Zitkala Sa, Sioux Indian and activist: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

In addition to photographing of 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. She was born on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, like many of the Sioux traveling with the Wild West show. Well educated, she studied at reservation schools, the Carlisle Indian School, Earlham College in Indiana, and the Boston Conservatory of Music. Zitkala Sa became an accomplished author, musician, composer, and dedicated worker for the reform of United States Indian policies.

Käsebier photographed Zitkala Sa in tribal dress and western clothing, clearly identifying the two worlds in which this woman lived and worked. In many of the images, Zitkala Sa holds her violin or a book, further indicating her interests. Käsebier experimented with backdrops, including a Victorian floral print, and photographic printing. She used the painterly gum-bichromate process for several of these images, adding increased texture and softer tones to the photographs.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date made: ca 1898
• maker: Kasebier, Gertrude
• Object Name: platinum print
• Physical Description: platinum print (overall production method/technique)
• Physical Description: paper (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 15.8 cm x 6.7 cm; 6 1/4 in x 2 5/8 in
• Subject: Women
• Subject: Native Americans
• ID Number: PG.69.236.109
• accession number: 287543
• catalog number: 69.236.109
• Credit Line: Mina Turner
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The displayed image also has an explicit CC0 designation.