Zitkala Sa, Sioux Indian and activist
date: label: Date made
content: ca 1898
name: label: maker
content: Kasebier, Gertrude
notes: label: Description
content: 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 mixed 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 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.
label: Description
content: 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.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: Subject
content: Women
label: Subject
content: Native Americans
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Photographic History
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content: Gertrude Kasebier
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content: Music & Musical Instruments
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content: Photography
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: Delaney, Michelle. Buffalo Bill's Wild West Warriors: A Photographic History by Gertrude Kasebier
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Mina Turner
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: PG.69.236.105
label: accession number
content: 287543
label: catalog number
content: 69.236.105
objectType: label: Object Name
content: gum bichromate print
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: paper (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 19.6 cm x 13.7 cm; 7 11/16 in x 5 3/8 in