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Black Elk-"A Holy Man, Storyteller & Intercessor for his people"
"Our Interconnectedness, and the Sacredness of all of Nature"
Will Moreau Goins, Ph.D.
In preparation for this role, I have been fortunate enough to read again the book "Black Elk Speaks" and other associated
texts like "The Sacred Pipe: Black Elk's Account of the Seven Rites of the Oglala Sioux". I had read Black Elk Speaks
years ago and discovered an inspiring and poetic text presenting a world filled with tragedy, Lakota lore, and magic. Yet
this time, I seemed to be looking for different things to best prepare myself for this role and so I could better understand
this mystical man that has been elusive in my previous reading. Being a Native American Indian (of Cherokee and Iroquois ancestry),
I knew, expressed myself and already understood our shared Native American perspective of "Mother Earth", yet still
it was important for me to specialize my research into the specific vision and message of Black Elk. I began looking for universal
themes and his perspective of ecology or the sacredness of "Mother Earth." This was important in the synthesizing
these perspectives into the Chautauqua presentation and for my better understanding of the psyche of this special man. According
to Black Elk, the sky is "a father and the earth a mother" and "all living things with feet or wings or roots"
are "their children" In his own words, Black Elk tells us of the important of his telling of this story and his
sacred vision.
"My friend, I am going to tell you the story of my life, as you wish; and if it were only the story of my life I
think I would not tell it; for what is one man that he should make much of his winters, even when they bend him like a heavy
snow? So many other men have lived and shall live that story, to be grass upon the hills. It is the story of all life that
is holy and is good to tell, and of us two-leggeds sharing in it with the four-leggeds and the wings of the air and all green
things; for these are children of one mother and their father is one Spirit." (pg 1, Black Elk Speaks)
It is most important to acknowledge that Black Elk emphasizes that his own life story is also the story of his tribe and
"all life", in fact, and it would not be worth telling if it were only his personal story. This statement indicates
the communal nature of his American Indian experience, which is important and not the same perspective that a contemporary
Native American Indian of today would have, who cherishes and acknowledges his or her individuality and unique experience.
Characteristic of many of the "turn of the century" American Indian perspectives, Black Elk thinks of himself almost
entirely in the context of his tribe or band, and he embodies the values of his people. In that respect, he is like the heroes
of classical literature for many different cultures of people, not just American Indians. Therefore, Black Elks story is by
no means a "story" unique to any one Native Nation or region. It is somehow a universal perspective, which is why
he has become and icon of the Native American experience.
Similarly, communities of aboriginal groups come under the authority of a central administration or dominate culture,
many times, that comes to dictate the historical narratives of the those aboriginal groups. However, there are occasions when,
like Black Elk, in contradistinction to the dominating victors' voices, narratives of the defeated survive to tell a quite
different story that continues to have relevance and resonance for several decades or even centuries after the actual occurrence
of the factual events in question. Black Elk's telling of his story falls into this type of relevant narratives and ethnographic
record, a story that is important, primarily because it is a story told by a Native person. Black Elk tells a personal narrative
which has the characteristics of several genres of literature: autobiography, testimonial, tribal history, epic novel and
an elegy. Most importantly, Black Elk allowed his vision to be recorded (this is not commonly done). This was beneficial to
Black Elk because he found a way to preserve his vision for future generations as well as create a record of the old Lakota
ways as testament and memorial to a way of life now gone and ever changing. Black Elk wanted to preserve his visions and the
lifestyles/culture of his people from that historic era and create an anthropological record of Siouan religion, culture and
life style. This is seminal to the original ethnographic data collection process and the impact that this poetic narrative
has had on all generations and readers that have had that opportunity to read this narrative.
Nonetheless, "Who is Black Elk?" and what was his perspective on the sacredness of "Mother Earth."
Black Elk is considered to be one of the greatest religious thinker yet produced by native North Americans Indians, and
his account is perhaps the most useful portrayal of "age old" Lakota religion, as represented through its recounting
of Black Elk's great vision. His vision experience is central to the sacred religion of the Lakota, and therefore the content
of his vision has religious significance and is related to the traditional religious beliefs of many Native American Indian
tribal cultures. As a "Holy Man" Black Elk's responsibility was to keep the ritualistic and communal aspects of
Sioux life alive and moving from present history into the future as well as find a way to return the Sioux life back to the
"good red road." This responsibility is like no other of any "holy man" in the native tradition"
and Black Elk's destiny as the bearer of the nations burden is epic in the traditional sense. Black Elk's most distinctive
personal characteristic is his spirituality. His acceptance of his visionary experience and participation in the ghost dance,
about 20 years later, show that Black Elk believes deeply in a divine power greater than himself. In Sioux belief, the divine
power that created the world, whose presence can be perceived in daily life; comparable to the Judeo-Christian idea of God.
Throughout his daily life, he recognized a divine presence: in a thunderstorm, in the coming of spring. In his deepest expression
of sorrow at the dislocation his tribe suffered, he is mindful of that spiritual reality: "We are prisoners of war while
we are waiting here," he says of reservation life. "But there is another world."
Black Elk was born during "the winter the four Crows were killed" in the "month of ripe cherries"
(possibly July 1864), on Little Powder River (in present-day Wyoming), an Oglala Lakota of the Big Road's Band. His second
cousin was Crazy Horse. He was one of seven siblings including one brother and five sisters. His father was a warrior/medicine
man, which is very significant to his path and legacy. Black Elk followed in the tradition of his father and grandfather who
were both wichasha wakan. However, unlike his father and grandfather, Black Elk wasn't just responsible for saving and curing
people like other medicine men of that time, but he was responsible for saving, curing and restoring the lifeways and culture
of entire Sioux nation. At five, he had his first vision. At nine, he experienced a long, complex vision. This vision granted
to him at the age of nine empowers Black Elk to lead and minister to his people, and especially to maintain their "sacred
hoop" their cultural identity and coherence as a tribe. At 12 he had a very great vision that obligated him to help the
Lakota preserve their old ways. Black Elk admitted later, "I had been appointed by my vision to be intercessor for my
people with the spirit powers...if I had done this probably we would have been as we were before [the white men came]. At
this time, when I had these things in my mind, I was abroad with strange people..." Also in 1876, at 12 participated
in legendary Battle of the Little Big Horn. He was a contemporary of and knew Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, Red Cloud, and American
Horse. In 1877 he was devastated by the murder of Crazy Horse and fled with the Big Road band of Lakotas to Canada. In 1880
he returned to the Lakota reservation in the United States of America. In 1881 he revealed boyhood vision in the 'horse dance'
and became an accomplished medicine man. In 1886, disgusted with reservation life, he traveled with the Buffalo Bill's Wild
West Show to New York City, then Europe. In 1888 he left the show to drift in England, Germany and France. In 1889 Buffalo
Bill paid his return to reservation. 1890 he embraced ghost dance as fulfillment of vision, but dance resulted in murder of
his friend, Sitting Bull, and later at Wounded Knee the massacre of 300 Lakotas. This was devastating and pivotal in his life.
In 1892 still medicine man at 29, he married Katie War Bonnet who became Catholic. He had three sons William 1893, John 1895
and Benjamin 1899 who were baptized as Catholics. In 1903 Katie died, which was another important moment of significance in
his life. In 1904 he became Catholic as "Nicholas Black Elk". In 1906 he married Anna Brings White, a widow with
two daughters. With Anna he had children Lucy, Henry and Nick, Jr. In 1907 he became Catholic catechist, and began instructing
others as far away as Nebraska and Wyoming. In 1913 virtually ran mission at Yankton reservation. In 1916 he was a catechist
on Pine Ridge reservation. In 1926 he manned a special catechist's house near Holy Rosary Mission. In 1930 he was "discovered"
by poet John Neihardt, who became his ethnographer and who crafted a story of Nick as defeated old Lakota holy man. Somehow
he felt that he had missed his appointed moment to help his people. Black Elk agonized over that question the rest of his
life. In 1932 Neihardt's Black Elk Speaks appeared without acclaim. In 1933 he was badly injured by buckwagon. From 1936 to
1946 he performed rituals for tourists. In 1941 Anna, his second wife died. From 1947 to 1949 he detailed sacred rites of
Lakotas to another author, Joseph Epes Brown. 1948 a fall made him an invalid. On August 19, 1950, Black Elk died and was
buried at St. Agnes Mission Chapel, near Manderson, South Dakota. In 1953 Joseph Epes Brown published The Sacred Pipe: Black
Elk's Account of the Seven Rites of the Oglala Sioux. In 1961 Black Elk Speaks was reprinted, this time receiving enormous
acclaim. In 1993 Michael Steltenkamp's Black Elk: Holy Man of the Oglala revealed in book-length Black Elk's 43 years as a
Christian catechist.
Black Elk's vision is his message. The wisdom of this spirituality, shared in his vision, is based on such concepts as
"The Earth is your Grandmother and Mother, and She is sacred. Every step that is taken upon her should be as a prayer"
and "Every dawn as it comes is a holy event, every day is holy." Black Elk's vision illustrates a relationship through
its constant reference to environmental factors: weather conditions, flora, fauna, and color. In Lakota theology, weather
conditions, such as wind, rain; thunder, and hail--all of which are present in the vision-- are manifestations of the powers
of the Great Spirit. His vision tells us that all aspects of the environment, in fact, illustrate the relationship between
the Lakota religion and nature, for, like the wind and thunderstorms, all aspects of nature and sacred "Mother Earth"
were created by the Great Spirit. In this way, man and his environment are intertwined and related and, thus, they develop
a mutual respect for one another as a result of their common link to the Great Spirit and their mutual point of origin. The
vision takes the unity of the Lakota one step further, as it prophesies a national-Indianism, or possibly pan-humanism, oneness:
"I saw that the sacred hoop of my people was one of many hoops that made one circle...it was holy."
Therefore, If you question the superiority and validity of the goals of western society; if you are concerned about our
environmental crisis; if you are concerned about the problems created by highly developed technology; if you are questioning
our basic values concerning life, nature and the destiny of man; if you are open to look at the models represented by the
American Indians; if you want talk about peace, unity and the interconnectedness of all things then you will find something
of value in the story and experiences of Black Elk.
"I thought of my vision, and how it was promised me that my people should have a place in this earth where they could
be happy every day". From the center of the earth I had been shown all good and beautiful things in a great circle of
peace, and maybe this land of my vision was where all my people were going, and there they would live and prosper where no
Wasichus were or could ever be." -- BLACK ELK
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SUGGESTED READING
Green, Carol. Black Elk : A Man with a Vision. Chicago: Children's Press, 1990.
Neihardt, John G.; Black Elk Speaks; the life story of a beloved Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux. 1989
Turtle, Eagle Walking, story and paintings; Keepers of the Fire, Journey to the Tree of Life; 1987; based on Black Elks
Vision. "The Indian Autobiography: Origins, Type, and Function," American Literature, 1981
Brown, Dee. Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee. New York: Henry Holt and Co., 1970
DeLoria, Vine, Jr. Custer Died for Your Sins. Avon Publishers: New York, 1970
DeMallie, Raymond J., The Sixth Grandfather: Black Elk's Teachings Given to John G. Neihardt, 1st ed. Lincoln: University
of Nebraska Press 1984.
DeMallie, Raymond J. and Douglas R. Parks, Sioux Indian Religion: Tradition and Innovation, 1987.
Lazarus, Edward. Black Hills, White Justice. New York. Harper Collins, 1989
Steltenkamp, Michael F. Black Elk: Holy Man of the Lakota. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1993.
The Sacred Pipe: Black Elk's Account of the Seven Rites of the Oglala Sioux (as told to Joseph Epes Brown, MJF Books 1997
Black Elk, Wallace H. and William S. Lyon, Black Elk: The Sacred Ways of a Lakota, 1990.
Brown, Joseph E., The Sacred Pipe: Black Elk's Account of the Seven Rites of the Oglala Sioux, 1971.
Bourke, John G., On the Border with Crook, 1891.
Buechel, Eugene, A Dictionary of the Teton Dakota Sioux Language: Lakota-English, English-Lakota with Considerations Given
to Yankton and Santee, Edited by Paul Manhart, S.J., 1970.
Clark, William P., The Indian Sign Language, 1885.
Densmore, Frances, Teton Sioux Music, 1918.
Desersa, Esther Black Elk, Conversations with the Black Elk Family, 2000.
Eastman, Charles A., Indian Boyhood, 1902, and The Soul of the Indian: An Interpretation, 1911.
De Barthe, Joe, The Life and Adventures of Frank Grouard, 1894.
Hassrick, Royal B., The Sioux: Life and Customs of a Warrior Society, 1964.
Holler, Clyde, editor, The Black Elk Reader, 2000. and Black Elk's Religion: the Sun Dance and Lakota Catholicism, 1995.
Hyde, George E., Red Cloud's Folk: A History of the Oglala Sioux Indians, 1937.
Hyde, George E., Spotted Tail's Folk: A History of the Brule Sioux, 1961.
Kadlecek, E.K. and Mabell, To kill an Eagle: Indian views on the last days of Crazy Horse, 1981.
Lame Deer, John (Fire) and Richard Erdoes, Lame Deer: Seeker of Visions, 1972.
McGillycuddy, Julia B., McGillycuddy Agent: A Biography of Dr. Valentine T. McGillycuddy, 1941.
Mails, Thomas E., Fools Crow: Wisdom and Power, 1991.
Neihardt, Hilda. Black Elk and Flaming Rainbow: Personal Memories of the Lakota Holy Man and John Neihardt, 1995.
Neihardt, John G., Black Elk Speaks: Being the Life Story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux, 1932.
Olson, James C., Red Cloud and the Sioux Problem, 1965.
Powers, William K., Oglala Religion, 1977, and Yuwipi: Vision and Experience in Oglala Ritual, 1982.
Rice, Julian, Black Elk's Story: Distinguishing Its Lakota Purpose, 1991.
Riggs, Stephen Return, Mary and I: Forty Years with the Sioux, 1880.
Sandoz, Mari, Crazy Horse: Strange Man of the Oglalas, 1942, and Battle of the Little Big Horn, 1966, and These were the
Sioux, 1961.
Standing Bear, Luther, Land of the Spotted Eagle, 1933.
Steinmetz, Paul B., The Sacred pipe: An Archetypal Theology, 1998, and Meditations with Native Americans: Lakota Spirituality,
1984, and Pipe, Bible, and Peyote among the Oglala Lakota: A Study in Religious Identity, Revised. ed., 1990.
Steltenkamp, Michael F., The Sacred Vision: Native American Religion and Its Practice Today, 1982, and Black Elk: Holy
Man of the Oglala, 1993.
Utley, Robert M., The Last Days of the Sioux Nation, 1963.
Vestal, Stanley, Sitting Bull: Champion of the Sioux: A Biography, 1957, and Warpath: The True Story of the Fighting Sioux
Told in a Biography of Chief White Bull, 1934.
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QUOTATIONS FROM BLACK ELK
"After the horse dance was over, it seemed that I was above the ground and did not touch it when I walked."
"And when I breathed, my breath was lightning. "
"Also, as I lay there thinking of my vision, I could see it all again and feel the meaning with a part of me like
a strange power glowing in my body; but when the part of me that talks would try to make words for the meaning, it would be
like fog and get away from me."
"I think I have told you, but if I have not, you must have understood, that a man who has a vision is not able to
use the power of it until after he has performed the vision on earth for the people to see. "
"So I sang to them all the songs that I had heard in my vision, and it took most of the night to teach these songs
to them. "
"And while I stood there I saw more than I can tell and I understood more than I saw; for I was seeing in a sacred
manner the shapes of all things in the spirit, and the shape of all shapes as they must live together like one being. "
"Grandfather, Great Spirit, once more behold me on earth and lean to hear my feeble voice."
"And as he spoke of understanding, I looked up and saw the rainbow leap with flames of many colors over me. "
"I cured with the power that came through me. "
"I had never told any one all of it, and even until now nobody ever heard it all."
TIME LINE
1864 circa Born Winter the Four Crows were killed in Month of Ripe Cherries (possibly July 1864), on Little Powder River
(in present-day Wyoming), an Oglala Lakota in Big Road's Band. Second cousin to Crazy Horse. One brother, five sisters. Father:
warrior/medicine man.
1869 At five, had his first vision. At nine, experienced long, complex vision.
1876 At 12 participated in legendary Battle of the Little Big Horn.
1877 devastated by murder of Crazy Horse, fled with Big Road band to Canada.
1880 Returned to Lakota reservation in America.
1881 revealed boyhood vision in the 'horse dance', became accomplished medicine man.
1886 disgusted with reservation life, went with Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show to New York City, then Europe. 1888 left
show to drift in England, Germany and France.
1889 Buffalo Bill paid his return to reservation.
1890 embraced ghost dance as fulfillment of vision, but dance resulted in murder of Sitting Bull and later at Wounded
Knee the massacre of 300 Lakotas.
1892 still medicine man at 29, he married Katie War Bonnet who became Catholic. Three sons William 1893, John 1895 and
Benjamin 1899 were baptized as Catholics. 1903 Katie died.
1904 became Catholic as Nicholas Black Elk
1906 married Anna Brings White, a widow with two daughters. With Anna he had Lucy, Henry and Nick, Jr.
1907 became Catholic catechist, instructed others as far away as Nebraska and Wyoming.
1913 virtually ran mission at Yankton reservation. 1916 catechist on Pine Ridge reservation.
1926 manned special catechist's house near Holy Rosary Mission.
1930 "discovered" by poet John Neihardt, who crafted story of Nick as defeated old Lakota holy man.
1932 Neihardt's Black Elk Speaks appeared without acclaim. 1933 badly injured by buck wagon.
1936 for next 10 years performed rituals for tourists.
1941 Anna, his second wife, died.
1947 to 1949 detailed sacred rites of Lakotas to Joseph Epes Brown.
1948 a fall made him an invalid.
August 19, 1950, died a practicing Christian. Buried at St. Agnes Mission Chapel, near Manderson, South Dakota.
1953 Joseph Epes Brown published The Sacred Pipe: Black Elk's Account of the Seven Rites of the Oglala Sioux.
1961 Black Elk Speaks was reprinted, this time receiving enormous acclaim.
1993 Michael Steltenkamp's Black Elk: Holy Man of the Oglala revealed in book-length Black Elk's 43 years as a Christian
catechist.
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