Black Elk Speaks: Being the Life Story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux

by Nicholas Black Elk

Other authorsJohn G. Neihardt
Paperback, 2005

Status

Available

Publication

University of Nebraska Press (2005), Edition: 3rd Revised edition, Paperback, 312 pages

Description

"Black Elk Speaks, the story of the Oglala Lakota visionary and healer Nicholas Black Elk (1863-1950) and his people during momentous twilight years of the nineteenth century, offers readers much more than a precious glimpse of a vanished time. Black Elk's searing visions of the unity of humanity and Earth, conveyed by John G. Neihardt, have made this book a classic that crosses multiple genres. Whether appreciated as the poignant tale of a Lakota life, a history of a Native nation, or an enduring spiritual testament, Black Elk Speaks is unforgettable"--

Language

Original publication date

1932

Physical description

312 p.; 5.29 inches

Media reviews

… Based on interviews given by Lakota holy man Nicolas Black Elk (1863-1950)… a moving portrait of Black Elk emerges. He believed he should use his visions and special powers to help the Lakota return to a good life…. Yet he could find no way to make this dream a reality, and Neihardt
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emphasizes Black Elk's mournful recognition of this failure. However, since Neihardt intended his book as a work of art rather than an anthropological oral history, he felt free to add thoughts of his own and to omit the more optimistic side of Black Elk's views….
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User reviews

LibraryThing member AbbyR
I have had this book since I was a young girl attending a summer camp that stressed Indian lore and history, particularly that of the Lakota and Ojibwa tribes. Black Elk was a young man when he went on his vision quest, at a time when the white settlers were destroying the Native way of life.
The
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Lakota fought to retain their homeland and their culture, finally losing it at Wounded Knee.

This book is not only a history of a tragic time in our history, but a beautiful vision of what should be - united people of all colors caring with great love for their Mother, the earth.

This is one of my very favorite books, and it has been for well over 30 years.
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LibraryThing member hybman1
The history of the American Indians is a shameful and disgraceful one; it is a story that is 'swept under the rug' by Americans today. Black Elk Speaks is a book that exposes all the wrongdoings of the American government when dealing with the Natives. It is a unique book in that the author, John
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G. Neihardt, did not write the book. All Neihardt did was scribe the narration of Nicholas Black Elk, a holy man of a tribe in the Sioux Indian nation. Because of the unique method of writing this book, the book has a wonderfully different voice than anything ever written by any Western author. Black Elk refers to places and things as his Indian nation called them. Neihardt also took down Black Elk’s speech in its untainted form, so that you are literally reading what the old Indian man said. Because of this, the language of the book is incredibly detailed and descriptive, because that is how the Sioux language works. They describe mountains not by a name, but by the shape of the mountain or where they are or what color they are or what things grow there. The text can become somewhat confusing because this type of narration is completely different from anything ever written by a Western author. Black Elk Speaks, if nothing else, opens up a new perspective on how to communicate. But a reader should get much, much more out of this text. Black Elk describes, through his pure and naïve voice, the persecution and trickery that led to their ‘relocation’. It is a story of a bully, represented by the United States, making fun of the little guy with his eyes blindfolded (the Natives). They had no idea what was happening, and before they could figure it out, they had been soundly defeated by the advancing United States. Black Elk describes what it felt like, what it was like to be there, seemingly with his hands tied, watching his civilization crumble before his very eyes. It is a wonderfully crafted text.
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LibraryThing member mckait
This is the story of Nicholas Black Elk. It is also a story of the arrival and actions of the white people in the land of the Native Americans. We love this book. I say we because my family and I have read it to tatters twice.

It tells this story from the often neglected perspective of one of the
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Sioux tribes that endured being forced off of their land and onto reservations. People who watched the buffalo all but disappear, and a way of life disappear with them. The story is infused with spirituality and wisdom. This is a book that stays with you, and calls you back to its pages.
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LibraryThing member rhohnholt
One of the best books I've ever read and one of the few that I go back to and read over and over. It moves me again every time I read it.
LibraryThing member ces317
This book is the memoir of a Lakota Indian named Black Elk and the treatment of the Native Americans in the late 1800s and early 1900s by white settlers. This book was one of the most moving books I have ever read because of the fact that it is completely unbiased. Black Elk relayed his story to
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Neihardt as a very old man, a very long time after the occurrences in the book. He was not looking for fame or sympathy, but just to archive the history of his culture. He tells simply the facts and does not inflate anything, yet i find myself tearing up at certain points in the book. The book is also very spiritual, recalling all of Black Elks "visions." He describes exactly what it was he saw and does not try to explain the sense behind it, but just what he did in response. The book follows his life as he is brutally repressed and eventually relocated to a reservation. There Black Elk and his fellow Native Americans are stripped of their culture and beliefs and forced into assimilation. They are blacked in white schools, converted to Catholicism, and given work force jobs. No longer can Black Elk roam the land as he did and live off of nature. Neihardt manages to write the entire book just as Black Elk recalls it, simply and unchanged. This book is incredibly moving and a very important historical artifact in our country.
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LibraryThing member sammii507
I enjoyed this book. I found it kind of difficult when I was reading it to figure out what was actually Black Elk, and what was Neihardt, although the editor had thankfully given little footnotes on the side. While I think this was a powerful book, and very interesting to read, the lack of any true
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authenticity bothered me quite a lot. I didn't really understand why Neihardt couldn't just tell us what Black Elk said. It was obvious to me that good parts of the book were Black Elk's words filtered through a European-American consciousness in such a way that they would be understandable to European-Americans. And this bugged me, some places more than others.

Still, looking at the time when it was written, I think the interesting thing of the book is not what it tells you of Black Elk (of which most words were to me suspect because of Neihardt's 'filter'), but of what it tells you of Neihardt and the mainstream society of the time.

This is not a book to read if you want an accurate, authentic autobiography of Native Americans, but it is an interesting book of Native American/European-American fusion for the time period.
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LibraryThing member MusicalGlass
From interviews conducted with the Oglala Lakota medicine man (and Catholic catechist) Black Elk in the 1930s, Neihardt constructs the story of a witness to the defeat of Custer at the Little Big Horn River and the Wounded Knee Massacre at Pine Ridge, plus horse visions, rifles and scalps, Crazy
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Horse and a trip to Paris.

“It was a happy summer and nothing was afraid, because in the Moon When the Ponies Shed word came from the Wasichus that there would be peace and that they would not use the road anymore and that all the soldiers would go away. The soldiers did go away and their towns were torn down; and in the Moon of Falling Leaves, they made a treaty with Red Cloud that said that our country would be ours as long as grass should grow and water flow. You can see that it is not the grass and the water that have forgotten.”

Full Moon Winter Ale
Hop Head Red Ale
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LibraryThing member earthlistener
Despite the debate over the exact accuracy of this book, its still a nice read.
LibraryThing member traumleben
A spiritually powerful book that is as much a testament to Nebraskan John Neihardt's skill as a writer as it is Black Elk's virtuous execution of the oral storytelling tradition. Relating the story of his life, Black Elk takes the reader inside his faith and opens a window to the belief system of
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his people. On a broader scale, we see the clash of two civilizations in its last stages and it's plain to see the winner wasn't necessarily the better. A sad story, beautifully told and a must read for every American.
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LibraryThing member CatherineBurkeHines
I've read and re-read this book about yearly since I-don't-know-when. One of the few books - Man's Search for Meaning is another - that is life-changing.
LibraryThing member Anniik
I enjoyed this book. I found it kind of difficult when I was reading it to figure out what was actually Black Elk, and what was Neihardt, although the editor had thankfully given little footnotes on the side. While I think this was a powerful book, and very interesting to read, the lack of any true
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authenticity bothered me quite a lot. I didn't really understand why Neihardt couldn't just tell us what Black Elk said. It was obvious to me that good parts of the book were Black Elk's words filtered through a European-American consciousness in such a way that they would be understandable to European-Americans. And this bugged me, some places more than others.

Still, looking at the time when it was written, I think the interesting thing of the book is not what it tells you of Black Elk (of which most words were to me suspect because of Neihardt's 'filter'), but of what it tells you of Neihardt and the mainstream society of the time.

This is not a book to read if you want an accurate, authentic autobiography of Native Americans, but it is an interesting book of Native American/European-American fusion for the time period.
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LibraryThing member tezz
An amazing recollection of Black Elk's life, detailing the Native American struggle with European settlement, without blame or prejudice.
LibraryThing member keylawk
Black Elk was approximately 68 and most of his peers had died when he sat down with an epic poet and young translators and began telling his story. It includes glorifications of battles and buffalo hunts, the burdens of suffering caused and endured, and detailed revelations of a tribal visionary.
LibraryThing member kcslade
Black Elk tells about life in the last great days of the plains Indians and how that came to an end. Includes mystical dreams, etc.
LibraryThing member Czrbr
Book Description: University of Nebraska Press August 1, 1988. Biographies & Memoirs : Historical
LibraryThing member girlwithafacee
An excellent book that is used as a sort-of Bible for the Native American Lakota Indians. In the book, there is more than one account of rituals along with narrative form of the everyday life. It is a slow read and extremely simplistic, but refreshing to hear the story of the American oppression of
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the Native Americans in a way that most of us have not been given the chance to hear.
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LibraryThing member DrT
Black Elk Speaks John G. Neihardt

Why I picked up this book: Somebody I know brought this book into clinic and asked me to read it.

Why I finished this book: When I began reading this book there was a lot of mysticism that I tried to appreciate but my memory of my own interactions with another
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medicine man tried to obscure my reading. I kept reading and discovered very interesting experiences of this Ogalala Soiux man with such things as buffalo hunt, spending time at a White man’s military camp, time at war, and others that I really got into. It was fun to hear this man’s perspective and wanted to see what else he would share with me.

Thoughts: I’m glad I read this book. I’m glad I got his perspective of the world and how things changed for him and even though I did not understand all of it (the spiritualism) I really enjoyed spending the time in this book.

Rating: I’d give it a 4 out of 5 star rating because I appreciate the various aspects on this Native American as he recounted different situations as he grew up.
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LibraryThing member nmele
So I realized I'd heard about this book for many years but never read it--there it was in the free books box at a local used book store, so I took it and read it. I found it an engrossing read, but mostly a moving personal witness by a man who felt, at the end of his life, that he had been given a
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calling and had failed to carry it out. Sounds depressing, but it isn't.
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LibraryThing member Anniik
I enjoyed this book. I found it kind of difficult when I was reading it to figure out what was actually Black Elk, and what was Neihardt, although the editor had thankfully given little footnotes on the side. While I think this was a powerful book, and very interesting to read, the lack of any true
Show More
authenticity bothered me quite a lot. I didn't really understand why Neihardt couldn't just tell us what Black Elk said. It was obvious to me that good parts of the book were Black Elk's words filtered through a European-American consciousness in such a way that they would be understandable to European-Americans. And this bugged me, some places more than others.

Still, looking at the time when it was written, I think the interesting thing of the book is not what it tells you of Black Elk (of which most words were to me suspect because of Neihardt's 'filter'), but of what it tells you of Neihardt and the mainstream society of the time.

This is not a book to read if you want an accurate, authentic autobiography of Native Americans, but it is an interesting book of Native American/European-American fusion for the time period.
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LibraryThing member blake.rosser
A quick read, and pretty interesting from a historical perspective. The most valuable part for me was reading about the different Indians and their roles in the various battles. For instance, I didn't realize the same tribes and warriors were involved in probably the two most famous battles in all
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of my highschool history book: Little Big Horn and Wounded Knee. I liked hearing it from Black Elk's perspective. Neihardt lends the telling a lyricism that I'm not sure is completely authentic (after reading Appendix III), but nonethless fits all of the Native-American stereotypes we learn about a nation of solemn, poetic speakers. It's difficult to remain unsympathetic to the Native-American cause after reading about the horror and suffering of Black Elk's people. Perhaps this book would be more powerful for me if I wasn't already firmly in his ideological camp.
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LibraryThing member dele2451
A very impressive and interesting literary accomplishment, especially given the technological, logistical, and societal constraints present when the original manuscript was published. During many chapters I felt like I was riding along on Black Elk's sorrel listening to him describe his visions--at
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least until the academic footnotes/annotations in this edition intruded. I believe the lovely illustrations found in the back of the text would have also been much more powerful if they were incorporated into the chapters they depicted. While this book was originally published in the 1930's, it still holds tremendous value for today's readers--recommend.
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LibraryThing member Stahl-Ricco
A powerful book, and a sad book. Black Elk tells of his life and in that story we learn so much!
His peoples names for the months, the significance of circles to the native people, their customs and traditions. Even legends are told in here, like the chapter titled "High Horse's Courting" which I
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really enjoyed! Black Elk's visions are extremely interesting as are his interactions with the spirit and animal worlds. And yet his story is that of the Native American, so it is a sad one. The demise of his people, the deaths of Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull and the massacre at Wounded Knee. And of course, the theft of their land by the Wasichus (white people). The ending, like that of his people, is so sad.
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LibraryThing member kslade
Interesting account from a Lakota man who lived at the time of Crazy Horse and Custer. Includes religous practices.
LibraryThing member Stahl-Ricco
A powerful book, and a sad book. Black Elk tells of his life and in that story we learn so much!
His peoples names for the months, the significance of circles to the native people, their customs and traditions. Even legends are told in here, like the chapter titled "High Horse's Courting" which I
Show More
really enjoyed! Black Elk's visions are extremely interesting as are his interactions with the spirit and animal worlds. And yet his story is that of the Native American, so it is a sad one. The demise of his people, the deaths of Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull and the massacre at Wounded Knee. And of course, the theft of their land by the Wasichus (white people). The ending, like that of his people, is so sad.
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LibraryThing member melsmarsh
I was originally told to read this book by a therapist of all things. While I am still not sure why he recommended this particular book on shamanism, but I did like the book and I have more questions than I have answers. Perhaps like Black Elk, someone will tell me something in a dream and my
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dreams will be made more clear. It was certainly more relevant to my life than other Shamanism books I have read, but still the questions remain.
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Pages

312

Rating

½ (452 ratings; 4)
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