3 h 38 minAudiobook15 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 3 h 38 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What does a child lose when a school asks her to leave her own world behind?
Zitkala-Sa begins with childhood on the Great Plains: open grass, Dakota life, and the steady presence of her mother. Then missionaries arrive, seeking children for a school in Indiana. For the young girl, the journey brings strict routines and a struggle to hold on to herself.
American Indian Stories gathers childhood memories, missionary school experiences, accounts of teaching, short fiction, and essays. Zitkala-Sa writes with tenderness and anger, preserving Dakota life while showing what schooling and government policy do to Native families. Her stories follow people caught between two ways of life.
What you’ll discover
- A childhood close to home Enter a child's world of tents, open prairie, and her mother's steady presence.
- The meaning of her hair Discover why a forced haircut becomes a painful struggle over identity and belonging.
- Learning at a cost Feel the pressure of bells and schedules as school wears away a girl's sense of self.
- A teacher sees the harm Follow Zitkala-Sa into teaching, where her account exposes the harm done by boarding schools.
- Memory turns to protest Explore fiction and essays that bring Native lives and the effects of government policy into focus.
Who will love it
This book suits readers who love memoir in a clear, intimate voice, who care about Native American history and boarding schools, and who enjoy tales and essays in one collection.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A childhood of freedom beside the Missouri
- Respect is taught through stories, work and manners
- A child chooses the East for red apples
- School replaces a name, a voice and a braid
- Between two worlds, she wins prizes and loses peace
- A teacher sees what the schools really serve
- The stories turn memory into legend and risk
- Law, land and the claim for citizenship
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Amerikanische Indianergeschichten
by Zitkala-Sa · 1921
A Dakota girl trades her moccasins for the promise of red apples and finds scissors waiting for her braids.
Medium level2–5 hours to readDeutsch
Learn a language with medium classicsSpanischFranzösischDeutschItalienischJapanischPortugiesischEnglischHow we measure levels
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In short
What does it cost a child to learn a new language, and what does she lose along the way? In American Indian Stories, Zitkala-Sa answers with her own life.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A childhood of freedom beside the Missouri
Zitkala-Sa begins with a girl who belongs completely to her place. She lives in a canvas wigwam at the foot of irregular hills. Each morning, noon and evening she runs beside her mother down a footpath to the Missouri River. Her mother calls her wildness a pride and teaches her no fear, except the fear of intruding on others.
This freedom has a shadow. Her mother is often sad and silent, and the girl is told never to speak of those tears. Her mother says the girl will fetch the water herself when she grows tall, but only if the paleface does not take the river from them.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 15 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1921
- Language
- Deutsch
- Reading time
- 2 h 20 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Zitkala-Sa. American Indian Stories. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/american-indian-stories.
Zitkala-Sa. (2026). American Indian stories. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/american-indian-stories (Original work published 1921)
Zitkala-Sa. American Indian Stories. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/american-indian-stories.
@book{zitkalasa2026american,
author = {Zitkala-Sa},
title = {American Indian Stories},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/american-indian-stories},
note = {First published 1921}
}
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What is American Indian Stories about?
It gathers Zitkala-Sa's memoirs of a Dakota childhood, boarding school and teaching, along with short stories, a dream, an essay on faith, a tale about land and identity, and a closing essay on Indian policy.
Is American Indian Stories a true story?
The first three pieces are autobiographical, drawn from the author's own life. The other stories mix Dakota tradition with invention, and the final essay uses real reports to argue for justice and citizenship.
Who is Zitkala-Sa?
She was a Dakota writer, teacher, musician and activist who died in 1938. Her work gives a first-hand view of boarding school life and of the fight for Native citizenship and fair treatment.
The author
Zitkala-Sa
1876–1938 · Yankton Dakota writer
Zitkala-Sa (1876–1938) was a Yankton Dakota writer, also known as Gertrude Simmons Bonnin. She was born on the Yankton Indian Reservation in South Dakota and died in Washington, D.C. She published Old Indian Legends in 1901 and American Indian Stories in 1921. She also worked for Native American rights.
More by Zitkala-Sa
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