A review by curatoriallyyours
American Indian Stories by Zitkála-Šá

reflective medium-paced
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

I read this book as part of the '1921 in 2021' reading challenge and I'm so glad I did. This book is split into sections - an autobiographical account of the author's childhood, a series of allegorical stories, and an essay. The most compelling section is the first. Not knowing much about the author I guess I was expecting a sort of quiet recollection palatable to a white audience of the time. Not so! Zitkala-Sa does not hold back her opinions and paints a very clear picture of this transitional period of history and what it looked like for individual first nations people of different generations navigating that transition from the traditional way of life to survival under the so called 'protection', downright manipulation and sometimes the oppressive 'good intentions' of white people. The essay at the end is not as easy to read but it does show that even then the failure of government policies and practices of the time that pertained to first nations people. Over all, this was a compelling read and a meaty start to my 2021 reading challenges. 
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