Bonnin, Gertrude (1876–1938)

American Indian writer and activist. A teacher and later a professional violinist, she wrote stories, many of which were published in Harper's Monthly, and also autobiographical sketches, which appeared in Atlantic Monthly. She became involved in American Indian affairs, being a founder member of the National Council of American Indians, which was set up in 1926. She published Old Indian Legends (1901) and American Indian Stories (1921).

A Yankton Sioux, she was born on a reservation at Pine Ridge in South Dakota. At the age of 8 she was sent to a Quaker missionary school in Wabash, Indiana – the clash of cultures this involved is the subject of her poignant autobiographical essays. She qualified as a teacher, but became increasingly unhappy with the denial and suppression of American Indian culture this involved, and left teaching in order to study the violin at Boston Conservatory of Music.

In 1902 she married Raymond Talesfase Bonnin, who worked for the Indian Service, and in 1916 she began working for the Society of American Indians. Having founded the National Council of American Indians in 1926 (she was its president until her death) she played a leading role in winning recognition for American Indian rights and culture.