Raymond Bonnin and the Partnership
The partnership between Zitkála-Šá and Raymond Talesfase Bonnin deserves more attention than it typically receives in accounts of her career.
Raymond was a Yankton Dakota man who had served in the Indian Service and who became, throughout the decades of their marriage, her partner in the political and organizational work she was doing. He served as secretary-treasurer of the National Council of American Indians, managed the organizational logistics of their political work, and supported the domestic and practical dimensions of a life centered on advocacy and public engagement.
Their partnership was not without its difficulties. The political work they did together was financially precarious — the National Council of American Indians was chronically underfunded, and the couple supported their advocacy work with limited resources. They worked from their home in Washington, D.C., without the staff and institutional support that would have made the work easier.
Raymond’s service as a veteran — he served in the U.S. Army during World War I — contributed to the couple’s burial at Arlington National Cemetery. The recognition associated with that burial is partly a reflection of Raymond’s military service as well as of Zitkála-Šá’s public career.
The specific nature of Raymond’s own political views and the degree to which he shared his wife’s perspective on the issues she was engaged with is not fully documented in the historical record. What is documented is that he was her partner in the organizational work, and that the work they did together over decades was sustained and consequential.