Colonizing the Mind: A Dialectic Approach to Education and Language in Zitkala-Ša’s American Indian Stories
Colonizing the Mind: A Dialectic Approach to Education and Language in Zitkala-Ša’s American Indian Stories

Summary/Abstract: Mind colonization has been a burning issue in the last few decades in the fields of science and humanities. It is argued that mind colonization of the indigenous populations has been conducted via education and language in the mission of ‘civilizing’ since education and language carry culture specific sets of meaning, including knowledge and truth which condition our perception of the world. Zitkala-Ša is one of the earliest Native American authors and activists who sought to subvert the epistemological hierarchy imposed through mind colonization. Zitkala-Ša’s autobiographical collection of short stories titled American Indian Stories (1921) documents her boarding school experience and the acquisition of the colonizer’s education and language. The present paper seeks to address mind colonization through language and education on the example of Zitkala-Ša’s American Indian Stories relying on a number of theories and approaches. The paper also reflects on the importance of Zitkala-Ša mastery of the colonizer’s language.

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