Heȟáka Sápa, commonly known as Black Elk (December 1, 1863 – August 19, 1950), was a ''wičháša wakȟáŋ'' ("
medicine man
A medicine man or medicine woman is a traditional healer and spiritual leader who serves a community of Indigenous people of the Americas. Individual cultures have their own names, in their respective languages, for spiritual healers and ceremo ...
, holy man") and ''
heyoka
The heyoka (, also spelled "haokah," "heyokha") is a kind of sacred clown in the culture of the Sioux (Lakota and Dakota people) of the Great Plains of North America. The heyoka is a contrarian, jester, and satirist, who speaks, moves and reacts ...
'' of the
Oglala
The Oglala (pronounced , meaning "to scatter one's own" in Lakota language) are one of the seven subtribes of the Lakota people who, along with the Dakota, make up the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ (Seven Council Fires). A majority of the Oglala live o ...
Lakota people. He was a second cousin of the war leader
Crazy Horse
Crazy Horse ( lkt, Tȟašúŋke Witkó, italic=no, , ; 1840 – September 5, 1877) was a Lakota war leader of the Oglala band in the 19th century. He took up arms against the United States federal government to fight against encroachment by wh ...
and fought with him in the
Battle of Little Bighorn
The Battle of the Little Bighorn, known to the Lakota people, Lakota and other Plains Indians as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, and also commonly referred to as Custer's Last Stand, was an armed engagement between combined forces of the Lako ...
. He survived the
Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890. He toured and performed in Europe as part of
Buffalo Bill's Wild West
William Frederick Cody (February 26, 1846January 10, 1917), known as "Buffalo Bill", was an American soldier, bison hunter, and showman. He was born in Le Claire, Iowa Territory (now the U.S. state of Iowa), but he lived for several years in ...
.
Black Elk is best known for his interviews with poet
John Neihardt
John Gneisenau Neihardt (January 8, 1881 – November 3, 1973) was an American writer and poet, amateur historian and ethnographer. Born at the end of the American settlement of the Plains, he became interested in the lives of those who had been ...
, where he discussed his religious views, visions, and events from his life. Neihardt published these in his book ''
Black Elk Speaks
''Black Elk Speaks'' is a 1932 book by John G. Neihardt, an American poet and writer, who relates the story of Black Elk, an Oglala Lakota medicine man. Black Elk spoke in Lakota and Black Elk's son, Ben Black Elk, who was present during the tal ...
'' in 1932. This book has since been published in numerous editions, most recently in 2008. Near the end of his life, he also spoke to American ethnologist
Joseph Epes Brown
Joseph Epes Brown (September 9, 1920 – September 19, 2000) was an American scholar whose lifelong dedication to Native American traditions helped to bring the study of American Indian religious traditions into higher education. His semina ...
for his 1947 book ''The Sacred Pipe''. There has been great interest in these works among diverse people interested in
Native American religions
Native American religions are the spiritual practices of the Native Americans in the United States. Ceremonial ways can vary widely and are based on the differing histories and beliefs of individual nations, tribes and bands. Early European ...
, notably those in the
pan-Indian
Pan-Indianism is a philosophical and political approach promoting unity, and to some extent cultural homogenization, among different Indigenous groups in the Americas regardless of tribal distinctions and cultural differences.
This approach to ...
movement.
Black Elk converted to
Catholicism
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
, becoming a
catechist
Catechesis (; from Greek: , "instruction by word of mouth", generally "instruction") is basic Christian religious education of children and adults, often from a catechism book. It started as education of converts to Christianity, but as the ...
, but he also continued to practice Lakota ceremonies. The
Roman Catholic Diocese of Rapid City
The Diocese of Rapid City ( la, Dioecesis Rapidopolitana) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in western South Dakota, United States. It is a suffragan in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Arc ...
opened an official cause for his
beatification
Beatification (from Latin ''beatus'', "blessed" and ''facere'', "to make”) is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their nam ...
within the Roman Catholic Church in 2016. His grandson, George Looks Twice said, "He was comfortable praying with this pipe and his rosary, and participated in Mass and Lakota ceremonies on a regular basis".
Early years
Childhood
Black Elk came from a long lineage of medicine men and healers in his family. His father was a medicine man, as were his paternal uncles. Black Elk was born into an Oglala
Lakota
Lakota may refer to:
*Lakota people, a confederation of seven related Native American tribes
*Lakota language, the language of the Lakota peoples
Place names
In the United States:
*Lakota, Iowa
*Lakota, North Dakota, seat of Nelson County
*Lakota ...
family in December 1863 along the
Little Powder River (at a site thought to be in the present-day state of
Wyoming
Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...
).
According to the Lakota way of measuring time (referred to as
Winter counts
Winter counts (Lakota: ''waníyetu wówapi'' or ''waníyetu iyáwapi'') are pictorial calendars or histories in which tribal records and events were recorded by Native Americans in North America. The Blackfeet, Mandan, Kiowa, Lakota, and other Pla ...
), Black Elk was born in "the Winter When the Four
Crows
The Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station (CROWS) is a series of remote weapon stations used by the US military on its armored vehicles and ships. It allows weapon operators to engage targets without leaving the protection of their vehicle. T ...
Were Killed on
Tongue River."
[
]
Vision
When Black Elk was nine years old, he was suddenly taken ill; he reported lying prone and unresponsive for several days. During this time he said he had a great vision in which he was visited by the Thunder Beings (''Wakinyan'')"...spirits were represented as kind and loving, full of years and wisdom, like revered human grandfathers."[ When he was 17, Black Elk told a medicine man, Black Road, about the vision in detail. Black Road and the other medicine men of the village were "astonished by the greatness of the vision."][
Late in his life, Black Elk told Neihardt about his vision. He also envisioned a great tree that symbolized the life of the earth and all people.][Neihardt, John, ed., ''Black Elk Speaks'', annotated edition, published by SUNY, 2008, p. 33.] Neihardt later wrote about this in ''Black Elk Speaks.''
In one of his visions, Black Elk describes being taken to the center of the earth, and to the central mountain of the world. Mythologist
Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrati ...
Joseph Campbell
Joseph John Campbell (March 26, 1904 – October 30, 1987) was an American writer. He was a professor of literature at Sarah Lawrence College who worked in comparative mythology and comparative religion. His work covers many aspects of the ...
notes that an "''axis mundi
In astronomy, axis mundi is the Latin term for the axis of Earth between the celestial poles.
In a geocentric coordinate system, this is the axis of rotation of the celestial sphere.
Consequently, in ancient Greco-Roman astronomy, the '' ...
,'' the central point, the pole around which all revolves ... the point where stillness and movement are together..." is a theme in several other religions, as well. Campbell viewed Black Elk's statement as one key to understanding worldwide religious myth and symbols in general.[
From DeMallie's book:
]
The Battle of the Little Bighorn
Black Elk was present at the Battle of the Little Bighorn
The Battle of the Little Bighorn, known to the Lakota and other Plains Indians as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, and also commonly referred to as Custer's Last Stand, was an armed engagement between combined forces of the Lakota Sioux, Nor ...
, and described his experience to John Neihardt
John Gneisenau Neihardt (January 8, 1881 – November 3, 1973) was an American writer and poet, amateur historian and ethnographer. Born at the end of the American settlement of the Plains, he became interested in the lives of those who had been ...
:
Later Years: International touring and Ghost Dance movement
Buffalo Bill's Wild West
In 1887, Black Elk traveled to England with ''Buffalo Bill's Wild West
William Frederick Cody (February 26, 1846January 10, 1917), known as "Buffalo Bill", was an American soldier, bison hunter, and showman. He was born in Le Claire, Iowa Territory (now the U.S. state of Iowa), but he lived for several years in ...
'', an experience he described in chapter twenty of ''Black Elk Speaks
''Black Elk Speaks'' is a 1932 book by John G. Neihardt, an American poet and writer, who relates the story of Black Elk, an Oglala Lakota medicine man. Black Elk spoke in Lakota and Black Elk's son, Ben Black Elk, who was present during the tal ...
.'' On May 11, 1887, the troupe put on a command performance for Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...
, whom they called "Grandmother England." He was among the crowd at her golden jubilee.
In spring 1888, ''Buffalo Bill's Wild West
William Frederick Cody (February 26, 1846January 10, 1917), known as "Buffalo Bill", was an American soldier, bison hunter, and showman. He was born in Le Claire, Iowa Territory (now the U.S. state of Iowa), but he lived for several years in ...
'' set sail for the United States. Black Elk became separated from the group, and the ship left without him, stranding him with three other Lakota
Lakota may refer to:
*Lakota people, a confederation of seven related Native American tribes
*Lakota language, the language of the Lakota peoples
Place names
In the United States:
*Lakota, Iowa
*Lakota, North Dakota, seat of Nelson County
*Lakota ...
. They subsequently joined another wild west show
Wild West shows were traveling vaudeville performances in the United States and Europe that existed around 1870–1920. The shows began as theatrical stage productions and evolved into open-air shows that depicted romanticized stereotypes of c ...
and he spent the next year touring in Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, and Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
. When Buffalo Bill arrived in Paris in May 1889, Black Elk obtained a ticket to return home to Pine Ridge, arriving in autumn of 1889. During his sojourn in Europe, Black Elk was given an "abundant opportunity to study the white man's way of life," and he learned to speak rudimentary English.[
]
The Ghost Dance and Wounded Knee Massacre
Black Elk returned to the Pine Ridge Reservation
The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation ( lkt, Wazí Aháŋhaŋ Oyáŋke), also called Pine Ridge Agency, is an Oglala Lakota Indian reservation located entirely within the U.S. state of South Dakota. Originally included within the territory of the Grea ...
after touring with the Wild West shows. He became involved with the Ghost Dance
The Ghost Dance ( Caddo: Nanissáanah, also called the Ghost Dance of 1890) was a ceremony incorporated into numerous Native American belief systems. According to the teachings of the Northern Paiute spiritual leader Wovoka (renamed Jack Wilso ...
movement, bringing to the followers of the movement a special Ghost Dance shirt
Ghost shirts are shirts, or other clothing items, worn by members of the Ghost Dance religion, and thought to be imbued with spiritual powers. The religion was founded by Wovoka (Jack Wilson), a Northern Paiute Native American, in the late nine ...
, after seeing his ancestors in vision who instructed him, "We will give you something that you shall carry back to your people, and with it they shall come to see their loved ones". The Ghost Dance brought hope: The white man would soon disappear; the buffalo herds would return; people would be reunited with loved ones who had since passed away; the old way of living before the white man would return. This was not just a religious movement but a response to the gradual cultural destruction.
Black Elk was present at the Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890, which occurred due to fear by US settlers of the large interest in the Ghost Dance by Plains tribe
Plains Indians or Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies are the Native American tribes and First Nation band governments who have historically lived on the Interior Plains (the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies) of ...
s. While on horseback, he said he charged soldiers and helped to rescue some of the wounded, arriving after many of Spotted Elk
Spotted Elk (Lakota: Uŋpȟáŋ Glešká, sometimes spelled ''OH-PONG-GE-LE-SKAH'' or ''Hupah Glešká'': 1826 approx – ), was a chief of the Miniconjou, Lakota Sioux. He was a son of Miniconjou chief Lone Horn and became a chie ...
's (Big Foot's) band of people had been shot. He was grazed by a bullet to his hip. Lakota leader Red Cloud
Red Cloud ( lkt, Maȟpíya Lúta, italic=no) (born 1822 – December 10, 1909) was a leader of the Oglala Lakota from 1868 to 1909. He was one of the most capable Native American opponents whom the United States Army faced in the western ...
convinced him to stop fighting after being wounded, and he remained on the Pine Ridge Reservation, where he could convert to Catholicism.
Final years: Conversion to Catholicism
For at least a decade, beginning in 1934, Black Elk returned to work related to his performances earlier in life with Buffalo Bill
William Frederick Cody (February 26, 1846January 10, 1917), known as "Buffalo Bill", was an American soldier, Bison hunting, bison hunter, and showman. He was born in Le Claire, Iowa, Le Claire, Iowa Territory (now the U.S. state of Iowa), but ...
. He organized an Indian show to be held at the Sitting Bull Crystal Cavern Dance Pavilion in the sacred Black Hills
The Black Hills ( lkt, Ȟe Sápa; chy, Moʼȯhta-voʼhonáaeva; hid, awaxaawi shiibisha) is an isolated mountain range rising from the Great Plains of North America in western South Dakota and extending into Wyoming, United States. Black Elk P ...
. Neihardt writes that, unlike the Wild West shows
Wild West shows were traveling vaudeville performances in the United States and Europe that existed around 1870–1920. The shows began as theatrical stage productions and evolved into open-air shows that depicted romanticized stereotypes of co ...
, used to glorify Native American warfare, Black Elk created a show to teach tourists about Lakota culture and traditional sacred rituals, including the Sun Dance
The Sun Dance is a ceremony practiced by some Native Americans in the United States and Indigenous peoples in Canada, primarily those of the Plains cultures. It usually involves the community gathering together to pray for healing. Individuals ...
.
Black Elk's first wife Katie converted to Roman Catholicism
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
, and they had their three children baptized
Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...
as Catholics
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
. After Katie's death, in 1904 Black Elk, then in his 40s, converted to Catholicism. He also became a catechist
Catechesis (; from Greek: , "instruction by word of mouth", generally "instruction") is basic Christian religious education of children and adults, often from a catechism book. It started as education of converts to Christianity, but as the ...
, teaching others about Christianity. He married again and had more children with his second wife; they were also baptized and reared as Catholic. He said his children "had to live in this world." His first wife Katie died in 1903. Black Elk became a Catholic in 1904, when he was in his 40s. He was christened with the name of Nicholas and later served as a catechist
Catechesis (; from Greek: , "instruction by word of mouth", generally "instruction") is basic Christian religious education of children and adults, often from a catechism book. It started as education of converts to Christianity, but as the ...
in the church.[ After this, other medicine men, including his nephew ]Fools Crow
''Fools Crow'' is a 1986 novel written by Native American author James Welch. Set in Montana shortly after the Civil War, this novel tells of White Man's Dog (later known as Fools Crow), a young Blackfeet Indian on the verge of manhood, and his b ...
, referred to him both as Black Elk and Nicholas Black Elk. The widower Black Elk married again in 1905 to Anna Brings White, a widow with two daughters. Together they had three more children, whom they also had baptized as Catholic. The couple were together until her death in 1941. His son, Benjamin Black Elk (1899–1973), became known as the "Fifth Face of Mount Rushmore
Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a national memorial centered on a colossal sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore (Lakota: ''Tȟuŋkášila Šákpe'', or Six Grandfathers) in the Black Hills near Keystone, South Dakota ...
", posing in the 1950s and 1960s for tourists at the memorial.
1930s: Meeting with Neihardt and Brown
In the early 1930s, Black Elk spoke with John Neihardt
John Gneisenau Neihardt (January 8, 1881 – November 3, 1973) was an American writer and poet, amateur historian and ethnographer. Born at the end of the American settlement of the Plains, he became interested in the lives of those who had been ...
and Joseph Epes Brown
Joseph Epes Brown (September 9, 1920 – September 19, 2000) was an American scholar whose lifelong dedication to Native American traditions helped to bring the study of American Indian religious traditions into higher education. His semina ...
, which led to the publication of Neihardt's books. His son Ben translated Black Elk's stories into English as he spoke. Neihardt's daughter Enid recorded these accounts. She later arranged them in chronological order for Neihardt's use. Thus the process had many steps and involved more people than Black Elk and Neihardt in the recounting and recording.
After Black Elk spoke with Neihardt over the course of several days, Neihardt asked why Black Elk had "put aside" his old religion and baptized his children. According to eihardt's daughterHilda, Black Elk replied, "My children had to live in this world." "To live" according to Black Elk, is one of the central prayers of Lakota spirituality. (Black Elk mentions this prayer for life nineteen times in ''The Sacred Pipe''.) In her 1995 memoir, Hilda Neihardt wrote that just before his death, Black Elk took his pipe and told his daughter Lucy Looks Twice, "The only thing I really believe is the pipe religion."
Legacy
Since the 1970s, the book ''Black Elk Speaks
''Black Elk Speaks'' is a 1932 book by John G. Neihardt, an American poet and writer, who relates the story of Black Elk, an Oglala Lakota medicine man. Black Elk spoke in Lakota and Black Elk's son, Ben Black Elk, who was present during the tal ...
'' has become popular with those interested in Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans, also known as American Indians, First Americans, Indigenous Americans, and other terms, are the Indigenous peoples of the mainland United States ( Indigenous peoples of Hawaii, Alaska and territories of the United State ...
. With the rise of Native American activism, there was increasing interest among many in Native American religions
Native American religions are the spiritual practices of the Native Americans in the United States. Ceremonial ways can vary widely and are based on the differing histories and beliefs of individual nations, tribes and bands. Early European ...
. Within the American Indian Movement
The American Indian Movement (AIM) is a Native American grassroots movement which was founded in Minneapolis, Minnesota in July 1968, initially centered in urban areas in order to address systemic issues of poverty, discrimination, and police ...
, especially among non-Natives and urban descendants who had not been raised in a traditional culture, ''Black Elk Speaks'' was a popular book among those newly seeking religious and spiritual inspiration. However, critics have stated that John Neihardt, as the author and editor, may have exaggerated, altered, or invented some of the content either to make it more marketable to the intended white audience of the 1930s, or because he did not fully understand the Lakota culture.
On August 11, 2016, the US Board on Geographic Names officially renamed Harney Peak, the highest point in South Dakota, Black Elk Peak
Black Elk Peak is the highest natural point in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the Midwestern United States. It lies in the Black Elk Wilderness area, in southern Pennington County, in the Black Hills National Forest. The peak lies west-sout ...
in honor of Nicholas Black Elk and in recognition of the significance of the mountain to Native Americans.
In August 2016, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rapid City
The Diocese of Rapid City ( la, Dioecesis Rapidopolitana) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in western South Dakota, United States. It is a suffragan in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Arc ...
opened an official cause for his beatification
Beatification (from Latin ''beatus'', "blessed" and ''facere'', "to make”) is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their nam ...
within the Roman Catholic Church. On October 21, 2017, the cause for canonization
Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of ...
for Nicholas Black Elk was formally opened by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rapid City
The Diocese of Rapid City ( la, Dioecesis Rapidopolitana) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in western South Dakota, United States. It is a suffragan in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Arc ...
, South Dakota, paving the way for the possibility of him eventually being recognized as a saint
In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...
. Black Elk's conversion to Roman Catholicism
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
has confused many, both Indigenous and Catholic. Biographer Jon M. Sweeney
Jon M. Sweeney (born July 18, 1967) is an author of popular history, spirituality, biography, poetry, fiction for young readers, and memoir. His most frequent subjects are Catholic, particularly St. Francis of Assisi, about whom Sweeney has writte ...
addressed this duality in 2020, explaining, "Nick didn't see reason to disconnect from his vision life after converting to Catholicism.... Was Black Elk a true Lakota
Lakota may refer to:
*Lakota people, a confederation of seven related Native American tribes
*Lakota language, the language of the Lakota peoples
Place names
In the United States:
*Lakota, Iowa
*Lakota, North Dakota, seat of Nelson County
*Lakota ...
in the second half of his life? Yes.... Was he also a real Christian? Yes." He is now designated by Catholics as a "Servant of God
"Servant of God" is a title used in the Catholic Church to indicate that an individual is on the first step toward possible canonization as a saint.
Terminology
The expression "servant of God" appears nine times in the Bible, the first five in th ...
", a title indicating that his life and works are being investigated by the Pope and the Catholic Church for possible canonization. His work to share the Gospel with Native and non-Native people and harmonize the faith with Lakota culture were noted at the Mass where this was announced.
Damian Costello writes that Black Elk's Lakota Catholic faith was uniquely anti-colonial, stemming from his Ghost Dance
The Ghost Dance ( Caddo: Nanissáanah, also called the Ghost Dance of 1890) was a ceremony incorporated into numerous Native American belief systems. According to the teachings of the Northern Paiute spiritual leader Wovoka (renamed Jack Wilso ...
vision.[Costello, Damian “Black Elk’s Vision of Waníkiya: the Ghost Dance, Catholic Sacraments, and Lakota Ontology,” Journal of NAIITS: An Indigenous Learning Community, Vol. 16 (2018): 40-56.] In this he says it was broadly analogous to anti-colonial movements from across the globe drawn from the Biblical narrative, such as the Rastafari in Jamaica.[Costello, Damian, ''Black Elk: Colonialism and Lakota Catholicism'' (Orbis Books, 2005), 166-68.]
Books
;Books of Black Elk's accounts
* ''Black Elk Speaks
''Black Elk Speaks'' is a 1932 book by John G. Neihardt, an American poet and writer, who relates the story of Black Elk, an Oglala Lakota medicine man. Black Elk spoke in Lakota and Black Elk's son, Ben Black Elk, who was present during the tal ...
: Being the Life Story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux'' (as told to John G. Neihardt), Bison Books, 2004 (originally published in 1932)
''Black Elk Speaks''
* ''The Sixth Grandfather: Black Elk's Teachings Given to John G. Neihardt,'' edited by Raymond J. DeMallie, University of Nebraska Press
The University of Nebraska Press, also known as UNP, was founded in 1941 and is an academic publisher of scholarly and general-interest books. The press is under the auspices of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, the main campus of the Univer ...
; new edition, 1985. .
* ''The Sacred Pipe: Black Elk's Account of the Seven Rites of the Oglala Sioux'' (as told to Joseph Epes Brown
Joseph Epes Brown (September 9, 1920 – September 19, 2000) was an American scholar whose lifelong dedication to Native American traditions helped to bring the study of American Indian religious traditions into higher education. His semina ...
), MJF Books, 1997
* ''Spiritual Legacy of the American Indian'' (as told to Joseph Epes Brown), World Wisdom
World Wisdom is an independent American publishing company established in 1980 in Bloomington, Indiana. World Wisdom publishes religious and philosophical texts, including the work of authors such as Frithjof Schuon, Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Titus Bu ...
, 2007
;Books about Black Elk:
* ''Nicholas Black Elk: Medicine Man, Catechist, Saint'', by Jon M. Sweeney, Liturgical Press.
*''Black Elk: Holy Man of the Oglala'', by Michael F. Steltenkamp, University of Oklahoma Press
The University of Oklahoma Press (OU Press) is the publishing arm of the University of Oklahoma. Founded in 1929 by the fifth president of the University of Oklahoma, William Bennett Bizzell, it was the first university press to be established i ...
; 1993
*''Nicholas Black Elk: Medicine Man, Missionary, Mystic'', by Michael F. Steltenkamp, University of Oklahoma Press
The University of Oklahoma Press (OU Press) is the publishing arm of the University of Oklahoma. Founded in 1929 by the fifth president of the University of Oklahoma, William Bennett Bizzell, it was the first university press to be established i ...
; 2009.
*''The Sixth Grandfather: Black Elk's Teachings Given to John G. Neihardt'', edited by Raymond J. DeMallie; 1985
*''Black Elk and Flaming Rainbow: Personal Memories of the Lakota Holy Man'', by Hilda Neihardt, University of Nebraska Press, 2006.
*''Black Elk's Religion: The Sun Dance and Lakota Catholicism'', by Clyde Holler, Syracuse University Press
Syracuse University Press, founded in 1943, is a university press that is part of Syracuse University. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses.
History
SUP was formed in August 1943 when president William P. Tolley prom ...
; 1995
*''Black Elk: Colonialism and Lakota Catholicism'', by Damian Costello, Orbis Books
Orbis Books, is an American imprint of the Maryknoll order. It has been a small but influential publisher of liberation theology works. It was founded by Nicaraguan Maryknoll priest Miguel D'Escoto with Philip J. Scharper in 1970. Its editor-in- ...
; 2005
*''Black Elk Reader'', edited by Clyde Holler, Syracuse University Press
Syracuse University Press, founded in 1943, is a university press that is part of Syracuse University. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses.
History
SUP was formed in August 1943 when president William P. Tolley prom ...
; 2000
*''Black Elk, Lakota Visionary'', by Harry Oldmeadow, World Wisdom
World Wisdom is an independent American publishing company established in 1980 in Bloomington, Indiana. World Wisdom publishes religious and philosophical texts, including the work of authors such as Frithjof Schuon, Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Titus Bu ...
; 2018
Film
In 2020, a documentary produced by the Diocese of Rapid City, ''Walking the Good Red Road – Nicholas Black Elk's Journey to Sainthood,'' aired on ABC television affiliates. It can be viewed on Vimeo.''Walking the Good Red Road – Nicholas Black Elk's Journey to Sainthood''
/ref>
See also
References
External links
*
"Writings of Black Elk"
from C-SPAN
Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...
's '' American Writers: A Journey Through History''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Black Elk
1863 births
1950 deaths
20th-century American writers
Catholics from South Dakota
Folk healers
Lakota people
Native American leaders
Native American Roman Catholics
People of the Great Sioux War of 1876
Religious figures of the indigenous peoples of North America
American Servants of God
20th-century venerated Christians