In the 19th century racial minority groups, such as Native Americans and Chinese immigrants, were repeatedly under attack not only by the United States government but by society itself. Society, then and now, continues to racially discriminate and oppress those who do not look the “right” way or those who practice a different way of life. Native Americans were forced off of their native lands and assimilated into white society which brought with it the abandonment of native traditions and culture. Chinese immigrants to the U.S were also expected to leave their cultural traditions behind and assimilate to the American way of life. This forced assimilation of minority groups resulted in many having a mixed identity. This can be associated with being of mixed race, but it can also mean the identity that results from leaving one society and being forced to belong in another. Zitkala-Ša and Sui Sin Far’s autobiographies display their real-life accounts of a life constantly trying to determine and understand having a mixed identity. Through examining Zitkala-Ša’s “The School Days of an Indian girl” and Sui Sin Far’s “Leaves from the Mental Portfolio of an Eurasian”, the hardships of mixed identity and the impact this has on finding belonging in a discriminating society can be further understood.
In the excerpt from Zitkala-Ša’s “The School Days of an Indian girl”, she identified the impacts of being taken away from her family at a young age and forced to “learn the white man’s ways…” (Ša, 865) and how this resulted in her mixed identity. After returning to her tribal home after a few years at boarding school, she found it quite difficult to fully transition back into tribal life. Even though she had been stripped of her native identity, she attempted to ignore that she had been assimilated in white society. She does eventually recognize this fact and forms the belief that she had become “…neither a wild Indian nor a tame one” (Ša, 842). She would forever be considered too white to be fully native but still too native to find acceptance in white society. She concludes that there is no world for her to belong in, and although she wished that she “…had gone West, to be nourished by [her] mother’s love…” (Ša ,866) this was never possible for her after being exposed and taught the ways of white society. Zitkala-Ša’s story demonstrates how her identity became mixed and was done against her will through the system of racial discrimination and oppression.
A variation of Zitkala-Ša’s struggle with mixed identity can be seen in Sui Sin Far’s autobiography “Leaves from the Mental Portfolio of an Eurasian”. Being of mixed race, Sui Sin Far’s realization that she was different from those around her began at a young age. There were those who would point out her Chinese features which immediately led to her being treated as though she was less than everyone around her. Although her outward appearance was not as visibly different from the rest of society like Zitkala-Ša, she still experienced the same internal struggles of finding where she belonged. Even though she was proud to be Chinese, she still saw herself “… keenly alive to every shade of sorrow and suffering… (Far, 835). While she accepted who she was as an Eurasian, this did not stop people from discriminating against her. In comparison to Zitkala-Ša, Sui Sin Far was able to find acceptance in the two worlds that she identified with. However, this acceptance came with the price of only being able to show one part of her mixed identity at a time. As she concluded at the end of her autobiography, she gave her “…right hand to the Occidentals and [her] left hand to the Orientals…” (Far, 842).
Zitkala-Ša and Sui Sin Far experienced the hardships of mixed identity on a daily basis. Zitkala-Ša was never able to find her place in the world as she was constantly torn to choose between her tribal nation and the society that she was forced into. It is hard to imagine the difficulties of what it must have been like to never truly belong because societal views dictated how your life was meant to be. While hard to believe, Zitkala-Ša’s autobiography tells and depicts this undeniable truth in history. Sui Sin Far’s hardships with mixed identity resulted in finding acceptance by society but only by identifying as white and not including her Chinese heritage. Again, this exemplifies the system of discrimination and oppression that forced individuals like Sui Sin Far to never fully be their entire self. Zitkala-Ša and Sui Sin Far both present the reality of what it meant to have a mixed identity in the United States in the 19th century. While both women did not have identical stories of mixed identity, they did share a life of finding a role and place in a world that would have otherwise forgotten them.
