American Indian Stories

Zitkála-Šá describes the beautiful natural landscape along the Missouri River. She mentions her love of watching the clouds go by, listening to the murmuring river, and the warmth of summer days. She also notes beautiful wildflowers, birds, and other living things, sensing that she has “a kinship to any and all parts of this vast universe” (58). Zitkála-Šá feels that the legends of the Sioux people are closely connected with the natural world, and she recalls legends that they told.

Zitkála-Šá considers racial divides that other people speak of and resists the idea. She remarks that even though people may be different, they “are like the ivory keys of one instrument where each resembles the rest, yet varies from them in pitch and quality of voice” (59). She then recalls encountering a Sioux man who had converted to Christianity. The man tells Zitkála-Šá he is disappointed that she does not come to church on Sundays. He warns her that God rewards those who follow Christian teachings and punishes those who do not. He and Zitkála-Šá eat a meal together before he departs. Zitkála-Šá ends the essay by declaring her preference for the Sioux vision of a Great Spirit over Christian “dogma” (61).