By Devyn May, 2025/2026 Power in Place Research Collaborator
When I first encountered Zitkala-Sa, I was struck not only by what she fought for, but by how innovative her resistance was and how much of that fight still feels unfinished. Writing at the turn of the twentieth century, Zitkala-Sa didn’t simply demand inclusion in American political life, she challenged the very assumptions that defined it. Through essays, speeches, and music, she introduced new ways of understanding Indigenous sovereignty, citizenship, and cultural survival at a time when Native people were deliberately excluded from political power. Over a century later, that same spirit of innovation is present in the work of Congresswoman Sharice Davids. Zitkala-Sa could not vote for much of her life, Native people were denied U.S. citizenship until 1924, and even then, voting rights were unevenly enforced. Yet rather than accept silence, she reimagined what political participation could look like. She brought Indigenous perspectives into spaces that had never considered them – using storytelling as political strategy and cultural expression as resistance. Her ideas were radical not only because they challenged federal Indian policy, but because they reframed Native people as modern political actors rather than subjects of assimilation. Sharice Davids operates inside the very institutions that once excluded Zitkala-Sa, but she, too, brings new ideas to the table rather than simply adapting to existing norms. As one of the first Native American women elected to Congress and one of the first openly LGBTQ+ Native women to serve, Davids reshapes what leadership looks like. Her work centers Native communities in policy discussions that have historically ignored them, particularly in areas like healthcare access, economic development, and violence prevention. Like Zitkala-Sa, Davids not just occupy space, she changes the conversation within it. What most clearly connects these two women is their willingness to challenge dominant narratives while introducing alternative visions for political engagement. Zitkala-Sa used literature and cultural critique to disrupt stereotypes that cast Indigenous people as either vanishing or voiceless. Davids does this through lawmaking and visibility, showing that Indigenous leadership is not symbolic but substantive. In different eras, both women insisted that Indigenous perspectives bring value, insight, and necessary change to national decision-making. Their differences reflect their historical contexts. Zitkala-Sa’s activism was necessarily external to government institutions, her influence came from persuasion, education, and cultural resistance. Davids works from within the federal system, translating advocacy into legislation and policy. Davids’ openness about her LGBTQ+ identity also marks a shift Zitkala-Sa never had the opportunity to make publicly. While Zitkala-Sa resisted rigid gender norms and colonial assimilation, Davids confronted those same structures while expanding representation to include queer Indigenous identities. As a student studying international relations, I’m drawn to how systems of power evolve, and how marginalized voices push those systems forward by introducing ideas they were never designed to hold. Zitkala-Sa reminds me that innovation often begins outside institutions. Sharice Davids shows how those ideas can later enter and reshape them. Together, they demonstrate that progress comes not from assimilation, but from persistence, creativity, and the courage to imagine something better. If Zitkala-Sa were alive today, I believe she would recognize Sharice Davids not only as a political successor, but as proof that Indigenous leadership continues to redefine American politics, bringing new ideas forward while honoring the struggles that made that progress possible.
References
“Zitkála-Šá (‘Red Bird’/Gertrude Simmons Bonnin).” National Women’s History Museum, 2022. https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/zitkala-sa.
Devyn May is an International Relations major from Hooksett, New Hampshire, currently studying in Boston, Massachusetts. Her work is driven by a strong interest in the voices, cultures, and political histories of women of color, and how their stories reveal alternative ways of understanding power, identity, and global systems.