American Indian Stories

“The School Days of an Indian Girl” is divided into seven short sections that describe Zitkála-Šá’s experiences while attending a Christian boarding school far from her home and family. “The Land of Red Apples” describes Zitkála-Šá’s crushed spirit when she realizes that the East is not a magical land of plenty. She encounters discrimination and unwarranted attention on the train ride to the school because she is an American Indian. As soon as she arrives, she feels intense longing for her mother and home.

“The Cutting of My Long Hair” describes Zitkála-Šá’s struggles to adjust to the highly regimented lifestyle of the boarding school, such as strict expectations at mealtimes. She is also told that she will have to cut her long hair. Zitkála-Šá is horrified by this idea because her mother taught her that in her culture, only captured warriors and mourners wore short hair. She hides to avoid a haircut but is eventually found. Zitkála-Šá remarks that when the boarding school staff cut her hair, she “lost her spirit” (31).

In “The Snow Episode” Zitkála-Šá describes how she and her friends were punished for playing in the snow. The girls are told they will be summoned to a school official’s office for punishment. Zitkála-Šá’s friend Judéwin instructs the girls to tell the school official “no” after the official yells at them. Neither Judéwin nor the other children understand that the school official will take the answer “no” as a sign of defiance. The first girl brought into the office is beaten for insolence before the others are turned away. Zitkála-Šá seeks ways to quietly rebel. When she is told to mash turnips for the school mealtime, she complies but mashes the turnips so fiercely that they are beaten to a pulp and the container breaks.

“The Devil” discusses Zitkála-Šá’s encounters with the “white man’s” religion (35). She mentions how the threat of the devil, the personification of evil in Christianity, was more fearsome than any of the evil spirits she had heard about in Sioux legends. She dreams the devil appears in her mother’s cottage and attempts to capture Zitkála-Šá until her mother saves her. The next morning Zitkála-Šá goes to the school library and uses a pencil to scratch out the eyes of a picture of the devil in a book of Bible stories.

“Iron Routine” explains Zitkála-Šá’s difficulties adjusting to the strict schedule at the boarding school. Attendance and punctuality are rigorously expected, and all failures to comply are noted by the school officials. Zitkála-Šá recalls how one of her friends was unable to get up and go to class because she was in bed dying of an illness. The experience makes her deeply resent the school and seek more ways to rebel.

In “Four Strange Summers” Zitkála-Šá returns home after three years at the boarding school. She no longer feels like she fits in on the reservation. She takes her brother Dawée’s pony and rides it wildly through the prairie before returning home. Zitkála-Šá’s mother senses her daughter’s unhappiness and hands her a Bible translated into the Dakota Sioux language. It fails to console Zitkála-Šá, however, and after a period of misery, she decides to return to the boarding school.

“Incurring My Mother’s Displeasure” describes how Zitkála-Šá pursues a college degree after finishing the boarding school, even though her plan goes against her mother’s advice. Zitkála-Šá is lonely in college, feeling homesick and fending off discriminating eyes. Nevertheless, she excels academically and enters an oratorical competition. At the event, she is hurt to see other students holding up a flag with the word “squaw” and a crudely drawn picture of “a most forlorn Indian girl on it” (44). However, she feels pride when awarded a prize at the competition.