Gertrude Simmons Bonnin

Bonnin described her mother as often a sad and silent woman. She described white men as a sickly sham and only the bronzed Dakota as real man. Bonnin hated the "paleface" who made her mother cry. The white man had killed her uncle, sister, and father. Bonnin loved evening meals because that was when old legends were told. When she was eight, missionaries came to her village to take away Indian boys and girls to the East. Her mother, after some time, agreed to let her go to the Eastern land with the "palefaces". There were eight Indian children who were going East with the missionaries. Although Bonnin's mother knew hardships would have to be endured if her daughter traveled East, she also knew the "palefaces" would increase in numbers very soon on the prairies and for her daughter to succeed in life she would need to be an educated woman. Therefore her mother allowed her to go East because she knew it was a neccessary evil.