American Indian Stories

A little girl races along the Missouri beside her mother, laughing—until one question turns their walk to the river into a story of loss. “Who is this bad paleface?” she asks, and her mother points toward the graves on the hill.

In these recollections, Zitkala-Sa returns to her childhood among the Dakota, where evenings bring old people, firelight, and stories beneath the stars. But the river her family depends on may be taken, and her mother’s memories reveal how land, home, and loved ones have already been lost. The collection joins these intimate scenes with Sioux legends and reflections on the Native American experience, preserving a child’s wonder alongside an adult’s clear-eyed account of injustice. What will this young listener carry with her when the stories—and the world around her—begin to change?

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