and white ancestry. She was born on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, like many of the Sioux traveling with the Wild West show. She was well educated at reservation schools, the Carlisle Indian School, Earlham College in Indiana, and the Boston Conservatory of Music. Zitkala Sa became an accomplished author, musician, composer, and dedicated worker for the reform of United States Indian policies.

Käsebier photographed Zitkala Sa in tribal dress and western clothing, clearly identifying the two worlds in which this woman lived and worked. In many of the images, Zitkala Sa holds her violin or a book, further indicating her interests. Käsebier experimented with backdrops, including a Victorian floral print, and photographic printing. She used the painterly gum-bichromate process for several of these images, adding increased texture and softer tones to the photographs.

Location

Currently not on view

Credit Line

Mina Turner

ca 1898

ID Number

PG.69.236.104

accession number

287543

catalog number

69.236.104

Object Name

platinum print

Physical Description

platinum print (overall production method/technique)

paper (overall material)

Measurements

image: 15.8 cm x 11.5 cm; 6 1/4 in x 4 1/2 in

Related Publication

Delaney, Michelle. Buffalo Bill's Wild West Warriors: A Photographic History by Gertrude Kasebier

National Museum of American History

subject

Native Americans

Women

Record ID

nmah_1006126

Usage of Metadata (Object Detail Text)

CC0

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a8-a95e-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa