This lesson presents autobiographical episodes from the lives of two women from marginalized communities who look

back on their childhood ,and reflect on

their relationship with the mainstream culture. The first account is by an American Indian woman born in the late nineteenth century ;the second is by a
contemporary Tamil Dalit writer.
THE CUTTING OF MY LONG HAIR

-ZITKALA SA
Zitkála-Šá (1876–1938) (Lakota: Red Bird = Cardinal (bird)), also known as
Gertrude Simmons Bonnin, her missionary-given and later married name, was a
Yankton Dakota Sioux writer, editor, translator, musician, educator, and political
activist. She wrote several works chronicling her struggles with cultural identity and
the pull between the majority culture she was educated within and her Dakota Sioux
culture into which she was born and raised. Her later books were among the first
works to bring traditional Native American stories to a widespread white English-
speaking readership, and she has been noted as one of the most influential Native
American activists of the 20th century.

Working with American musician William F. Hanson, Zitkala-Ša wrote the libretto
and songs for The Sun Dance Opera, (1913), the first American Indian opera. It was
composed in romantic musical style, and based on Sioux and Ute cultural themes.

She was co-founder of the National Council of American Indians in 1926, which
was established to lobby for Native people’s right to United States citizenship and
other civil rights they had long been denied. Zitkala-Ša served as the council’s
president until her death in 1938.
 I.THE CUTTING OF MY LONG HAIR
In this lesson, Zitkala Sa described the painful experience of her first day at school. She was a native American and the other students in the school were also mostly native Americans. Only the staff members were whites.

THE FIRST DAY IN THE LAND OF APPLES

The first day in the land of apples was a bitter cold one. Ground was covered with snow; the trees were bare. The sound of the bell and clatter of shoes were annoying to the sensitive ears. People murmured in an unknown tongue. The narrator’s soul had lost her peace and freedom. But all was useless.
 EATING BY FORMULA
A pale- face woman came up after them. The girls were marching into the dining room. Those were Indian girls in stiff shoes and closely clinging dresses. The boys entered through the opposite door. There were tables and chairs arranged in the dining room. Zitkala Sa was feeling very uncomfortable. A
small bell was tapped. Each of the pupils drew a chair from under the table. Zitkala Sa ,too, pulled her chair and slipped into it.
But when she turned her head ,all others were still standing. She shyly began to rise but then there was a second bell and all were seated. A man’s voice was heard at one end of the hall. Zitkala Sa looked around to see him.But all others hung their
heads over their plates. When the man stopped his mutterings, a third bell was tapped. Everyone picked up their knife and fork and began eating. Zitkala Sa began crying instead. This ‘Eating by Formula’ was too hard a trial for her.
HER FRIEND,JUDEWIN GAVE HER A TERRIBLE WARNING
Late in the morning Zitkala Sa’s friend Judewin gave her a terrible warning. She had overheard the pale face woman talk. They talked about cutting their long, heavy hair. Among her people, short hair was worn by mourners and shingled hair by cowards. Judewin
decided to submit but Zitkala Sa rebelled. She decided not to submit but to struggle.
ZITKALA’S LONG HAIR SHINGLED
Zitkala Sa crept up the stairs quietly when no one was noticing. There she found a large room with three white beds in it. The windows were covered with dark green curtains. It made the room very dim. Zitkala Sa went down on her hands and knees. She crawled under the bed that
was farthest from the door. There she lay huddled.
Soon ,she heard voices calling her name. Women and girls entered the room.Someone threw up the curtains. The room was filled with light. Zitkala Sa was found under the bed and dragged out. She was carried downstairs and tied fast in a chair.
She cried aloud ,shaking her head all the while. She felt the blades of scissors against her neck. She heard them cut off one of her thick braids. Now she lost her spirit and stopped struggling. When her long hair was shingled ,she moaned for her
mother.But no one came to comfort her.
II.WE TOO ARE HUMANBEINGS
……BAMA
Bama (born 1958), also known as Bama Faustina Soosairaj, is a Tamil
Dalit feminist, committed teacher and novelist. She rose to fame with
her autobiographical novel Karukku (1992), which chronicles the joys
and sorrows experienced by Dalit Christian women in Tamil Nadu. She
subsequently wrote two more novels, Sangati (1994) and Vanmam
(2002) along with two collections of short stories: Kusumbukkaran
(1996) and Oru Tattvum Erumaiyum (2003). In addition to this she has
written twenty short stories.
II.WE TOO ARE HUMAN BEINGS
……..BAMA
The narrator, Bama was in the third class. She hadn’t yet heard people speak openly of untouchability. But she had already seen ,felt experienced and got humiliated by what it was.

.
From Bama’s school to home, it was actually possible to walk the distance in ten minutes. But usually, it took her thirty minutes at the very least to reach home. It could even take her from half an hour to an hour. She came watching all the little things happening on
the way.
T

THINGS THAT ATTRACTED HER ATTENTION ON THE WAY

There could be a performing monkey or a snake charmer displaying his snakes. There could be a cyclist who had not got off his bike for three days.
She would watch the spinning wheels, the Maariyaata temple, the huge
bell hanging there, the pongal offerings being cooked in front of the
temple, the stalls of dried fish, sweets and fried snacks and all the other
shops next to each other.
She would see the street light demonstrating how it could change from blue to violet; the narikkuravan
huntergypsy with his wild lemur in cages ,selling needles, clay beads and instruments for cleaning out the
ears. Each thing would pull her to a standstill and not allow her to go any further.
A FEW MORE ENTERTAINMENTS
At times,political parties would arrive, put up a stage and harangue them through mikes. Then there might be a street play or a puppet show or a’’ no magic ,no miracle’’ stunt performance. All these sights would tether her legs and stop her from going home.
She would see the waiters in the coffee clubs cooling the coffee, people chopping the onions in front of the shops or almonds blown down by the wind.
And then, according to the season, there would be mango, sugar cane ,sweet potato, palm-shoots, gram, palm syrup and palm
fruit ,guavas and jack fruit.
Every day she would see people selling sweet and savoury fried snacks,
payasam,halva, boiled tamarind seeds and iced lollies.
 PACKET HELD BY ITS STRING
*One day Bama saw that a threshing floor had been set up near her street.The landlord sat there watching the proceedings. Then an elder of their street came along from the bazaar. He was carrying a small packet. It contained
something like vadai or green banana bhajji. He came along holding out the packet by its string without touching it. She wanted to shriek with laughter at the sight of such a big man carrying a small packet in that fashion.
The elder went straight to the landlord. He bowed low and extended the
packet towards him. The landlord opened it and began to eat. She went
home and told the story in all its comic detail. She felt about with
laughter but Annan ,her brother was not amused.
THE INCIDENT MADE HER ANGRY
Annan told Bama that the old man was not being funny when he carried the package like that. He said everybody believed that they were upper caste and therefore must not touch the lower caste people. If they did, they would be polluted. That’s why he had to carry the package by its string.
When she heard it ,she felt terribly sad. It was disgusting. She felt so much provoked and angry that she wanted to touch those vadais herself straight away .She wondered why poor people showed respect and bowed before such cruel persons.
She saw no reason why an important elder of theirs had to act in such a slavish manner before the landlord. She said, “We too are human beings, We should never bow low before these fellows. We should work in their fields ,take home our wages, and leave it at that.’’
HER ELDER BROTHER’S EXPERIENCE
Her elder brother who was studying at a university would go to the library in their neighbouring village to borrow books during holidays. One day he was on his way home .One of the
landlord’s men asked his name and on which street he lived. The main point of this was that if he knew on which her brother lived, the landlord’s man would know his caste too.
 ANNAN’S ADVICE
EDUCATION GIVES DIGNITY AND RESPECT
Annan told Bama that they were born in a community of ‘’low caste people’’. They were never given any honour or dignity or respect, they were stripped of all that. He added that if they studied and made progress ,they could throw
away these indignities.
He advised her to study with care and learn all she could. He encouraged her if she was always ahead in her lessons ,people would come to her of their own accord and attach themselves to her. He suggested her to work hard and
learn.
Her Annan’s words made a deep impression on her.She studied hard and stood first in her class.Many people became my friends.
 READING WITH INSIGHT
1.The two accounts that we discussed are based on two distant cultures.What is the commonality of theme found in both of them.

2.It may take a long time for oppression to be resisted ,but the seeds of rebellion are sowed early in life.Do you agree that injustice in any form cannot escape being noticed even by children?

3.Bama’s experience is that of a victim of the caste system.What kind of discrimination does Zitkala Sa’s experience depict?What are the responses to their respective situations?