Education and Language in Zitkala-Ša’s
American Indian Stories]]> decades in the fields of science and humanities. It is argued that mind
colonization of the indigenous populations has been conducted via
education and language in the mission of ‘civilizing’ since education
and language carry culture specific sets of meaning, including
knowledge and truth which condition our perception of the world.
Zitkala-Ša is one of the earliest Native American authors and
activists who sought to subvert the epistemological hierarchy
imposed through mind colonization. Zitkala-Ša’s autobiographical
collection of short stories titled American Indian Stories (1921)
documents her boarding school experience and the acquisition of the
colonizer’s education and language. The present paper seeks to
address mind colonization through language and education on the
example of Zitkala-Ša’s American Indian Stories relying on a
number of theories and approaches. The paper also reflects on the
importance of Zitkala-Ša mastery of the colonizer’s language.]]>