Washington D.C. 1917 to 1938: Despair; Red Bird's Flight Summary and Analysis

In Despair, Zitkala-Sa and Raymond traveled for five months of the year from reservation to reservation documenting Indian injustices. They lived the rest of the year in Washington D.C. She was very ill with the flu. Raymond, Ohiya and his wife were sick too. Ohiya's children were undisciplined. Zitkala-Sa and Raymond took in Ohiya's two children, but they were too out of control. She was too tired and sick to be a mother again. She and Raymond were poor. Whites were not donating to the NCAI. Indians could not pay their $1 membership fees. In government, whites were still anti-Indian. Zitkala-Sa wanted to leave D.C. and return to the reservation, where her best memories were. But Indians at the reservation were destitute. Zitkala-Sa felt lost.

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