The Later Years in Washington
The period Zitkála-Šá spent in Washington, D.C. — from roughly the mid-1920s until her death in 1938 — was the final and in some ways the most politically explicit phase of her career.
Washington was where the decisions that most directly affected Native communities were made, and being there allowed for a different kind of engagement with the political process than was possible from Utah or South Dakota. She could attend congressional hearings, meet with officials, lobby directly for the policy changes she was advocating, and maintain the kind of sustained presence in the political conversation that is necessary for effective advocacy.
The National Council of American Indians, which she and Raymond ran from their home, was the organizational vehicle for this work. The Council lobbied on specific pieces of legislation, worked to build coalitions across tribal lines, and maintained a presence in the political conversations about Indian policy that was sustained even when it was not powerful.
She also continued to write and speak during this period. The literary and rhetorical skills that had established her public presence were still deployed in the service of her political work — in editorials, in speeches, in the correspondence and documents that constitute the organizational record of the Council.
The financial precariousness of this work was a constant reality. The Council had minimal resources, and the Bonnins supported the work largely on their own. Raymond’s salary from various positions and Zitkála-Šá’s fees from speaking engagements and publications were the primary income. The work was a form of vocation rather than a career in the ordinary sense.
When she died in 1938, the National Council of American Indians continued for a period under Raymond’s leadership, but without her driving force it did not long survive. The National Congress of American Indians, founded in 1944, took up a similar organizational mission with a broader base of support.