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3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
challenging
informative
reflective
sad
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, Racism, Violence, Colonisation
Moderate: Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, War
Sioux perspective translated through the words of a white writer, ideas and descriptions included in the book may be tinged by the writer’s biases
A good, well written book but it is not entirely faithful to Black Elk's message. Especially at the end, the speech of Black Elk pitying himself and the Lakota Nation is fabricated by Neihardt, if you look at the original transcripts that were written down, he is hopeful for the Lakota flourishing in the future and doesn't call himself a "pitiful old man" as Neihardt wrote.
informative
reflective
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
This is a very moving telling of a part of Black Elk's personal history. Black Elk, a medicine/holy man shares the vision he had when he was 9, and subsequent visions with poet John Neihardt. He tells how sections of this vision were interpreted into dances for the tribe to participate in, in the hope that they would return to the time where they lived on the land as they originally did and were no longer threatened by the "white man". This is interwoven with the history of the Indian tribes of that time, including "Custer's last stand", the killing of Crazy Horse and the slaughter at Wounded knee.
This was often a difficult read given the treatment of Indians at that time but it gave a glimpse into a way of life/religion that is under threat of being lost.
This was often a difficult read given the treatment of Indians at that time but it gave a glimpse into a way of life/religion that is under threat of being lost.
reflective
sad
slow-paced
I found parts of this to be very moving and I'm glad I read it because holy shit - what a life!
HOWEVER. I wish I had been aware of the uhhhhhh *artistic liberties* Neihardt took with some of Black Elk's words before I began. I think it's pretty well known now that Neihardt selectively removed details from Black Elk's original telling and finessed other details to suit the book's narrative, which is centered around Black Elk's spiritual awakening and his attempts via religious ritual to save the Oglala people from destruction in the final decades of the 19th century. The book also stops with the massacre at Wounded Knee, ignoring the last 60 years of Black Elk's life. Neihardt was clearly more interested in portraying Black Elk as a poetic, mystical figure rather than in actually parsing the details of his long, complicated life.
I'm definitely going to read "The Sixth Grandfather: Black Elk's Teachings Given to John G. Neihardt" at some point next year, which contains the full transcripts of Neihardt's interviews with Black Elk and provides a lot more context for his visions and the culture he describes.
HOWEVER. I wish I had been aware of the uhhhhhh *artistic liberties* Neihardt took with some of Black Elk's words before I began. I think it's pretty well known now that Neihardt selectively removed details from Black Elk's original telling and finessed other details to suit the book's narrative, which is centered around Black Elk's spiritual awakening and his attempts via religious ritual to save the Oglala people from destruction in the final decades of the 19th century. The book also stops with the massacre at Wounded Knee, ignoring the last 60 years of Black Elk's life. Neihardt was clearly more interested in portraying Black Elk as a poetic, mystical figure rather than in actually parsing the details of his long, complicated life.
I'm definitely going to read "The Sixth Grandfather: Black Elk's Teachings Given to John G. Neihardt" at some point next year, which contains the full transcripts of Neihardt's interviews with Black Elk and provides a lot more context for his visions and the culture he describes.
It was okay. Very interesting to learn about history and culture but more informative than a fun read.
I was inspired to vread this book by [b:Blue Highways|63832|Blue Highways|William Least Heat-Moon|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1425628317l/63832._SY75_.jpg|1383812], which I loved, and I feel like a bad person quitting on it so early, but it's way too full of religion and hallucinations for this hard-headed atheist.