"For the white man's papers I had given up my faith in the Great Spirit. For these same papers I had forgotten the healing in trees and brooks. On account of my mother's simple view of life, and my lack of any, I gave her up, also. I made no friends among the race of people I loathed. Like a slender tree, I had been uprooted from my mother, nature, and God. I was shorn of my branches, which had waved in sympathy and love for home and friends. The natural coat of bark which had protected my oversensitive nature was scraped off to the very quick."
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Political activistsAutobiographers from the United StatesFeminists from the United StatesWomen activists from the United StatesNative American activists
Original Language: English
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Article anthologized in American Women Activists' Writings: An Anthology, 1637-2001
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Zitkala-%C5%A0a
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Zitkala-Ša
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