Midtown in Sacramento in Sacramento County, California — The American West (Pacific Coastal)

Zitkála-Šá

19th Amendment Outdoor Museum

Photographed by Andrew Ruppenstein, April 20, 2021

1. Zitkála-Šá Marker

Inscription. Zitkála-Šá (Lakota: Red Bird), also known as Gertrude Simmons Bonnin was a writer, editor, translator, musician, educator, and political activist. In 1926 she and her husband founded the National Council of American Indians, dedicated to the cause of uniting the tribes throughout the U.S. in the cause of gaining full citizenship rights through suffrage. It was not until the passage of the Snyder Act in 1924 that admitted Native Americans born in the U.S. to full U.S. citizenship and the right to vote.

Zitkála-Šá's legacy lives on as one of the most influential Native American activists of the twentieth century. She left for history an influential theory of Indian resistance and a crucial model for reform. Through her activism, Zitkála-Sá was able to make crucial changes to education, health care, legal standing of Native American people and the preservation of Indian culture.

Erected 2020 by Maren Conrad.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Arts, Letters, Music • Civil Rights • Indigenous Peoples and Communities • Women.

Location. 38° 34.54′ N,

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121° 28.88′ W. Marker is in Sacramento, California, in Sacramento County. It is in Midtown. It can be reached from the intersection of K Street and 19th Street. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 1900 K Street, Sacramento CA 95811, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Sacramento Valley

and specifically in the Central Valley.

It is also on the American Pacific Coast.

Globally, it is in North America,

on the Ring of Fire,

in the Pacific Rim,

in the Western Hemisphere,

in the Western World,

and in the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain

and also Mexico’s Alta California.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Luella Johnston (here, next to this marker); Alice Dunbar Nelson (here, next to this marker); Lavinia Gertrude Watson (here, next to this marker); Jovita Idár (a few steps from this marker); María Amparo Ruiz de Burton (a few steps from this marker); Jeannette Rankin (a few steps from this marker); Julie Soderlund (a few steps from this marker); Clara Shortridge Foltz

Zitkála-Šá Marker - wide view image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Andrew Ruppenstein, April 20, 2021

2. Zitkála-Šá Marker - wide view

(within shouting distance of this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Sacramento.

More about this marker. This is one of nineteen markers that comprise the 19th Amendment Outdoor museum, erected in 2020 as part of the "I Vote" project, honoring suffragettes and their work.

Also see . . .
1. Zitkala-Sa (Wikipedia). "Zitkála-Šá (Lakota for Red Bird;[1] February 22, 1876 – January 26, 1938), also known by her missionary-given and later married name Gertrude Simmons Bonnin, was a Yankton Dakota writer, editor, translator, musician, educator, and political activist. She wrote several works chronicling her struggles with cultural identity and the pull between the majority culture in which she was educated and the Dakota culture into which she was born and raised. Her later books were among the first works to bring traditional Native American stories to a widespread white English-speaking readership, and she has been noted as one of the most influential Native American activists of the 20th century." (Submitted on April 26, 2021.)

2. Zitkala-Sa (NativeAmericanWriters.com). (Submitted on April 26, 2021.)
3. Zitkála-Šá: Trailblazing American Indian Composer | Unladylike2020 | PBS (YouTube, 12 min.).

<i>Zitkala Sa, Sioux Indian and activist</i> image. Click for full size.

Gertrude Käsebier (courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution), circa 1898

3. Zitkala Sa, Sioux Indian and activist

This is the source for the marker photo. "In addition to photographing the Sioux performers sent by Buffalo Bill Cody to her studio, Käsebier was able to arrange a portrait session with Zitkala Sa, "Red Bird," also known as Gertrude Simmons (1876-1938), a Yankton Sioux woman of Native American and white mixed ancestry....Käsebier photographed Zitkala Sa in tribal dress and western clothing, clearly identifying the two worlds in which this woman lived and worked...."

(Submitted on April 26, 2021.)

Credits. This page was last revised on February 7, 2023. It was originally submitted on April 26, 2021, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California. This page has been viewed 348 times since then and 18 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on April 26, 2021, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California.