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kcrouth's review against another edition
4.0
Black Elk Speaks is several books in one.
On one hand, it is a personal history of man living within a society and culture under siege and risk of extinction by the self appointed heirs of the North American continent. Through the "words" of Black Elk, a Oglala Lakota medicine man, as written and felt by John G. Neihardt, a dedicated poet historian and mystic, we are able to see and feel what it was like being the last generation of a great and noble people to live in freedom in their homeland. We also experience, just a little, being the targets of a genocide both of our people and of our culture and environment. It is refreshing and sobering to be able to learn and feel a little of what it was like to be the victims of our European descended ancestors.
But Black Elk Speaks is also a philosophical and spiritual glimpse into the Great Vision that Black Elk was given as a child that defined his purpose for most of his life, and of his "brother" from outside his race and culture who was able to bond and translate more than just words, but a life and people's philosophy into a language we can experience and try to understand.
At times the book was beyond my grasp as a 21st century skeptical reader and thinker, but the story and meaning inside are precious jewels and we are lucky that they were captured for us before they were lost forever to our own peoples acts of genocide and destruction.
We discovered this author and book because of his connection to the University of Missouri, and of his influence on another excellent and loved author William Least-Heat Moon, the author of Blue Highways.
On one hand, it is a personal history of man living within a society and culture under siege and risk of extinction by the self appointed heirs of the North American continent. Through the "words" of Black Elk, a Oglala Lakota medicine man, as written and felt by John G. Neihardt, a dedicated poet historian and mystic, we are able to see and feel what it was like being the last generation of a great and noble people to live in freedom in their homeland. We also experience, just a little, being the targets of a genocide both of our people and of our culture and environment. It is refreshing and sobering to be able to learn and feel a little of what it was like to be the victims of our European descended ancestors.
But Black Elk Speaks is also a philosophical and spiritual glimpse into the Great Vision that Black Elk was given as a child that defined his purpose for most of his life, and of his "brother" from outside his race and culture who was able to bond and translate more than just words, but a life and people's philosophy into a language we can experience and try to understand.
At times the book was beyond my grasp as a 21st century skeptical reader and thinker, but the story and meaning inside are precious jewels and we are lucky that they were captured for us before they were lost forever to our own peoples acts of genocide and destruction.
We discovered this author and book because of his connection to the University of Missouri, and of his influence on another excellent and loved author William Least-Heat Moon, the author of Blue Highways.
hinesight's review against another edition
5.0
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.
noniemitchell's review against another edition
3.0
really a conflicting read for me. enjoyable at parts but also the fall out of this book is awful and some parts are down right inappropriate.
unladylike's review
5.0
I was in tears by the end of this book. I feel like I need to read or listen to discussions of interpreting Black Elk's words and visions. For example, I did not know what he meant whenever he names the south as "the direction which we always face." I inferred that it came from his people's spiritual beliefs, but there wasn't an explanation.
If you go into this book hoping for prophecies of peace or words of spiritual and natural enlightenment, you will likely be disappointed. There are graphic descriptions of violent killings and a romanticized tale of two boys plotting to kidnap and force into marriage a girl in their community. So, take those as trigger warnings.
I hope to live my life as a good wasicu, one who leaves the greed implied in that word behind, and stands with the indigenous people these United States - including my ancestors - have tried so hard to eliminate.
If you go into this book hoping for prophecies of peace or words of spiritual and natural enlightenment, you will likely be disappointed. There are graphic descriptions of violent killings and a romanticized tale of two boys plotting to kidnap and force into marriage a girl in their community. So, take those as trigger warnings.
I hope to live my life as a good wasicu, one who leaves the greed implied in that word behind, and stands with the indigenous people these United States - including my ancestors - have tried so hard to eliminate.
maya_moksha's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
reflective
tense
slow-paced
4.0
Definitely recommend reading. While it was emotionally difficult and tense at times, it was needed. It was incredibly eye opening and insightful. Furthermore this story is an important under-told under-represented experience and existence.
the_beatific_bluestocking's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
slow-paced
4.0
papidoc's review against another edition
3.0
I think Black Elk Speaks would be more interesting after learning more of the traditions, rituals, customs, and history of the Native American tribes. I have learned just enough to be dangerous, and while I found Black Elk’s account of his childhood vision and subsequent life interesting, it wasn’t as compelling as I think it would be with a richer and broader contextual understanding. Nonetheless, it was an interesting foray into the mindset of an acknowledged wise man, a shaman and healer of the old ways and times of the Lakota Indian tribe. It is biographical, based on extensive interviews of the subject by noted author and poet John Neihardt.
What struck me as much as anything was how similar, in many ways, some of Black Elk’s social experiences and upbringing were to that I have experienced in more modern times. Consider his account, for example of High Horse becoming “sick” over a girl, sneaking around just to be near her, then finding out she liked him (maybe a little…), trying unsuccessfully to impress her father, then trying to convince the girl to elope with him. It all sounds much like something that occurs every day and probably in one way or another in every culture around the world. When the girl refuses his advances, it “made High Horse feel so very sick that he could not eat a bite, and he went around with his head hanging down as though he might just fall down and die any time.”
I’ve been there, as I’m sure most young men have also. I’m so grateful to be happily married and not have to suffer the pangs of young love again!
Regardless of whether you accept Black Elk’s autobiographical book as a truthful account of a spiritual odyssey, it is certainly a glimpse into a fascinating (and likely soon to be extinct) culture and way of living and thinking and perceiving. For that reason alone, it is worth reading.
What struck me as much as anything was how similar, in many ways, some of Black Elk’s social experiences and upbringing were to that I have experienced in more modern times. Consider his account, for example of High Horse becoming “sick” over a girl, sneaking around just to be near her, then finding out she liked him (maybe a little…), trying unsuccessfully to impress her father, then trying to convince the girl to elope with him. It all sounds much like something that occurs every day and probably in one way or another in every culture around the world. When the girl refuses his advances, it “made High Horse feel so very sick that he could not eat a bite, and he went around with his head hanging down as though he might just fall down and die any time.”
I’ve been there, as I’m sure most young men have also. I’m so grateful to be happily married and not have to suffer the pangs of young love again!
Regardless of whether you accept Black Elk’s autobiographical book as a truthful account of a spiritual odyssey, it is certainly a glimpse into a fascinating (and likely soon to be extinct) culture and way of living and thinking and perceiving. For that reason alone, it is worth reading.