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American Indian Stories
American Indian Stories | Zitkala-Sa
This was written by a 19th century Native American. From the intro: "A wigwam of weather-stained canvas stood at the base of some irregularly ascending hills. A footpath wound its way gently down the sloping land till it reached the broad river bottom; creeping through the long swamp grasses that bent over it on either side, it came out on the edge of the Missouri. Here, morning, noon, and evening, my mother came to draw water from the muddy stream for our household use. Always, when my mother started for the river, I stopped my play to run along with her. She was only of medium height. Often she was sad and silent, at which times her full arched lips were compressed into hard and bitter lines, and shadows fell under her black eyes. Then I clung to her hand and begged to know what made the tears fall. "Hush; my little daughter must never talk about my tears"; and smiling through them, she patted my head and said, "Now let me see how fast you can run today." Whereupon I tore away at my highest possible speed, with my long black hair blowing in the breeze. I was a wild little girl of seven. Loosely clad in a slip of brown buckskin, and light-footed with a pair of soft moccasins on my feet, I was as free as the wind that blew my hair, and no less spirited than a bounding deer. These were my mother's pride, -my wild freedom and overflowing spirits. She taught me no fear save that of intruding myself upon others. Having gone many paces ahead I stopped, panting for breath, and laughing with glee as my mother watched my every movement. I was not wholly conscious of myself, but was more keenly alive to the fire within. It was as if I were the activity, and my hands and feet were only experiments for my spirit to work upon."
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review
mariaku21
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Mehso-so

Solid 3.5 read
Zitkála-Sá writes with such poignant honesty, poetically highlighting her heritage. It's both a memoir and yet poetry to read.⁠

Reading her work has me interested in learning more about her, her body of writing, and her position within and out of her tribe and in general more indigenous authors.⁠
. . . . .⁠
#popsugarreadingchallenge

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ManyWordsLater
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Pickpick

This retrospection stopped me in my tracks. Their are no surprises in her conclusions. But the eloquence and perspective are astounding. What a brilliant woman! What a sudden and profound change of heart!

#readharder #integrateyourshelf

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Butterfinger
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Another Bingo. Autobiography and Politics for The Unwomanly Face of War #jennyis30 @jenniferw88

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Butterfinger
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Pickpick

First third was her autobiography. She wrote so exquisitely about her life on a Sioux reservation and her life in an Eastern school.

Second third were essays that Zitkala-Sa wrote to Congress on the deplorable conditions of the American people. She continued her white education to fight the white man. Admirable!! Heroic!!

Stories of the people were included in the finale. They reminded me of Kipling's Just So Stories+Jack Tales of Appalachia

Butterfinger #Booked2020 - about genocide #PopSugar2020 - an anthology #ReadHarder20 - Native, First Nations, or Indigenous Author #mandmchallenge2020 - POC author @BarbaraTheBibliophage. #jennyis30 - autobiography @jenniferw88 4y
32 likes2 stack adds1 comment
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Butterfinger
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The old legends of America belong quite as much to the blue-eyed little patriot as to the black-haired aborigine.

My first finished read for #widehorizonsreadathon @Emilymdxn

It seems the more I read to broaden my horizons, the world becomes a little bit smaller. In this book, I love how the author stresses the legends that make America. It is for all Americans, not just the indigenous.

Emilymdxn I really want to read this book! 4y
35 likes1 comment
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Butterfinger
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Tagged
My girls
Cades Cove, Tennessee

Thank you for the tag @eggs

@MoonWitch94 #ThoughtfulThursday

Consider yourself tagged.

AmyK1 Cades Cove is beautiful (edited) 4y
MoonWitch94 Thanks for playing ☺️ 4y
32 likes2 comments
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Butterfinger

One more...

"I made no friends among the race of people I loathed. Like a slender tree, I had been uprooted from my mother, nature, and God. I was shorn of my branches, which had waved in sympathy and love for home and friends. The natural coat of bark which had protected my oversensitive nature was scraped off to the very quick.

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Butterfinger
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It has such excellent writing. I just can't believe I have not known about this woman.

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Butterfinger
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Though an illness left me unable to continue my college course, my pride kept me from returning to my mother. Had she known of my worn condition, she would have said the white man's papers were not worth the freedom and health I had lost by them. Such a rebuke from my mother would have been unbearable, and as I felt then it would be far too true to be comfortable.

Why haven't I heard of this book?

Butterfinger @4thhouseontheleft I was reading this last night and thought I could use it for the genocide prompt. It was coincidental when I saw your post this morning. 4y
alisiakae @Butterfinger I think that‘s a great pick for this prompt. 4y
28 likes2 comments
review
ontheBL
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Pickpick

Thank ou @penguinrandomhouse for American Indian Stories by Zitkála-Šá, which I read in honor of November is National Native American Heritage Month. I didn't know about this heritage month, until I looked it up a few months ago. I have so many things to say about this little book. https://onthebl.org/2019/11/30/american-indian-stories-by-zitkala-sa

10 likes1 stack add
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ontheBL
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"... for now I was only one of many little animals driven by a herder."

It's National Native American Heritage Day

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Caterina
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Watching the sunset and sipping hot tea and reading a good book on the roof of my apartment 💕

BarbaraJean Gorgeous!! Good to see you have such a fantastic sunset reading spot at your new place! Welcome to California—hope you‘re enjoying settling in. 😊 5y
AmyRebecca Lovely 5y
53 likes2 comments
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Caterina
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Time for some reading in bed! My new apartment in Berkeley is almost completely set up, and I've said goodbye to my family until Christmas. For the moment the peace and quiet (apart from the loudness of a city on a Friday night) is so restorative. 💕 Even though this book is breaking my heart and I've just said goodbye to my family. 💔

marleed Welcome to your new home! 5y
Velvetfur That looks like such a cosy reading corner! Good for you 😁 5y
See All 6 Comments
TrishB Looks lovely 💕 5y
mhillis Nice! I hope you have a good semester! 5y
Megabooks Love your sheets!! 👍🏻 I know you‘ll be awesome at seminary! 5y
57 likes6 comments
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Caterina
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We are at the end of day 12 of traveling. We've made it from North Carolina to California, and on Wednesday we'll reach Berkeley and start getting me settled in my apartment (while I can still use our rented minivan for buying furniture!). I LOVE traveling, but this evening I'm very excited to drink some herbal mint tea and read a book (bought in Santa Fe) and relax. Not even eating a real dinner because I'm DONE! 😂

JSW Welcome to CA!! ❤️❤️❤️ 5y
Caterina @JSW Thank you!! ❤️ You're the first person to welcome me to CA. 😊 5y
JSW @Caterina yeah, we aren‘t the friendliest state lol. Especially if you‘re coming from the South; my Southern friends comment on how unfriendly people here are. My opinion is that it‘s because there are so many people coming and going from CA that it takes us awhile to connect and make friends- we want to make sure you‘re sticking around before we commit. It‘s not personal. ❤️ (edited) 5y
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Caterina @JSW I'm not holding it against y'all 😉 As we've driven across the country I've found that most places aren't as friendly as the South, and that's fine! I'm excited for a new adventure in a new place. I haven't reached my new home yet - we're still driving up the coast - but I'm sure I'll settle in well with my seminary folks at least! 😊 5y
JSW @Caterina I‘m in Santa Cruz, so wave as you cross through! The CA Coast is my favorite place in the world. It‘s just gorgeous. Enjoy your drive. ❤️❤️❤️ 5y
JSW And what seminary are you going to? 5y
JSW I grew up in the East Bay and still go up to see my mom, Berkeley is a hop away. Would love to meet up sometime! 5y
56 likes7 comments
review
thegreentealibrarian
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Pickpick

Day 9 of #RiotGrams Native and Indigenous reads
Zitkala-Sa, also known as Gertrude Simmons Bonnin, was born on the Yankton Sioux reservation in South Dakota in 1876. She was a lifelong writer and activist.

11 likes3 stack adds
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Books_Wine_Repeat
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I have a lot of work do to diversify my reading material. Luckily I have #Litsy and #booktober to thank for my recent additions to my #diversereads list. 😃👍📚📚

81 likes5 stack adds
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hike.read.repeat
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Required reads and DQ on my lunch break. I only have to read a few sections of this book but I'd love to revisit it soon.

1 like1 stack add