death_date children ethnicity birth_date alt education alma_mater death_place other_names notable_works spouse image employer name occupation resting_place native_name_lang birth_place parents known_for native_name article_title
26 january 1938 son , ohiya yankton dakota 22 february 1876 photo american dress , with long dark hair hanging below waist of , holding hand at forehead and looking into the distance zitkala sa in profile , wearing native white 's manual labor institute , wabash , indiana earlham college washington , dc gertrude simmons bonnin '' legends '' , '' american indian stories '' , `` sun oklahoma 's poor rich indians '' dance opera '' , '' old indian raymond bonnin zitkala-sa . jpg carlisle , uintah-ouray reservation indian industrial school , bureau of indian affairs zitkala-Ša writer american activist , editor , musician , teacher and native arlington national cemetery dakota yankton indian reservation , south dakota mother -lrb- `` every wind '' or `` reaches for the , wind '' -rrb- ellen simmons , also called taté iyòhiwin co-composed national council of american indians , wrote books and magazine the articles first american indian opera , founded the zitkala-Ša , `` red bird '' zitkala-sa

zitkala-sa

zitkala-Ša -lrb- 1876 -- 1938 -rrb- -lrb- dakota : pronounced `` zitkála-ša '' , which translates to `` red bird '' -rrb- , also known by the missionary-given name gertrude simmons bonnin , was a sioux writer , editor , musician , teacher and political activist .
she wrote several works chronicling her youthful struggles with identity and pulls between the majority culture and her native american heritage .
her later books in english were among the first works to bring traditional native american stories to a widespread white readership .
with william f. hanson , bonnin co-composed the first american indian opera , `` the sun dance '' -lrb- composed in romantic style based on ute and sioux themes -rrb- , which premiered in 1913 .
she founded the national council of american indians in 1926 to lobby for rights to american citizenship and civil rights .
she served as its president until her death in 1938 .
