American Indian Stories

Apples are mentioned several times in the autobiographical sections of American Indian Stories, always in connection with the education in mission schools. For the young Zitkála-Šá, apples are not simply something sweet and delicious but a symbol of the world beyond her reservation, which she had never seen. One day, her friend Judéwin returns from a mission school and tells her “of the great tree where grew red, red apples; and how we could reach out our hands and pick all the red apples we could eat” (23). The apples suggest that the world beyond the reservation is a land of plenty, filled with wondrous delights. The interpreter for the visitors from the mission school assures Zitkála-Šá, “[y]es, little girl, the nice red apples are for those who pick them” (23). These delights fascinate Zitkála-Šá, and she begs her mother to allow her to attend mission school. After her mother agrees, Zitkála-Šá dreams of the apples, even characterizing the East where the mission school is as the “Red Apple Country” (26).

However, the apples turn out to be nonexistent. At the mission school, Zitkála-Šá finds no apples. More broadly, she learns that the world outside the reservation is not a wondrous land of plenty.