Zitkala Sa Analysis

“The melancholy of those black days has left so long a shadow that it darkens the path of years that have since gone by. These sad memories rise above those of smoothly grinding school days.” This quotation depicts the emotions of many young Native American students that attended the Carlisle Indian Industrial School. The infamous boarding school was opened in 1880, to assimilate the Native people of the “white” country that was once theirs. Carlisle had a prodigious significance in the depreciation of the Native American culture. An abundance of individuals attended the institution, leaving their roots behind along with their families. One of the many individuals that had to experience this trauma was Zitkala-Sa. In Zitkala-Sa’s memoir, “The …show more content…
She stands as a model of the school, but also shows that your struggle does not have to break you. The practices at the school made a massive impact on an entire generation of children. The effects of the boarding school are still lingering today. However it does not just affect Native Americans, but the rest of the country as well. The teachers of the boarding school are trained just like the teachers at any other school across the country. This creates an even larger population where generations are taught “whitewashed” history, and that their culture is not correct. It is imperative to know that the impact of this situation goes beyond one group of people. All people of color in the United States of America experienced some type of assimilation or hardship from the opposing majority. Zitkala-Sa is a prototype for the effects of cultural assimilation, and she has brave enough to tell her story. Her courage is so admirable, because there were unfortunate souls that were unable to do the same. Though we have all been through our cultural struggles, she shows that you can shift the outcome. These states of oppression have shaped the history of our nation, and they have made us who we are in today’s