Uploaded March 2021 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
At the turn of the twentieth century, Native American cultures, governments, and traditions were under sustained attack by federal policies that sought to destroy them. Policymakers drew a contrast between "modern Americans" and "primitive Indians" based on clothing, hairstyle, and self-presentation. Those ideas were reinforced by the many images of American Indians that proliferated in art, literature, the built environment, and myriad other aspects of U.S. culture. This presentation explores how two Native American activists, Marie Bottineau Baldwin (Turtle Mountain Chippewa) and Gertrude Bonnin, also known as Zitkala-Ša (Yankton Dakota), strategically used self-presentation–especially clothing and portraiture–to change public opinion about Native communities in their fight for political rights.
At the turn of the twentieth century, Native American cultures, governments, and traditions were under sustained attack by federal policies that sought to destroy them. Policymakers drew a contrast between "modern Americans" and "primitive Indians" based on clothing, hairstyle, and self-presentation. Those ideas were reinforced by the many images of American Indians that proliferated in art, literature, the built environment, and myriad other aspects of U.S. culture. This presentation explores how two Native American activists, Marie Bottineau Baldwin (Turtle Mountain Chippewa) and Gertrude Bonnin, also known as Zitkala-Ša (Yankton Dakota), strategically used self-presentation–especially clothing and portraiture–to change public opinion about Native communities in their fight for political rights.
