A Note on "Blue Star Woman" and Deception in Zitkala Sa's *American Indian Stories*

Obviously, there is a lot of deception between the white settlers and the
Native Americans, mostly coming from one side. The story of the Blue Star
Woman nearly exemplifies all the deception that the whites used to swindle
American Indians. Blue Star woman is poor, does not have any land, and
does not have an identity that states she belongs to a tribe. Since BSW
has no family, no one is willing to help her. Sadly, BSW is easy prey for
anyone who even pretends to help her, such as the two "nephews."

The two "nephews" deceive BSW quite easily into giving them half of her
land once they are able to get it for her. How they do get it from the
Sioux is unknown and probably further due to deception. The fact that it
is not mentioned in the story is a bit deceiving in itself. Did the men
deceive more people in order to get the land and make similar deals? How
much influence with the U.S. government did they really have to help a
little old lady get some land? All the reader knows is that BSW is awarded
a plot of land on the Sioux reservation.

The fact that the Sioux had to give up land to an unknown lady is
deceiving too because it is strange that they did not know the woman -
assuming she lived close by. When the chief of the Sioux was sent to jail,
he saw a dream of the Statue of Liberty's torch touching all Indian
reservations. He believed this was a good thing because light is a good
thing normally. However, his dream may have deceived him. The light was
white, which could represent the influence the white people are having on
the natives. The Statue of Liberty obviously appears friendly, but so did
the white settlers at first. The chief interpreted the dream as a good
omen, but it could have been a warning of things to come.

And it was a forewarning. The "friendliness" occurs when he is released
from jail and all rejoice. However, the trick comes when the two "nephews"
appear and tell him of the agreement they made to surrender half of their
land in exchange for the chief's release. Why would two American Indians
betray their people like that? Was the dream really a warning? How did the
two nephews get the land for Blue Star Woman?

A.L.