review of j neighardts black elk speaks

The book Black Elk Speaks was written in the early 1930's by author John G.Neihardt, after interviewing the medicine man named Black Elk. Neihardt was alreadya published writer, and prior to this particular narrative he was at work publishing acollection of poems titled Cycle of the West. Although he was initially seeking infor-mation about a peculiar Native American religious movement that occurred at the endof the 19th century for the conclusion his poetry collection, Neihardt was instead giftedwith the story of Black Elk's life. Black Elk's words would explain much about the na-ture of wisdom as well as the lives of the Sioux and other tribes of that period. The priest or holy man calling himself Black Elk was born in the December of1863, to a family in the Ogalala band of the Sioux. Black Elk's family was well known,and he counted the famed Crazy Horse as a friend and cousin. Black Elk's family waslikewise acknowledged as a family of wise men, with both his father and grandfatherthemselves being holy men bearing the name Black Elk. The youngest Black Elk soonexperienced a vision as a young boy, a vision of the wisdom inherent in the earth thatwould direct him toward his true calling of being a wichasha wakon or holy man like hispredecessors. Black Elk's childhood vision stayed with him throughout his life, and itoffered him aid and wisdom whenever he sought it. It is from the strength of this vision,and the wisdom in his heart that Black Elk eventually realized his place as a leader andwise man in the Ogalala band of the Sioux. The wisdom possessed by Black Elk is immediately present in his recollectionsof various lessons learned by himself and by others. These stories ran the wholegambit of life experiences from the most innocent acts of a boy in love, to the hard les-sons learned from the treachery of the whites. Through these stories a greater insightcan be gained into the ways of the Sioux, as well as lessons into the nature of all men. Most important in these lessons on the nature of man was wisdom, and in all of BlackElk's recollections somewhere a deeper wisdom can be found. The story of High Horse's Courting stands out as a perfect example of one ofBlack Elk's narratives. Typically, Black Elk's narratives try to bestow a lesson (or les-sons) that the listener can learn from, just as the subject of the story sometimes does. High Horse's Courting begins when a youth named High Horse falls madly in love witha girl of his tribe. High Horse neither possessed the respect nor the wealth to obtainthis girl from her parents, so he had to resort to stealth and trickery to gain any accessto her at all. Eventually, High Horse did made contact with the girl and learned of hersimilar feelings for him, but also learned that she wished to be earned from her fatherlike a lady and not to be stolen away dishonorably. The disclosure by the girl only acted to frustrate High Horse more, and heeventually had to turn to his cousin Red Deer for help. To help his cousin, Red Deeradvised High Horse on two separate occasions to sneak into the girl's teepee andmake off with her, both attempts ended as comical failures. Finally, in a fit of disgustand embarrassment, High Horse proclaimed that he was going on the warpath since hecould not have the girl. Red Deer, still wanting to help his friend and cousin, decided tofollow. High Horse and Red Deer fell upon a Crow encampment that night. The twoyouths killed the sentry guarding the Crow horses, and each made off with a small herdfor himself. Returning to the tribe with his new herd, High Horse immediately rode up to thegirl's family teepee. When shown the herd of horses that High Horse offered the girl'sfather acquiesced and allowed him to have his daughter, but not solely because of theamount of horses High Horse had offered. Instead the father revealed that the trueprice High Horse paid was in his showing that he was a man in obtaining the horses insuch a skillful manner, and thus able to take care of his only daughter. Thus the lessons of life are displayed to the listener of the story. High Horsegets the girl through persistence and brave acts, Red Deer shows the rewards ofloyalty by following his cousin on the warpath and coming out a wealthy man, and thegirl's father caps it all with his display of guile in selecting a suitable husband for hisdaughter. This is how the wisdom of Black Elk comes through in the narrative, as asimple but relative story possessing many nuggets of observant truths. The period in American history in which Black Elk lived witnessed the massivemovement of whites into the Sioux territory seeking land and gold. Much of thenarrative in Black Elk Speaks describes the tribesmen's actions and fears concerningthe encroachment onto their lands. This underlying dread of what is to come ispervasive in the text. From his birth to his old age, Black Elk lived through the entirewestward expansion of whites into the land of his ancestors, therefore he possessed aunique perspective on slowly going from a state of total freedom to one of dependenceand servitude. The loss of the wisdom gained by his people was a concept that mortified BlackElk. Wisdom was paramount to Black Elk's whole existence since his vision as a child. This wisdom that he relied on so fully predicted the coming of the whites, and it helpedhim to advise during the struggles that eventually followed. Though his life seemed fullof loss and destruction, Black Elk always found meaning in the people and thingsaround him, and his strongest trait seemed to be his ability to see the truth or joy in lifewhen there was not much to be happy about or believe in. Therefore, after seeing hispeople's culture all but destroyed, Black Elk realized that the wisdom of his vision mustnot die. Black Elk felt that the telling of his story was ". . . incumbent upon him. Hischief purpose was to 'save his Great Vision for men (preface - xix).'" This is why hedecided to tell his tale to Mr. Neihardt, because it is not just his story, it is the wisdom ofhis people and of his vision. The lessons gained in Black Elk Speaks are some that are as relevant today asthey were almost two-hundred years ago. The lessons on bravery and wisdom wouldbenefit a child today just as in previous times. Even more poignant is the correlationbetween the wise posture of the Ogalala towards the land and its peoples, contrastedwith the scheming, greedy advancements of the Americans. The Ogalala and the tribesalongside them walked these same lands for possibly thousands of years before theintroduction of the white man. In all that time the land stayed fertile, and the peoplelived like content children under the sun. In little over a hundred years since, the whiteman has prospered here at the expense of the land. Possibly, Black Elk was acting outof prophesy when he suggested that he needed to tell his story, for he knew what thewhite men would eventually mean to the health of the land. Black Elk knew that onlywhen the white man acknowledged what he had done to the land and her people,would wisdom ever shine on his nation as it did on the Sioux. . perfect example of one ofBlack Elk& apos;s narratives. Typically, Black Elk& apos;s narratives try to bestow a lesson (or les-sons) that the listener can learn from, just as the subject of the story. was instead giftedwith the story of Black Elk& apos;s life. Black Elk& apos;s words would explain much about the na-ture of wisdom as well as the lives of the Sioux and other tribes of that period. The priest. calling himself Black Elk was born in the December of1 863, to a family in the Ogalala band of the Sioux. Black Elk& apos;s family was well known,and he counted the famed Crazy Horse as a friend and cousin. Black