Zitkala Sa

When reading Impressions of an Indian Childhood, I got the strong impression that her mom hated the white western settlers. In the first story, My Mother, Sa's mother even states that the only man who is real is the Dakota. From the time that Zitkala is a child, it is drilled into her brain that the white man is evil and the only men to trust are those of her kind.

The two themes that kept reappearing were the evil of the white man and also the heritage and tradition. In Native American culture, there is a big focus on their heritage and ancestors. In almost every story, there was a mention of someone who was dead or of someone who had passed away. Also, the objects of their culture kept reappearing. The moccasins and little trinkets were mentioned in a majority of the stories.

Overall, the sense that I got from this story was change. Zitkala's mother seems to mourn the assimilation act (which she has every right to mourn). As a child, I do not think that Sa understood exactly what was going on when the settlers wanted to give the children an education. Yes, they were educated, but they were not treated with respect. The settlers never knew their traditions, and did things carelessly at the education schools (such as cutting off the braids of the children, which was only done in a time of mourning.) The children came back and couldn't fit with the westerners, but they no longer fit in with their people either. From a little background information, this is what I got out of Gertrude Simmons Bonnin's short essays.