A Cultural Duet Zitkala Å a And The Sun Dance Opera

University of Nebraska - Lincoln

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Great Plains Quarterly Great Plains Studies, Center for

4-1-1998

A Cultural Duet Zitkala Ša And The Sun Dance
Opera

P. Jane Hafen

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

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Hafen, P. Jane, "A Cultural Duet Zitkala Ša And The Sun Dance Opera" (1998). Great Plains Quarterly. Paper 2028.
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FIG. 1. William F. Hanson and Zitkala Sa (Gertrude Bonnin) from Hanson's Sun Dance Land, page l.

Courtesy of Photographic Archives, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.
William Willard, photographer. (MSS 299, H27, 1659).

102

A CULTURAL DUET

ZITKALA SA AND THE SUN DANCE OPERA

P. JANE HAFEN

In 1913 Gertrude Simmons Bonnin (Zitkala months after Bonnin's death in 1938, the op-
Sa, 1876-1938) collaborated with local era was selected and presented by the New
Duchesne, Utah, music teacher William F. York Opera Guild as opera of the year.
Hanson to produce and stage a spectacle that
combined the musical style of operetta, a The composition of the opera presents the
melodramatic love triangle, and traditional challenges of forging distinct and disparate
Plains Indian ritual. In regional performances, cultures by harmonizing traditional Native
The Sun Dance Opera provided a stage for melodies and perspectives into the pinnacle
Bonnin and other Native American singers of artistic expression in western civilization:
and dancers to participate in rituals whose grand opera. Opera, literally the plural of opus
practice was forbidden by the United States or "works" of artistic expression, provides a
government. Twenty-five years later, just holistic context that represents varied and
complex manifestations ofculture. Visual pre-
P. Jane Hafen (Taos Pueblo) is assistant professor of sentation and costuming, singing, dancing,
English at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Her storytelling, and even incorporation of a trick-
research on Gertrude Simmons Bonnin began with a ster-like heyoka depict aspects of Plains cul-
Frances C. Allen Fellowship to the D' Arcy McNickle ture in The Sun Dance Opera. At the same
Center for History of the American Indian, Newberry time, an orchestral accompaniment and dra-
Library. She gratefully acknowledges the assistance of matic plot infuse elements of western civiliza-
the Archives and Manuscripts Department of the Harold tion. As a classically trained musician, Bonnin
B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University. used her skills to affirm her Sioux cultural iden-
tity and to engage the conventions of popular
[GPQ 18 (Spring 1998): 102-11] culture. l Hanson used his fondness for Indian
peoples and his association with them in what
critics would now recognize as an artistic co-
lonialism. The result is an uneasy duet of two
cultures.

103

104 GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY, SPRING 1998 dies on the violin while Hanson wrote them
and orchestrated them. According to Hanson,
Ge.rtrude Simmons Bonnin had emerged he became acquainted with Gertrude and
from an obscure, reservation childhood, Raymond Bonnin in 1908 when he returned
through the Indian boarding school system, to to Vernal, Utah, after studying music at BYU.6
become a public figure. She compiled and pub- Together they planned an opera, at first with
lished a book of traditional stories, Old Indian the topic of Chipeta, wife of Ute leader Ouray,
Legends.2 She also had written compelling ar- then, after observing a Ute Sun Dance in 1910,
ticles about her childhood and life experiences settling on that topic (74-75).7
for Harper's Weekly and the Atlantic Monthly.
She compiled and published those stories in Gertrude's position in contributing to the
1921 in American Indian Stories. 3 In 1902 when opera is complicated, almost inexplicable in
she married Raymond Bonnin, also a Yankton her public revelation of the framework of sa-
Sioux, she temporarily abandoned her public cred ritual, even though specific rites were
career. Although she would later emerge in not included. The melodies she played on her
the national arena of pan-Indian politics, her violin were traditional Sioux songs. Although
years in Utah (ca. 1904-16) were spent in rela- she was reproducing familiar melodies, she was
tive obscurity. The local attention given The already participating in a cultural transforma-
Sun Dance Opera reintroduced Gertrude to the tion by placing the songs in transition from
popular stage. vocal to instrumental and into a foreign me-
dium oforchestrated drama. Hanson describes
A challenge in studying the opera is the some tunes as love songs "seldom heard by
lack of Gertrude's own voice while William F. whitemen" (75). The opera also incorporated
Hanson's participation is well documented. flute melodies played on a traditional Native
The whole score is archived at Brigham Young flute that Raymond had given Gertrude as a
University where Hanson (1887-1969) had a wedding gift. The musical numbers included
lengthy career as a professor of music educa- chants: "sun dance, parade and game songs,
tion. Fifty-four years after the debut of the medicine chants" (75). The heroic male lead
opera, Hanson published a memoir that loosely of the opera, Ohiya, shared his name with the
recounted an Indian history in Utah, his asso- Bonnins' only son. Hanson declares that she
ciation with Gertrude and her husband, was adamant in her devotion to the Sioux rep-
Raymond, and the composing and staging of resentation of the Sun Dance: "[Mrs. Bonnin]
the opera.4 However, Gertrude left no docu- earnestly stated: 'Let us keep the Sun Dance
mentation of her involvement with Hanson Opera in the Sioux vernacular. The Sioux is
and the performances. During this period, even [sic], of course, our "first love." Utes and a few
her regular letters to the Catholic Indian Mis- other tribes just borrowed this festival, this
sions have no mention of the opera.5 Like- national religion, from our people'" (76). This
wise, her diaries of the last years of her life affirmation of tribal sovereignty represented
focus on her family and her political concerns her commitment and motivated her political
and do not mention the N ew York restaging of actions throughout the remainder of her life,
the opera. especially later as a public advocate for Indian
rights. Gertrude was personally committed and
Gertrude was familiar with performance: in involved in the composition and production
oratory with her award winning speeches at of the opera, despite its public imitation of
Earlham College and musically in her partici- sacred rituals and enactment of ritual gestures
pation with the Carlisle band. She had been by non-Indians.
studying at the Boston Conservatory of Music
when she returned to the Yankton reservation During the time of the opera's initial per-
in 1901. Apparently, her musical skills were formance, the practice of the Sun Dance was
in performance rather than theory and tran-
scription; Gertrude played the Native melo-

outlawed on the Uintah Ouray reservation. ZITKALA SA 105
Unable to distinguish between "improper
dancing" and "hurtful or degrading practices Simmons Bonnin herself could be categorized
or customs," the Bureau of Indian Affairs as a "Show Indian." As a writer and a musi-
banned all dancing at the Southern Ute cally and oratorically trained performer in
Agency and, specifically, forbade the Sun European tradition, she had already demon-
Dance and Bear Dance at Uintah Ouray.9 In strated the "civilizing" accomplishments of the
1913 the Bureau attempted to control and boarding school system. Rather than continu-
disempower the rituals by suggesting they be ing as trained Indian on exhibit, she may have
performed at "agricultural fairs as a sort of been trying to assume artistic control with
commercial sideshow."10 The chorus and danc- composition and direction of the opera and to
ers were mostly Utes in the Utah performances present her own cultural viewpoint. The per-
ofThe Sun Dance Opera; the lead singers, whose formance of the opera allowed her personal
roles required trained singing voices, were pri- and cultural validation.
marily non-Indians.
Hanson's role in the composition of the
Perhaps this exhibition allowed Native opera is complex as well. While sympathetic
American participation in these forbidden to Indian issues, Hanson exhibits a paternal-
rituals and provided an opportunity to sing ism in his efforts to rescue the vanishing race,
familiar songs and dance traditional steps. a prevalent attitude of the time. Referring to
Another motivation might have been himself in the third person, he states:
Gertrude's own sense of complicated cultural
mediation with artistic endeavor. She may This writer's ambitions were further aug-
have considered that placing a very Indian mented when he realized that the unrecorded
ritual in the context of high opera was a cul- aboriginal songs, the rituals, and the habits
tural dissolution of hierarchy. IfNative music (the National culture) were doomed to
were considered as valid as the sublime ex- oblivion in the natural processes which were
pression of western civilization, then Indian rapidly allowing the policies of the white man
peoples would have to be considered for their to have complete power and domination of
own values and not be subject to racial injus- America.... The writer finally decided that,
tice. due to the vastness of the nature of the cul-
ture, the most efficient mode of transcribing
Additionally, the idea of public perfor- and interpreting the culture was in OPERA
mance of cultural practices was not uncom- FORM. (2)
mon in this era. Indians had been participating
in Wild West shows with Bureau supervision Hanson's sense of theatrics had some of its
since 1883. L. G. Moses outlines the various inspiration from Mormon culture. Brigham
venues of Indian performance in Wild West Young was dedicated to the performing arts
Shows and the Images of American Indians and and built a theater in Salt Lake City in 1862.13
refers to the years 1900-17 as "the Wild West While the early Mormon theater eventually
show in its prime."ll Native peoples partici- imported professional performers, outlying
pated in not only the well-known Wild West areas, like eastern Utah, continued to depend
shows but in cultural exhibits in large fairs on local talent. 14 That theatrical tradition
like the Columbia Exhibition in Chicago and encouraged young performers such as Hanson,
more localized state and agricultural fairs. En- and his affinity toward Indians led to the natu-
trepreneurs quickly learned "the value ofShow ral development ofpageant-like performances.
Indians whom [sic] ... could attract crowds. Prior to meeting the Bonnins, Hanson worked
Indians could participate ... in legitimate and on transcribing the springtime Ute ritual and
wholesome entertainments."12 Gertrude named it The Bear Dance Opera. After The Sun
Dance Opera performances, he established the

106 GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY, SPRING 1998 Sweet Singer is a perfect villain, despite his
name. Not only does he represent intertribal
Hanson Wigwam Company and toured Utah rivalries, he has blasphemed; he "played lightly
with shows that were similar in structure to with certain love-leaves which are sacred, and
Wild West shows. When Hanson began teach- are to be used only by the holy Medicine-
ing at BYU in 1925, he wrote a master's thesis men" (133). In the prologue during a mono-
based on the springtime Ute ritual, Teaman logue spoken over the orchestral overture, he
Nacup.15 confesses his deed but shows little remorse.
His solution is to leave his Shoshone roots for
Additionally, as a product of Mormon cul- the "land [of] the Sioux" (134).
ture, Hanson had a unique view of Indian
peoples. Parallel to his summary of Indian his- The opera then begins with introduction of
tory in Utah, he recounts his grandfather Peter the lovers, Winona and Ohiya. In an aria that
Ernest Hanson's missionary efforts with the parallels Sun Dance traditions, Ohiya makes a
Indians (19-22). He explains the Mormon pledge to be earned by sacrifice and dancing.
theological relationship to Native peoples: His oath is to win the heart of Winona: "A
"[T)he Latter-day Saint People have always Sun Dance brave would worthy be / To win
held a sacred interest in the American ab- Winona. / I vow!" (136). Amid the music and
origine, whom they call 'The Lamanites of action, directions are given for Ohiya to im-
Book of Mormon history-a people of great provise a love chant and sing "extemporane-
promise and genealogy.' The Church and its ous[ly)." This ad-lib is the first ofseveral places
adherents have always been eager and willing, where the opera resorts to oral tradition. Pre-
even in the face of redman depredations, to sumably, Gertrude may have coached the per-
conduct redman proselyting" (128). Hanson formers for these sequences. The departure
continues with a defense of Mormon policies from dependency on a written score not only
and practices toward Indian peoples, in par- would prohibit a faithful reproduction of the
ticular housing reservation Indian children in opera but demonstrates the flexibility with
urban Mormon homes in the early 1960s. which the composers approached their work.

Hanson's memoir is full of sentimental af- Further plot development of the opera is a
fections, undoubtedly as a result of his inter- combination ofelaborate exposition, defining
actions with Native peoples. Despite his the background and motives of the principal
sympathies and good intentions, he remains characters, especially Sweet Singer, and set
colonially oblivious. His name alone appears pieces for secondary characters. Ohiya's
on the title page ofThe Sun Dance Opera. When mother has a listfullullaby in "To / Star." The
the opera was revived at BYU in 1935, and trickster, Hebo, is given an aria that has no
selected for performance on Broadway in 1938, bearing on the plot but introduces the cultur-
Hanson claims sole proprietorship of the op- ally specific heyoka Sioux trickster. Hebo then
era. Indeed, he later assigns copyright to BYU.16 tricks Sweet Singer into giving singing les-
Yet, in the memoir he acknowledges Zitkala sons. As preparations for the Sun Dance pro-
Sa as coauthor and collaborator (3). ceed, the tribal members perform what Hanson
calls the "Squaw Dance" (145).
The opera itself is also very sentimental in
both musical style and plot. The locale is the In Hanson's narrative description of the
Pipestone Quarry near Yankton, South Da- opera, he becomes an apologist for the Sun
kota. The story is a love triangle between the Dance tradition. He details the "capture" of
outsider, Sweet Singer, a Shoshone lecher, and tall trees and their personification and media-
Winona and Ohiya, both Sioux, and their tion between the Sun Dancers and the Sioux
conflict is overlaid on the Sun Dance ritual. deity "Schenawv." In an inserted paragraph
Several minor characters include gossips, he defends these beliefs:
Ohiya's mother, witches, and Hebo, the
heyoka.

Even now the mounted warriors ride down ZITKALA SA 107
the steep mountain trails, bringing these
Tall Trees and making ready for the Sham quasipentatonic motif that is echoed by the
Battle and the proud parade and battle ritual soprano. The formal structure is basically A B
to actually capture these tree-people and a B A. The meter changes from triple time to
make them SIOUX. This very day sees the common time for each respective section. The
consumation [sic] of a most spectacular and B section uses a syncopated accompaniment.
emotional event of no other people. How- Harmonic progressions are simple, with only a
ever, it is purely Indian for it was conceived few secondary dominants and tensions build-
and practised long before the European in- ing dominant fifth chords, predictably re-
vasion by a foreign people. (146) solved. Long stretches of melody stay on the
same note, emphasizing rhythm rather than
Despite his familiarity with Ute practices, melodic progression. The tonality remains
Hanson asserts the Sun Dance as Sioux-spe- constant, with a brief foray into the relative
cific and echoes Gertrude's assertions of intel- minor in the B section. Additionally, the
lectual and tribal sovereignty. chromatic use of the secondary dominants,
trilled transitions, and syncopated rhythms re-
The scene changes from Sun Dance prepa- flect the popular sentimental song style of the
rations to the tipi of Winona's father. Her aria period.
is "The Magic of the Night":
The text seems to connect Winona's joy
The magic of the Night of Nights with the natural beauties of the earth. Her
beckons me passion for Ohiya is matched by her fervent
response to the lake, plants, birds, and coyote.
A wonder-world is shelter 'neath the trees. Winona may represent one of the four sacred
From grass and shrubs and willows low virgins requisite for the Sun Dance. ls The ro-
Come mystic voices, sighs enchanting mance of the musical score accompanies her
desire.
breeze.
As the plot continues, the troupe constructs
The pallid lake lies quiet now the Sun Dance arena along with the Wigwam
Beneath yon mountain's somber breath. ofConsecration. A Shoshone Maid abandoned
The moonlight flickers-branches bow by Sweet Singer appears on stage to lament.
But l? My lover comes! He comes to me! She hides when Winona and Sweet Singer
enter and Sweet Singer aggressively confronts
Oh night of nights! Winona. He has earned the position of sing-
He comes-in his serenade! ing the Sun Dance chants and promises to
make the songs long so that Ohiya will suffer
Before the coyote's call at morn, more. Winona rejects Sweet Singer, who vows
Or Bird awakes its mate at dawn, to victimize Ohiya further, but the exploited
While mystic voices sing their song Shoshone maid intervenes and calls on Sweet
He comes-my lover comes-I know 'tis he! Singer to account for his actions. She appeals
for help from the quarry witches, who redeem
Ohiya, yes Ohiya Brave-in his serenade. her while bringing Sweet Singer to repentful
I pass into the nightworld unafraid. remorse.
[He comes to chant ecstasy]!?
He comes to chant his serenade. (148) The ensemble reenters with an a cappella
appeal to the Great Spirit. While a tenor and
She hears the serenade of Ohiya's flute. soprano chant a descant, the chorus sings:
The musical structure of the aria is uncom-
Great Spirit hear our prayer
plicated. The accompaniment begins with a In this dance to Great sun.

To all who vow give a vision.

108 GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY, SPRING 1998 body piercing that is associated with the Sun
Dance (165). Hanson observes: "The spirit of
Give endurance religiosity is unique and contagious" (168).
[0 let them dance 'til a vision]
The ritual continues into a fifth act that
Give a vision clear represents the fifth day of dancing and chant-
Hear our prayer, Schenawv. ing. The participants are exhausted. Sweet
May none fall in disgrace Singer is "immortalized-transmuted" (175)
Give Courage endurance endurance to our as he must join the witches of the quarry. Ohiya
is consoled and aided by Winona and his
braves mother. The Chieftain sanctions the union of
Oh May none fall in disgrace Ohiya and Winona, as Ohiya has fulfilled his
Courage endurance endurance to our braves Sun Dance vow. Hanson describes the final
[Hear our vows Hi yi] scene:
Grant the wish of the lover, the lover
[Hear Oh hear us HLjl9 The Sun Dance singer-drummers begin
the war songs, the Scalp Dance chants. Old
According to the subtitle in the score, this warrior-dancers, fully dressed and adorned
piece uses "Ute Sun Dance Motifs-Uinta and with the symbolic facial and body war-paint
Sioux Indians." These motifs appear briefly marking, and in the costumes of many col-
and sequentially. None is developed or the- ors and designs, now enter the arena danc-
matically repeated. Like "The Magic of the ing. Tribesmen wildly applaud. Deeds of
Night Aria," the chorus uses standard harmo- valor, of victory, with the grace of the eagle
nies, mostly alternating between tonic and and with its fierceness; the strength of the
dominant, with an occasional subdominant bear; the stealthiness of the fox and the
chord and two diminished chords. The piece cunning of the coyote; all are pantomimed
is organized A B A, with the A sections in B- as enthusiastic chaos rules. Religiosity su-
flat minor and the B section in the parallel preme! (175)
major key. Hanson composes hints of what
would appear as traditional Native musical Many ensemble pieces are unscored, allow-
styles: a pulsing drum accompaniment, cer- ing the Native participants to sing their tradi-
tain melodic phrases with pentatonic quali- tional songs. The musical style of the set pieces
ties, high introductory phrase with choral seems to be very much in keeping with the
imitative response. Had the melodies remained operetta style of the turn of the century. The
monophonic, they might recall the original lyrics seem plot driven rather than poetic. The
chants. However, with the added chord struc- melodies may have been tribally authentic,
tures, they simply disappear into the harmonic but they are virtually unrecognizable placed
direction and resolution. This selection from in the framework of precise meters and nota-
the opera demonstrates the challenges of su- tion and with an orchestral accompaniment.
perimposing a fixed structure of harmony, Additionally, the music seems thrown into the
rhythm, melody, and direction upon a flexible realm of what has become, in the span of the
and oral tradition where the notes are not al- twentieth century, parody and seed for stereo-
ways within the standardized scales nor the type. Contemporary listeners exposed to popu-
rhythms within metered and notational sys- lar media might find familiar throbbing drums
tems. 20 The lyrics of this chorus are indistinc- and pentatonic scales as background music to
tive. classic pseudo-Indian Western films or Satur-
day morning cartoons. However, early audi-
Ohiya makes a dramatic entry with those ences of the opera would not have these
who have made sacred Sun Dance vows. The exposures.
ensemble enacts the Sun Dance, chanting and
circling around the Tall Tree pole at the cen-
ter of the arena. From Hanson's descriptions,
the singers and actors apparently feigned the

In the context of costumes, regalia, ritual, ZITKALA SA 109
and love story, ascertaining audience percep-
tions is difficult. Audiences also may have been Sun Dance ritual itself has survived apart from
familiar with Wild West shows or with Buffalo this artistic rendering. Even in the summer of
Bill Cody's 1913 film The Indians, and may 1914, Northern Utes performed two Sun
have been attracted to the romantic exoti- Dances under the guise of a harvest festival.22
cism of seeing live Indians on stage, particu-
larly with the attraction/repulsion of body Hanson seems skilled at self-promotion, as
piercing. Ironically, though, in Utah the lead well. His memoir omits the less than positive
singers were non-Indian while the chorus and reviews of the opera.23 Additionally, the cru-
dancers were mostly Utes. The exception was cial New York connection that led to the
the improvised performance ofOld Sioux (also Opera Guild choosing the opera as the Ameri-
known as Bad Hand), a centenarian under can opera of the year likely was facilitated as
guardianship of the Bonnins. In the New York much by Hanson's personal connection with
performances, the leads were played by sev- musical director John Hand, who had played
eral urban Indians and the chorus and dancers the role of Ohiya twenty-five years earlier in
were non-Indians (177-78, 180). A further Utah (109) than by the opera's musical merit.
irony is that the 1938 New York opera perfor- At worst, Hanson could be identified as a
mance occurs the same year as the final per- "wanna-be," as evidenced by a photo where
formance ofColonel Tim McCoy's Wild West he is dressed in beaded buckskins, or as an
Show in Washington, D.C.21 Indian lover who attempts to consume Native
ritual through his own cultural views. Even
Beyond Gertrude's tribal ties to the Sun the best case for Hanson, that he was sym-
Dance and the Yankton setting, the opera pathetic and had good intentions, does not
became very personal with the use of her son's mitigate his own self-representation as sole
name and her own wedding flute. Certainly composer of the opera.
the details of the Sun Dance ritual must have
come from the Bonnins, although Hanson, Gertrude's motivations in the creation of
along with many others, attended and wit- the opera are more elusive. As Doreen
nessed the Ute Sun Dance in 1910 (69). In Rappaport suggests in her creative reconstruc-
describing the staging of the sacred ceremony, tion of Gertrude's life, participation in the
Hanson states that "The Bonnins always in- opera relieved Gertrude's isolation in Utah.24
sisted that Indians are not idolaters, but that Indeed, the opera offered her a creative outlet
they use many symbols of things mystic and for her musical, literary, and performing tal-
divine" (146). Hanson may be affirming that ents. Additionally, the public performance was
Gertrude's participation was validating Sioux a political gesture, as it demonstrated the vi-
culture as a means. of mediating between the ability of Sioux life and traditions.
two worlds she inhabited. In an intricate way,
Gertrude and other Native participants may Gertrud~ Simmons Bonnin and William
have been blind to the hazards of cultural ap- Hanson might be playing cultural duets with
propriation, instead asserting their right to themselves and each other. Hanson was bent
perform these dances, songs, and rituals in any on saving American Indian traditions, as was
venue. Bonnin but with different purpose. Bonnin
asserts the value of her specific tribal tradi-
At the same time, Hanson seems to be try- tions while revealing her own romanticism
ing to mediate between his mainstream cul- with love songs and flutes. Hanson, though,
ture and Indian cultures. Hanson's own words takes over, making the opera and ritual his
reveal his fervent devotion to his cause. Yet, own through a sentimental colonialism. Were
while his memoirs reveal his sympathies, they the whole opera reconstructed or performed
also unmask his sense of expropriation. The now, certainly it would violate contemporary
notions of artistic and tribal sovereignty and
religious respect. The artistic elements of the
opera-music, lyrics, and drama-seem simple

110 GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY, SPRING 1998 who were implementing the Indian Reorgani-

and unimaginative. Yet the opera provides a zation/Wheeler Howard Act of 1934. Artistic
space in which to examine the perplexing re-
lations between Euro-Americans and indig- expression was a luxury that paled against
enous peoples and cultures.
political imperatives and financial and family
As a Native women and academic, I recog-
nize there are some indigenous scholars who challenges that included rearing her grand-
would dismiss Gertrude and The Sun Dance
Opera, in particular, as a ridiculous expression children. Perhaps this is why she did not con-
of tribal traditions. I agree that there are a
multitude of problems inherent in the opera test Hanson's later self-representation as
and in Gertrude's participation. However, composer of the opera. Nevertheless, The Sun
without Gertrude's own explanation, her mo- Dance Opera remains a fascinating duet be-
tivations will never be completely known. I tween cultures, ideologies, and William F.
find it difficult simply to dismiss or condemn
her expedient decisions. Hanson and Zitkala Sa.

In the context of Gertrude's whole life, she NOTES
had to make choices that many of us would
not make today. The hegemonic assaults on 1. Bonnin was Yankton Sioux and sl?oke
her person, her tribe, and her culture were Nakota. Her self-given Indian name, Zitkala Sa, is
more direct and threatening than the cultural Lakota. During the period of the opera, she refers
exploitations of Hanson and the opera. Her to herself as "Sioux" and Hanson uses the same
well-documented struggles in boarding schools term. "Sioux" will be used throughout this paper.
and as a teacher, her fight for Indian citizen-
ship, her campaign against peyote (despite the 2. Zitkala Sa, Old Indian Legends (Boston: Ginn
legal threat to tribal sovereignty), and her and Company, 1901; reprint, lincoln: University of
documentation of violence in Oklahoma dur- Nebraska Press, 1985). Foreword by Agnes M. Picotte.
ing the "reign of terror" all reveal her underly-
ing commitment to indigenous causes. 3. Zitkala Sa, American Indian Stories (Wash-
Gertrude combated prejudice on fundamental ington, D.C.: Hayworth Publishing House, 1921;
levels and she responded by declaring the sig- reprint, lincoln: University of Nebraska Press,
nificance ofNative cultures. It may have been 1985). Foreword by Dexter Fisher, also published
beyond her imagination to consider that, in as "Zitkala Sa: The Evolution of a Writer," Ameri-
addition to the direct attempts to deprive can Indian Quarterly 5, no. 3 (August 1979): 229-38.
Native peoples of their rights, there would be
those who would patronizingly rob through 4. William F. Hanson, Sun Dance Land (Provo,
imitation the sacred rituals, as well. The Sun Utah: ]. Grant Stevenson, 1967).
Dance Opera allowed Gertrude to assert the
value ofher own beliefs without apparent con- 5. Manuscript Collection, Catholic Bureau of
sequence. It is also a brief representation in Indian Missions, Marquette University Archives,
the whole ofher creative literary and political Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
life.
6. References to Hanson's account are from Sun
Gertrude's distancing from the opera and Dance Land and subsequently will be given in text
her apparent lack of involvement in its re- in parentheses. Hanson states that the Bonnins
vival are balanced by her political and per- arrived in Utah to work for the Indian agency in
sonal activities. While Hanson was musically 1908 (69). Other sources place them there earlier,
performing, Gertrude and Raymond Bonnin with Gertrude taking an oath of service in 1905.
were establishing land claims for various west- See Deborah Sue Welch, "Zitkala Sa: An Ameri-
ern tribes and were involved with other tribes can Indian Leader, 1876-1938" (Ph.D. diss., Uni-
versity of Wyoming, 1985), p. 253.

7. The Sun Dance was introduced to the North-
ern Utes in the 1890s after Grant Bullethead
learned the ritual at the Wind River Shoshone
Reservation (David Rich Lewis, "Reservation Lead-
ership and the Progressive-Traditional Dichotomy:
William Wash and the Northern Utes, 1865-1928,"
Major Problems in American Indian History, ed.
Albert L. Hurtado and Peter Iverson [Lexington,
Mass.: D. E. Heath, 1994), p. 426).

8. William F. Hanson, Manuscript Collection,
Brigham Young University, hereafter referred to as
Hanson Papers. In addition to Hanson's descrip-
tion, a flute replica is in the collection.

9. L. O. Moses, Wild West Shows and the Images ZITKALA SA 111
of the American Indians: 1883-1933 (Albuquerque:
University of New Mexico Press, 1996), p. 206. 19. Bracketed lyrics appear in the musical score
but not the memoir.
10. Lewis (note 7 above), p. 426.
11. Moses (note 9 above) constructs a detailed 20. Some contemporary Native American musi-
narrative of events, participants and policy con- cians, Louise Ballard, John Rainer Jr., and Arlie
cerns. The author does not address, however, what Neskahi, seem to have mediated successfully these
would motivate Native peoples' continued partici- stylistic musical conflicts.
pation in performances and exploitative practices,
p.206. 21. Moses (note 9 above), p. 274.
12. Moses (note 9 above), p. 195. 22. Lewis (note 7 above), p. 426.
13. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day 23. Hanson Papers. Dexter Fisher's foreword to
Saints, Journal of Discourses (Liverpool, 1854-86), American Indian Stories (note 3 above) quotes a glow-
ing review from Edward Ellsworth Hipsher's Ameri-
9:242. can Opera and Its Composers (Philadelphia: Theo.
14. Robert Paxton, "History of LDS Theater," Press Co., 1927), p. 237. The date of the publication
is not concurrent with any known performances of
in Association of Mormon Letters column, 11 De- the opera. Responses from the New York press to the
cember 1996, Internet. 1938 performances include '''Sin Dance,' Indian Op-
era, Interesting but Could Use a Plot ... A request for
15. Hanson papers (note 8 above). a libretto provoked the reply from the management
16. Hanson papers (note 8 above). that there wasn't any; that the only copy was in the
17. This lyric is in the score but not in Hanson's composer's manuscript and this was in use" (New
quotation in the book. York Daily News, 28 April 1938).
18. Mark St. Pierre and Tilda Long Soldier, 24. Doreen Rappaport, The Flight of Red Bird:
Walking in the Sacred Manner (New York: T ouch- The Life ofZitkala Sa, (New York: Dial Books, 1997),
stone, 1995), p. 75. pp. 115-18.