Talk:Zitkala-Sa

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[edit] To do to improve

Overall, this article is good. It flows well and very informative, though a bit short for someone as influential as she was. There are two things that can greatly improve this article.

  • inline citations: There seems to be firm reference list there, but in order to make them more effective, provide inline citations, maybe as "Notes" referencing the work and page, then let the current existing "References" section do the job its doing more effectively.
    • as you put in the inline citations and also going back to the references, it may encourage further development of this article (hint, hint).
  • break the introduction a small yet portion. Probably, one sentence is all that in needed to provide an overall summary of this article, and place the rest within the body of the article.

Keep up the good job, folks! CJLippert 22:25, 24 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Discussion from Duplicate articles page

from WP:DA:
Zitkala-Ša and Zitkala Sa should be merged and one made into a redirect. Zitkala-Ša is the older and larger article but is an uncommon spelling (Google shows 556 hits for Zitkala-Ša and 12,600 Zitkala-Sa and Zitkala Sa combined). The English alphabet has no diacritic marks so I am unsure if Zitkala-Ša is from a foreign alphabet or if it is a pronunciation guide. 12.74.168.157 20:45, 21 Jan 2005 (UTC)

I moved this discussion here. If there are no objections I will go ahead and move Zitkala-Ša to Zitkala-Sa since that page has no history to save. Frank101 15:20, 25 Jan 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Pen name?

I've done a little more research. Zitkala-Sa was evidently a pen name adopted by Gertrude Simmons when she started writing. Her mother, Ellen Simmons, had an Indian name, Táte I Yóhin Win (Reaches for the Wind). Did Gertrude also have an Indian name when she was a child? Also, I haven't found her father's name yet. Indications are that he was white and probably of French descent. Frank101 04:13, 22 Jan 2005 (UTC)

[edit] A few answers

Hello, I have done extensive research on Zitkala-Sa over the past 2 years. I've read nearly all available scholarship and criticism related to her for an undergraduate honors research project. I'm excited that someone has begun a page for her, and I greatly desire to contribute.

She began to use her pen name after she quit teaching at Carlisle Indian Industrial School and was living in Boston. It first appears with her serialized autobiographical writings in Atlantic Monthly that began in January of 1900. Apparently, she did not have an Indian name when she was a child or, atleast, she did not keep it. Among the available scholarship, P. Jane Hafen is who I would point towards as the authority. Also, Doreen Rappaport's "The Flight of Redbird" is very helpful. Her father was a white man (I prefer Euro-American). Apparently his name was Felker, but his last name was not Simmons. Her mother's English name was Ellen, and she used her previous husband's name for young Gertrude, Simmons. The only available resource on what happened between Zitkala-Sa's (Z-S) mother and father is contained in a letter between Z-S and Carlos Montezuma, an influential Native American doctor who tried his best to court Z-S.

Pertaining to which spelling is more common, the reason that Zitkala-Ša is less common on the internet is probably due to the difficulty of using the diacritic phoneme "Š". Luckily, Wikipedia makes this easy for us. In print, Zitkala-Ša is far more common and it appears in this way in her original publishings. She was probably advised to use the diacritic marking by her friends in Boston. Recent scholarship shows that she actually did have a few ghost writers helping her, but this scholarship is very recent and (I think) has only been presented as a dissertation at a conference. So, I have yet to read the scholarship.

I have researched and written quite extensively on Z-S's life and the Sun Dance Opera. I just graduated with a BA in English Lit. and a BA in Music, so, I think I can help clear the air on a 20th century figure who I greatly admire. Since I have more free time now, I would like to regularly increase the page, but I don't want to run away with the project. JoelRichardson May 18, 2005

[edit] "Inuse" tag

I have decided to go ahead and revert my claim that I don't want to run away with the project. I know to much about Z-S to leave it alone. May 22, 2005 JoelRichardson


[edit] Consistent Diacritics

I understand why they page was moved to Zitkala-Sa without the diacritic Š, but the article itself jumps between the two -- would it be worth the time to add the diacritic back in to the remainder of the article (since you'd see it in most critical literature anyway)?