Arkivism
Zitkala Sa, Sioux Indian and activist
CC0 · no rights reserved

Zitkala Sa, Sioux Indian and activist

Kasebier, Gertrude · ca 1898 · platinum print (overall production method/technique)

From the collection of National Museum of American History. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.

About this work

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.

National Museum of American History’s own description
Credit lineZitkala Sa, Sioux Indian and activist. ca 1898. Kasebier, Gertrude. National Museum of American History, Mina Turner. CC0.

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