Old Indians Legends E-Book

Zitkala Sa

• Herausgeber: Lebooks Editora
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Serie: Women Writers of the World
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 94

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025

Beschreibung

Old Indian Legends is a collection of traditional Sioux folklore, retold by Zitkala-Sa to preserve and share the oral traditions of her people. Through a series of vivid and engaging tales, the work captures the spiritual beliefs, moral lessons, and cultural values of the Lakota and Dakota Sioux. Zitkala-Sa balances the storytelling tradition with literary refinement, offering narratives that reflect the struggles, wisdom, and humor embedded in Native American heritage. The collection serves as both an artistic and historical endeavor, bringing indigenous perspectives to a broader audience at the turn of the 20th century. Since its publication, Old Indian Legends has been recognized for its role in preserving Native American folklore and challenging dominant narratives about indigenous cultures. Zitkala-Sa's retellings provide insight into the values of bravery, trickery, and the deep connection between humans and nature, ensuring the survival of these stories beyond oral transmission. Her work remains an essential contribution to both literature and cultural history, offering an authentic voice in the representation of indigenous traditions. The collection's lasting significance lies in its ability to bridge the past and present, allowing readers to engage with Native American heritage through timeless narratives. By bringing these legends into written form, Zitkala-Sa not only safeguarded an important aspect of Sioux culture but also invited readers to appreciate the depth and richness of indigenous storytelling.

Leseprobe

Zitkala-Sa

OLD INDIANS LEGENDS

Contents

INTRODUCTION

OLD INDIAN LEGENDS

IKTOMI AND THE DUCKS

IKTOMI'S BLANKET

IKTOMI AND THE MUSKRAT

IKTOMI AND THE COYOTE

IKTOMI AND THE FAWN

THE BADGER AND THE BEAR

THE TREE-BOUND

SHOOTING OF THE RED EAGLE

IKTOMI AND THE TURTLE

DANCE IN A BUFFALO SKULL

THE TOAD AND THE BOY

IYA, THE CAMP-EATER

MANSTIN, THE RABBIT

THE WARLIKE SEVEN

INTRODUCTION

Zitkala-Sa

1876 – 1938

Zitkala-Sa (1876-1938) was a Native American writer, editor, translator, musician, and political activist. Born on the Yankton Sioux Reservation in South Dakota, she was one of the first Native American women to chronicle her struggles with cultural identity, assimilation policies, and the marginalization of Indigenous peoples in the United States. Through her writings, speeches, and activism, Zitkala-Sa played a crucial role in advocating for Native American rights and preserving Indigenous culture.

Early Life and Education

Zitkala-Sa, born Gertrude Simmons Bonnin, was raised in a traditional Yankton Sioux community before being sent to White’s Indiana Manual Labor Institute at the age of eight as part of the U.S. government’s assimilation efforts. While she excelled academically and developed a deep love for literature and music, she also experienced the pain of cultural erasure, which became a recurring theme in her later writings. She continued her education at Earlham College and later studied at the New England Conservatory of Music, where she honed her skills as a violinist and composer.

Career and Contributions

 Zitkala-Sa’s work vividly depicted the struggles of Native Americans, particularly in the face of forced assimilation. Her autobiographical essays, published in The Atlantic Monthly in 1900, provided a firsthand account of the trauma experienced by Indigenous children in boarding schools. These works, later compiled in American Indian Stories (1921), remain some of the most poignant narratives on Native American identity and resistance.

In addition to her literary contributions, Zitkala-Sa co-composed The Sun Dance Opera (1913), one of the first operas based on Native American themes, blending Western classical music with Indigenous traditions. Her work in music was a testament to her efforts to bridge Native and Western cultures while preserving Indigenous heritage.

Impact and Legacy

Beyond her literary and musical contributions, Zitkala-Sa was a tireless activist. She co-founded the National Council of American Indians in 1926, advocating for Native American citizenship, voting rights, and cultural preservation. Her activism was instrumental in the passage of the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924, granting U.S. citizenship to Native Americans.

Zitkala-Sa’s writings and activism remain influential, offering powerful insights into the Native American experience during a time of cultural suppression. Her ability to navigate and challenge both Indigenous and Western worlds set a precedent for future Native American writers and activists. She helped shape the discourse on Indigenous rights and identity, leaving a lasting legacy in literature, music, and political advocacy.

Zitkala-Sa passed away in 1938 in Washington, D.C., but her work continues to resonate. She is remembered not only for her literary and musical achievements but also for her unwavering commitment to Indigenous rights. Today, her writings are studied as vital historical and cultural texts, and her activism is recognized as a foundational part of the Native American civil rights movement. Her life stands as a testament to resilience, cultural pride, and the enduring fight for justice.

About the work

Old Indian Legends is a collection of traditional Sioux folklore, retold by Zitkala-Sa to preserve and share the oral traditions of her people. Through a series of vivid and engaging tales, the work captures the spiritual beliefs, moral lessons, and cultural values of the Lakota and Dakota Sioux. Zitkala-Sa balances the storytelling tradition with literary refinement, offering narratives that reflect the struggles, wisdom, and humor embedded in Native American heritage. The collection serves as both an artistic and historical endeavor, bringing indigenous perspectives to a broader audience at the turn of the 20th century.

Since its publication, Old Indian Legends has been recognized for its role in preserving Native American folklore and challenging dominant narratives about indigenous cultures. Zitkala-Sa’s retellings provide insight into the values of bravery, trickery, and the deep connection between humans and nature, ensuring the survival of these stories beyond oral transmission. Her work remains an essential contribution to both literature and cultural history, offering an authentic voice in the representation of indigenous traditions.

The collection's lasting significance lies in its ability to bridge the past and present, allowing readers to engage with Native American heritage through timeless narratives. By bringing these legends into written form, Zitkala-Sa not only safeguarded an important aspect of Sioux culture but also invited readers to appreciate the depth and richness of indigenous storytelling.

OLD INDIAN LEGENDS

IKTOMI AND THE DUCKS

Iktomi is a spider fairy. He wears brown deerskin leggins with long soft fringes on either side, and tiny beaded moccasins on his feet. His long black hair is parted in the middle and wrapped with red, red bands. Each round braid hangs over a small brown ear and falls forward over his shoulders.

He even paints his funny face with red and yellow, and draws big black rings around his eyes. He wears a deerskin jacket, with bright colored beads sewed tightly on it. Iktomi dresses like a real Dakota brave. In truth, his paint and deerskins are the best part of him — if ever dress is part of man or fairy.

Iktomi is a wily fellow. His hands are always kept in mischief. He prefers to spread a snare rather than to earn the smallest thing with honest hunting. Why! he laughs outright with wide open mouth when some simple folk are caught in a trap, sure and fast.

He never dreams another lives so bright as he. Often his own conceit leads him hard against the common sense of simpler people.

Poor Iktomi cannot help being a little imp. And so long as he is a naughty fairy, he cannot find a single friend. No one helps him when he is in trouble. No one really loves him. Those who come to admire his handsome beaded jacket and long fringed leggins soon go away sick and tired of his vain, vain words and heartless laughter.

Thus, Iktomi lives alone in a cone-shaped wigwam upon the plain. One day he sat hungry within his teepee. Suddenly he rushed out, dragging after him his blanket. Quickly spreading it on the ground, he tore up dry tall grass with both his hands and tossed it fast into the blanket.

Tying all the four corners together in a knot, he threw the light bundle of grass over his shoulder.

Snatching up a slender willow stick with his free left hand, he started off with a hop and a leap. From side to side bounced the bundle on his back, as he ran light-footed over the uneven ground. Soon he came to the edge of the great level land. On the hilltop he paused for breath. With wicked smacks of his dry parched lips, as if tasting some tender meat, he looked straight into space toward the marshy river bottom. With a thin palm shading his eyes from the western sun, he peered far away into the lowlands, munching his own cheeks all the while. “Ah-ha!” grunted he, satisfied with what he saw.

A group of wild ducks were dancing and feasting in the marshes. With wings outspread, tip to tip, they moved up and down in a large circle. Within the ring, around a small drum, sat the chosen singers, nodding their heads and blinking their eyes.

They sang in unison a merry dance-song, and beat a lively tattoo on the drum.

Following a winding footpath nearby, came a bent figure of a Dakota brave. He bore on his back a very large bundle. With a willow cane he propped himself up as he staggered along beneath his burden.

“Ho! who is there?” called out a curious old duck, still bobbing up and down in the circular dance.

Hereupon the drummers stretched their necks till they strangled their song for a look at the stranger passing by.

“Ho, Iktomi! Old fellow, pray tell us what you carry in your blanket. Do not hurry off! Stop! halt!” urged one of the singers.

“Stop! stay! Show us what is in your blanket!” cried out other voices.

“My friends, I must not spoil your dance. Oh, you would not care to see if you only knew what is in my blanket. Sing on! dance on! I must not show you what I carry on my back,” answered Iktomi, nudging his own sides with his elbows. This reply broke up the ring entirely. Now all the ducks crowded about Iktomi.

“We must see what you carry! We must know what is in your blanket!” they shouted in both his ears. Some even brushed their wings against the mysterious bundle. Nudging himself again, wily Iktomi said, “My friends, 't is only a pack of songs I carry in my blanket.”

“Oh, then let us hear your songs!” cried the curious ducks.

At length Iktomi consented to sing his songs. With delight all the ducks flapped their wings and cried together, “Hoye! hoye!”

Iktomi, with great care, laid down his bundle on the ground.

“I will build first a round straw house, for I never sing my songs in the open air,” said he.

Quickly he bent green willow sticks, planting both ends of each pole into the earth. These he covered thick with reeds and grasses. Soon the straw hut was ready. One by one the fat ducks waddled in through a small opening, which was the only entrance way. Beside the door Iktomi stood smiling, as the ducks, eyeing his bundle of songs, strutted into the hut.

In a strange low voice Iktomi began his queer old tunes. All the ducks sat round-eyed in a circle about the mysterious singer. It was dim in that straw hut, for Iktomi had not forgot to cover up the small entrance way. All of a sudden his song burst into full voice. As the startled ducks sat uneasily on the ground, Iktomi changed his tune into a minor strain. These were the words he sang:

“Istokmus wacipo, tuwayatunwanpi kinhan ista nisasapi kta,” which is, “With eyes closed you must dance. He who dares to open his eyes, forever red eyes shall have.”

Up rose the circle of seated ducks and holding their wings close against their sides began to dance to the rhythm of Iktomi's song and drum.

With eyes closed they did dance! Iktomi ceased to beat his drum. He began to sing louder and faster. He seemed to be moving about in the center of the ring. No duck dared blink a wink. Each one shut his eyes very tight and danced even harder. Up and down! Shifting to the right of them they hopped round and round in that blind dance. It was a difficult dance for the curious folk.

At length one of the dancers could close his eyes no longer! It was a Skiska who peeped the least tiny blink at Iktomi within the center of the circle. “Oh! oh!” squawked he in awful terror! “Run! fly! Iktomi is twisting your heads and breaking your necks! Run out and fly! fly!” he cried. Hereupon the ducks opened their eyes. There beside Iktomi's bundle of songs lay half of their crowd — flat on their backs.

Out they flew through the opening Skiska had made as he rushed forth with his alarm.