http://www.ck12.org Chapter 6. The Gilded Age and the Rise of American Power
They want to go to work but have nothing to go to work with - want cattle, chickens, hogs to raise as on a farm. They
have nothing - they want to go to work, &c. &c.
Sitting Bull explained that has thrown away the old ways and desires to make his way toward civilization. He wants
for the sake of the women, to turn away from the old ways. The game [buffalo] gone, he wants to walk in the way of
work. For themselves, they can’t change but for their children and the future they want to change their life.
They want to go to work but have nothing to go to work with - want cattle, chickens, hogs, to raise on a farm.
October 5, 1881
October 15, 1881
October 27, 1881
Called on Sitting Bull Oct. 27, 1881, about 12.30 P.M. He received me with much state, sitting at the left of his tent.
Some 13 of his men came in, several old ones.
Questions:
1.Sourcing:Who wrote this doucment? What is her perspective? Who is the audience?
2.Contextualization:How does Alice Fletcher see the world? What was happening to Native Americans at this
time?- Do you trust the document? Why or why not?
“School Days of an Indian Girl” –Zitkala-Sa
Source: The excerpt below was written by Zitkala-Sa, or Red Bird, a Sioux from a reservation in South Dakota. (Her
English name was Gertrude Simmons Bonnin). She describes her experiences at age 8 in a school for Native
Americans. She ultimately attended college and then began a lifetime of work to improve the lives of Native
Americans. The excerpt below was published in the Atlantic Monthly in 1900.
Late in the morning, my friend said she had overhead the paleface woman talk about cutting our long, heavy hear.
Our mothers had taught us that only unskilled warriors who were captured had their hair cut by the enemy. Among
our people, short hair was worn by mourners and by cowards!
I watched my chance and when no one noticed I disappeared....On my hands and knees I crawled under the bed and
cuddled myself in a dark corner.
Women and girls entered the room. I held my breath and watched them open closet doors and peep behind large
trunks. What caused them to snoop and look under the bed I do not know. I remember being dragged out, though I
resisted by kicking and scratching wildly. In spite of myself, I was carried downstairs and tied fast in a chair.
I cried aloud, shaking my head all the while until I felt the cold blades of the scissors against my neck, and heard
them gnaw off one of my thick braids.
Then I lost my spirit. Since the day I was taken from my mother I had suffered extreme indignities. In my anguish I
moaned for my mother, but no one came to comfort me. Not a soul reasoned quietly with me, as my own mother used
to do; for now I was only one of many little animals driven by a herder.
Question:
1.Sourcing:Who wrote this document? What was their audience? How trustworthy is it?