Research Catalog

Title

Black Elk speaks : being the life story of a holy man of the Oglala Sioux / as told through John G. Neihardt (Flaming Rainbow) ; annotated by Raymond J. DeMallie ; with illustrations by Standing Bear.

Author

Black Elk, 1863-1950

Publication

Albany, N.Y. : Excelsior Editions, State University Press of New York Press, c2008.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Neihardt, John G., 1881-1973
• DeMallie, Raymond J., 1946-2021

Description

xxviii, 334 p. : ill. (some col.); 26 cm.

Summary

• "Black Elk Speaks is widely hailed as a religious classic, one of the best spiritual books of the modern era and the bestselling book of all time by an American Indian. This inspirational and unfailingly powerful story reveals the life and visions of the Lakota healer Nicholas Black Elk (1863?1950) and the tragic history of his Sioux people during the epic closing decades of the Old West. In 1930, the aging Black Elk met a kindred spirit, the famed poet, writer, and critic John G. Neihardt (1881?1973) on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. The Lakota elder chose Neihardt to share his visions and life with the world. Neihardt understood and today Black Elk is known to all."--Cover page 4.
• Reveals the life of Lakota healer Nicholas Black Elk as he led his tribe's battle against white settlers who threatened their homes and buffalo herds, and describes the victories and tragedies at Little Bighorn and Wounded Knee.

Subjects

• Biographies
• Geschichte
• Lakota Indians
• Oglala Indians > Religion
• Oglala Indians > Biography
• Black Elk, 1863-1950

Genre/Form

Biographies

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. [317]-324) and index.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

The offering of the pipe -- Early boyhood -- The great vision -- The bison hunt -- At the soldiers' town -- High Horse's courting -- Wasichus in the hills -- The fight with Three Stars -- The rubbing out of Long Hair -- Walking the black road -- The killing of Crazy Horse -- Grandmother's land -- The compelling fear -- The horse dance -- The dog vision -- Heyoka ceremony -- The first cure -- The powers of the bison and the elk -- Across the big water -- The spirit journey -- The messiah -- Visions of the other world -- Bad trouble coming -- The butchering at Wounded Knee -- The end of the dream -- Neihardt's postscript -- Appendix : Letter from Neihardt to Black Elk, 6 November 19 -- The drawings by Black Elk's friend, Standing Bear -- John G. Neihardt and Nicholas Black Elk.

ISBN

• 9781438425405 (pbk. : alk. paper)
• 1438425406 (pbk. : alk. paper)

LCCN

^^2008038002

OCLC

• 228368926
• SCSB-12320445

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library