"Dear Zitkala-Sa: I thank you for your book on Indian legends. I have read them with exquisite pleasure. Like all folk tales they mirror the child life of the world. There is in them a note of wild, strange music. You have translated them into our language in a way that will keep them alive in the hearts of men. They are so young, so fresh, so full of the odors of the virgin forest untrod by the foot of white man! The thoughts of your people seem dipped in the colors of the rainbow, palpitant with the play of winds, eerie with the thrill of a spirit-world unseen but felt and feared. Your tales of birds, beast, tree and spirit can not but hold captive the hearts of all children. They will kindle in their young minds that eternal wonder which creates poetry and keeps life fresh and eager."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Political activistsAutobiographers from the United StatesFeminists from the United StatesWomen activists from the United StatesNative American activists
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Helen Keller 1919 letter, reprinted in American Indian Stories 1985 edition
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Zitkala-%C5%A0a
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Zitkala-Ša
39 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Zitkala-Ša →
Related Quotes
"As I hid myself in my little room in the college dormitory, away from the scornful and yet curious eyes of the studen…"
"For the white man's papers I had given up my faith in the Great Spirit. For these same papers I had forgotten the hea…"
"In this fashion many have passed idly through the Indian schools during the last decade, afterward to boast of their …"
"These were my mother's pride,-my wild freedom and overflowing spirits. She taught me no fear save that of intruding m…"
"I felt the cold blades of the scissors against my neck, and heard them gnaw off one of my thick braids. Then I lost m…"
"It was next to impossible to leave the iron routine after the civilizing machine had once begun its day's buzzing; an…"
"Within a week I was again actively testing the chains which tightly bound my individuality like a mummy for burial. T…"
"After my first three years of school, I roamed again in the Western country through four strange summers. During this…"
"Though I burned with indignation upon discovering on every side instances no less shame-ful than those I have mention…"
"Leaving my mother, I returned to the school in the East. As months passed over me, I slowly comprehended that the lar…"