Cultural assimilation
Perhaps the most vital theme in Zitkala-Sa's collection of writings is cultural assimilation. Zitkala-Sa — and many fellow American Indians — lived peaceful and solitary lives on their reservations prior to the arrival of white settlers and the United States government. When those settlers and the U.S. government intervened in their lives, many young American Indians were forced into schools in which they were compelled to forget their culture and assimilate into the culture of white Americans. They were also forced to learn English, give up their religion, and get a western education — all while being treated horribly along the way.
For Zitkala-Sa, as well as every American Indian who suffered under horrific white rule, this forced cultural assimilation severely damaged them. And Zitkala-Sa's novel is fundamentally a warning that people should not forget about forced cultural assimilation and should work hard against it in the future. Zitkala-Sa's writings are also informational: few people across the United States (and the world) knew about the horrible things many American Indians were forced to endure in the name of "progress" "advancement" and "civility.
Cultural mixing
Zitkala-Sa's writings provide a unique window into the effect that cultural mixing had on American Indians. This is one of the biggest themes in each of her works. The children in the boarding schools mentioned above were told to forget their culture, religion, and language and adopt the culture, religion, and language of white people. This, understandably, never happened for those Indian Americans forced into boarding schools. For them, the culture they were born into and the culture they were forced to assimilate into mixed together, thereby creating a brand new culture.
This theme underscores the insidiousness of the plan to force young American Indians to assimilate into white culture. It is also informational and illuminates just how resilient and adaptive the young American Indians were despite the bad circumstances they were forced into.
Identity
Because of the forced cultural assimilation, Zitkala-Sa and other American Indians had to endure at very young ages, many had identity issues. Should they act like white Americans? Or should they act like American Indians? Which aspects of the white American culture should they adhere to? And which aspects of their own culture should they adhere to. Each person who experienced forced assimilation faced questions like that, as well as many other questions and cultural clashes.
