How did Zitkala-Sa use her writings to document forced assimilation?

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John Smith: Map of Virginia — American literature Map of Virginia from John Smith's *The Generall Historie of Virginia, New England, and the Summer Isles*, 1624.

Zitkala-Sa utilized her short stories and autobiographical essays to document the personal and cultural toll of forced assimilation. Drawing from her own experiences at missionary schools like White’s Manual Labor Institute and her tenure as a teacher at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, she critiqued the harsh discipline and curricula designed to eradicate Native American identities in favor of Euro-American norms.1

Her writing, published in prominent venues such as The Atlantic Monthly and Harper’s Monthly, centered on the internal struggle to maintain cultural heritage while facing intense pressure to adapt to the dominant society. By articulating these experiences, she provided a powerful literary record of the systemic efforts to suppress Indigenous cultures, ultimately using her platform to advocate for cultural preservation and the rights of Native American people.1