Black Elk Speaks
Encyclopedia
Black Elk Speaks is a 1932 book by John G. Neihardt, an American poet and writer, who relates the story and spirituality of Black Elk
, an Oglala Sioux
medicine man
or shaman. It was based on conversations by Black Elk with the author and translated from Lakota
into English by Black Elk's son, Ben Black Elk, who was present during the talks. Neihardt transformed his notes to convey Black Elk's spiritual message in a powerful, lyrical English.
The prominent psychologist Carl Jung
read the book in the 1930s and urged its translation into German
; in 1953, it was published as Ich Rufe Mein Volk (I Call My People). Reprinted in the US in 1961 and four later editions, the book has been widely read as part of a deepening appreciation within the United States for Native American voices, spirituality and issues. In 2008 the State University of New York Press
published a premier edition with annotations by the Lakota
scholar Raymond DeMallie.
perspective on the Ghost Dance
movement, the poet and writer John Neihardt
, an amateur ethnographer, received permission from the Bureau of Indian Affairs
to go to the Pine Ridge Reservation with his two daughters to meet an Oglala holy man and shaman named Black Elk
. At age 13, Black Elk had been part of the Battle of the Little Big Horn and he survived the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre
.
As Neihardt recounts, Black Elk gave him the gift of his life's narrative. He told of his visions, including one in which he saw himself as a "sixth grandfather", the spiritual representative of the earth and of mankind. Black Elk also shared some of the Oglala rituals which he had performed as a healer. The two men developed a close friendship, and Black Elk adopted Neihardt and his two daughters, giving each of them Lakota names. Niehardt developed the book Black Elk Speaks from their conversations, which continued through the spring of 1931. It has become Neihardt's most well-known work.
A few years after its publication, the prominent German psychologist Carl Jung
read the book and urged its translation into German; in 1953, it was published as Ich Rufe Mein Volk (I Call My People). The book was reprinted in the United States in 1961, and has received four more editions. The continuing popularity of the book since the mid-20th century shows the growth of interest in the social and ethical study of Native American tribes. In 2008 the State University of New York Press published a premier edition of the book, with annotations.
As noted, in the course of producing the book, Black Elk spoke to his son, who translated the story into English for John Neihardt, who with his daughter Enid made notes on the talk. Neihardt used their notes as the basis for his account. The primary criticism made by DeMallie and similar scholars is that Neihardt, as the author and editor, may have exaggerated or altered some parts of the story to make it more accessible and marketable to the intended white audience of the 1930s, or because he did not fully understand the Lakota context. Late twentieth-century editions of the book by Nebraska University Press have attributed it as Black Elk Speaks, as told through John G. Neihardt (Flaming Rainbow). This was the English meaning of the Lakota name which Black Elk gave him, based on one of his visions.
Warfield Moose, Jr. made a CD of the recordings, released in 2003 as Ben Black Elk Speaks. It won the award for "Best Historical Recording" at the 2003 Native American Music Awards
.
Black Elk
Heȟáka Sápa was a famous Wičháša Wakȟáŋ of the Oglala Lakota . He was Heyoka and a second cousin of Crazy Horse.-Life:...
, an Oglala Sioux
Sioux
The Sioux are Native American and First Nations people in North America. The term can refer to any ethnic group within the Great Sioux Nation or any of the nation's many language dialects...
medicine man
Medicine man
"Medicine man" or "Medicine woman" are English terms used to describe traditional healers and spiritual leaders among Native American and other indigenous or aboriginal peoples...
or shaman. It was based on conversations by Black Elk with the author and translated from Lakota
Lakota language
Lakota is a Siouan language spoken by the Lakota people of the Sioux tribes. While generally taught and considered by speakers as a separate language, Lakota is mutually understandable with the other two languages , and is considered by most linguists one of the three major varieties of the Sioux...
into English by Black Elk's son, Ben Black Elk, who was present during the talks. Neihardt transformed his notes to convey Black Elk's spiritual message in a powerful, lyrical English.
The prominent psychologist Carl Jung
Carl Jung
Carl Gustav Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist and the founder of Analytical Psychology. Jung is considered the first modern psychiatrist to view the human psyche as "by nature religious" and make it the focus of exploration. Jung is one of the best known researchers in the field of dream analysis and...
read the book in the 1930s and urged its translation into German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
; in 1953, it was published as Ich Rufe Mein Volk (I Call My People). Reprinted in the US in 1961 and four later editions, the book has been widely read as part of a deepening appreciation within the United States for Native American voices, spirituality and issues. In 2008 the State University of New York Press
State University of New York Press
The State University of New York Press , is a university press and a Center for Scholarly Communication. The Press is part of the State University of New York system and is located in Albany, New York.- History :...
published a premier edition with annotations by the Lakota
Lakota language
Lakota is a Siouan language spoken by the Lakota people of the Sioux tribes. While generally taught and considered by speakers as a separate language, Lakota is mutually understandable with the other two languages , and is considered by most linguists one of the three major varieties of the Sioux...
scholar Raymond DeMallie.
Background
In the summer of 1930, as part of his research into the Native AmericanIndigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
perspective on the Ghost Dance
Ghost Dance
The Ghost Dance was a new religious movement which was incorporated into numerous Native American belief systems. The traditional ritual used in the Ghost Dance, the circle dance, has been used by many Native Americans since prehistoric times...
movement, the poet and writer John Neihardt
John Neihardt
Johnathan Gneisenau Neihardt was an American author of poetry and prose, an amateur historian and ethnographer, and a philosopher of the Great Plains...
, an amateur ethnographer, received permission from the Bureau of Indian Affairs
Bureau of Indian Affairs
The Bureau of Indian Affairs is an agency of the federal government of the United States within the US Department of the Interior. It is responsible for the administration and management of of land held in trust by the United States for Native Americans in the United States, Native American...
to go to the Pine Ridge Reservation with his two daughters to meet an Oglala holy man and shaman named Black Elk
Black Elk
Heȟáka Sápa was a famous Wičháša Wakȟáŋ of the Oglala Lakota . He was Heyoka and a second cousin of Crazy Horse.-Life:...
. At age 13, Black Elk had been part of the Battle of the Little Big Horn and he survived the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre
Wounded Knee Massacre
The Wounded Knee Massacre happened on December 29, 1890, near Wounded Knee Creek on the Lakota Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, USA. On the day before, a detachment of the U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment commanded by Major Samuel M...
.
As Neihardt recounts, Black Elk gave him the gift of his life's narrative. He told of his visions, including one in which he saw himself as a "sixth grandfather", the spiritual representative of the earth and of mankind. Black Elk also shared some of the Oglala rituals which he had performed as a healer. The two men developed a close friendship, and Black Elk adopted Neihardt and his two daughters, giving each of them Lakota names. Niehardt developed the book Black Elk Speaks from their conversations, which continued through the spring of 1931. It has become Neihardt's most well-known work.
A few years after its publication, the prominent German psychologist Carl Jung
Carl Jung
Carl Gustav Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist and the founder of Analytical Psychology. Jung is considered the first modern psychiatrist to view the human psyche as "by nature religious" and make it the focus of exploration. Jung is one of the best known researchers in the field of dream analysis and...
read the book and urged its translation into German; in 1953, it was published as Ich Rufe Mein Volk (I Call My People). The book was reprinted in the United States in 1961, and has received four more editions. The continuing popularity of the book since the mid-20th century shows the growth of interest in the social and ethical study of Native American tribes. In 2008 the State University of New York Press published a premier edition of the book, with annotations.
Publication data
- Black Elk Speaks, 1932, William Morrow & Company; 1961 University of Nebraska Press edition with new preface by Neihardt; 1979 edition with introduction by Vine Deloria, Jr.Vine Deloria, Jr.Vine Deloria, Jr. was an American Indian author, theologian, historian, and activist. He was widely known for his book Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto , which helped generate national attention to Native American issues in the same year as the Alcatraz-Red Power Movement...
; 1988 edition: Black Elk Speaks: Being the Life Story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux, as told through John G. Neihardt (Flaming Rainbow), ISBN 0-8032-8359-8; 2000 edition with index: ISBN 0-8032-6170-5.
- Black Elk Speaks: Being the Life Story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux, The Premier Edition, 2008, SUNY Press, Albany, NY, ISBN 978-1-4384-2540-5, with annotations by Raymond DeMallie, author of The Sixth Grandfather: Black Elk's Teachings Given to John G. Neihardt (1985). The premier edition by the State University of New York Press, under its Excelsior EditionsExcelsior EditionsExcelsior Editions is a trade imprint of SUNY Press that was started in 2008. It is located in Albany, New York.-About the Imprint:The name Excelsior Editions was chosen to signify the imprint's connection to the peoples, histories, and natural beauty of New York State...
, is the first ever annotated edition. It includes reproductions of the original illustrations by Standing BearStanding BearStanding Bear was a Ponca Native American chief who successfully argued in U.S...
, with new commentary; new maps of the world of Black Elk Speaks; and a revised index.
Academic controversy
Because the book credits John Neihardt as the author and not just the editor, scholars and Native Americans have debated the accuracy of the account, which has elements of a collaborative autobiography, spiritual text and other genres. The Indiana University professor Raymond DeMallie, who has studied the Lakota by cultural and linguistic resources, published a book in 1985 including the original transcripts of the conversations with Black Elk, plus his own introduction, analysis and notes. He has questioned whether Neihardt's account is accurate and fully represents the view of Black Elk.As noted, in the course of producing the book, Black Elk spoke to his son, who translated the story into English for John Neihardt, who with his daughter Enid made notes on the talk. Neihardt used their notes as the basis for his account. The primary criticism made by DeMallie and similar scholars is that Neihardt, as the author and editor, may have exaggerated or altered some parts of the story to make it more accessible and marketable to the intended white audience of the 1930s, or because he did not fully understand the Lakota context. Late twentieth-century editions of the book by Nebraska University Press have attributed it as Black Elk Speaks, as told through John G. Neihardt (Flaming Rainbow). This was the English meaning of the Lakota name which Black Elk gave him, based on one of his visions.
Ben Black Elk and the second life of the oral legacy
In 1931, Ben Black Elk translated his father's words for John Neihardt. Afterward and, increasingly after his father's death in 1950, Ben Black Elk visited local schools on the Pine Ridge Reservation to tell the traditional stories of the Lakota history and culture. Warfield Moose, Sr., a Lakota educator, recorded some of these sessions. In 1996 he entrusted the tapes of Ben Black Elk to his son, Warfield Moose, Jr.Warfield Moose, Jr. made a CD of the recordings, released in 2003 as Ben Black Elk Speaks. It won the award for "Best Historical Recording" at the 2003 Native American Music Awards
Native American Music Awards
The Native American Music Awards , commonly known as the Nammys, are an awards program presented annually by The Native American Music Association & Awards, which recognizes outstanding musical achievement among Native Americans...
.
Further reading
- Clyde Holler, editor. Black Elk Reader, Syracuse University Press (2000). Criticism and analysis of issues related to Neihardt's version of Black Elk's story.
External links
- The Premier Edition from SUNY Press
- Electronic text on First People
- "John Gneisenau Neihardt", Dictionary of Literary Biography
- Commentary on Black Elk Speaks as 'spiritual classic'
- Review of CD: "Ben Black Elk Speaks", Voice of America News, 13 July 2005