Black Elk Is A Native American Spiritual Leader Of The Lakota Tribe

Black Elk was a holy man of the Oglala band of the Lakota Sioux nation. Black Elk interpreted his life as a holy man as "the story of a mighty vision" (BES, p. 2). As a child, Black Elk was blessed with a great vision from the other world. In receiving his great vision, Black Elk received a great power, a "power to make over" (BES, p. 201), a power to make things better for sick and suffering individuals and nations. He did not know it at the time, but this vision would be the blueprint of his life. It would guide him through times when he doubted his importance to his people. He had other visions, but they all tied into the great vision he experienced as a child. Black Elk made incredible

Throughout human existence, mankind has had to overcome difficult obstacles in order to prosper. In Diane Glancy’s “Pushing the Bear”, the reader discovers how the Cherokee Indians overcome their hardships and flourish into a new, thriving community. In this novel, the audience observe how these Cherokee Indians outlast the harsh environment during the Indian Removal Act. Additionally, Glancy creates a human experience during the Trail of Tears; giving a different perspective of various characters. Through the eyes of characters such as Maritole and Knobowtee, the reader is able to sense the desperation that the Cherokee endured. The upheaval of being forcefully removed from the land stripped the Cherokee of their identity. This disruption left the Cherokee confused, causing frustration to arise because they were unable to live their familiar roles. Men were no longer able to farm. Women had a loss of property and wealth. The bear symbolizes these struggles throughout this novel. Maritole explains, “The bear had once been a person. But he was not conscious of the consciousness he was given. His darkness was greed and self-centeredness. It was part of myself, too. It was part of the human being” (183). In other words, the “bear” is the personal dilemma each character is put up against during this removal. Furthermore, each character has their own personal struggles to overcome; whether that be Knobowtee’s loss of masculinity or Maritole’s loss of family. These struggles,

The Lakota, an Indian group of the Great Plains, established their community in the Black Hills in the late eighteenth century (9). This group is an example of an Indian community that got severely oppressed through imperialistic American actions and policy, as the Americans failed to recognize the Lakota’s sovereignty and ownership of the Black Hills. Jeffrey Ostler, author of The Lakotas and the Black Hills: The Struggle for Sacred Ground, shows that the Lakota exemplified the trends and subsequent challenges that Indians faced in America. These challenges included the plurality of groups, a shared colonial experience, dynamic change, external structural forces, and historical agency.

At the beginning of Black Elk Speaks, Black Elk and John Neihardt smoke the peace pipe then Black Elk begins his story. When Black Elk was still pretty young he and his tribe were involved in the Hundred slain war, and Black Elk also begins to hear strange voices. Later on Black Elk falls very ill, then two warriors come from the sky and bring Black Elk to the Flaming rainbow tepee, while he was there his six grandfathers gave him six very special gifts. After Black Elk got the gifts he was taught the horse dance, when Black Elk returned from his vision he went to see his cousin Crazy horse, later on Crazy Horse would be murdered by being stabbed in the back by a soldier. By this time most of the indians were forced to live on the reservations but one band of Lakotas escaped from the reservation and traveled north to Canada where Sitting Bull’s band was. The winters in Canada were too harsh for the Sioux so they reluctantly moved back to the reservation where they were given hardly anything. With Black Elk’s people losing hope he teaches them the dances he learned in his visions. When Black Elk learns of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show he decides to go with him, after a few months doing shows in America Black Elk went to England. When the Lakotas were camped on Wounded Knee Creek, the wasichus came and murdered everyone in the camp including the women and children. After the battle the remaining Lakota surrendered they went to the reservation and the flowering tree dies. The

     Greed is a large part of the American culture whether we realize it as a society or not. Many countries around the world view the United States as a selfish country that does what it wants on a global scale, and does not share or allocate its predominate wealth. I am very thankful and proud to be a citizen of this country. Even though I would risk my life to protect our country and its freedom, there are aspects about our civilization that I wish could be different. Black Elk, “a holy man and a warrior of the Lakota Nation Indians,” was a member of the Oglala Sioux tribe during the most horrific period for Native Americans in the Western part of the United States. In excerpts from the novel of his life story

Black Elk plays a major role in retelling the history of the Lakota Native Americans. Having witnessed the Battle of Little Bighorn and living through the transfer of Native Americans to the Pine Ridge Reservation, Black Elk can attest to the treatment endured by Native Americans. Black Elk tells the story of a people injured in war and subject to sufferings for the years to follow.

This writing will talk about different and important unique events or instances in the story that deliver complex themes, symbols, and archetypes. In this book the author portrays or delivers the themes of perseverance, hope, survival, fear, sanctuary, safety, and unexpectedness. There are many more themes, but these are just the important ones that are most commonly seen in the story. The author also delivers complex characters with deep backgrounds and persistent personalities. This also portrays some themes, symbols, and archetypes in the book.

Across Canada and the United States there are many First Nations languages which are a part of the Algonquian language family, all of which with varying states of health. Although these languages share many characteristics of the Algonquian language family, the cultures, systems of beliefs, and geographic location of their respective Nations differentiate them. In being shaped by the landscape, cultures, and spirituality of the First Nations, the language brings the speakers closer to their land and traditions while reaffirming their identity as First Peoples. Using the Blackfoot Nation to further explore this concept, this paper will show that while language threads together First Nations culture, spirituality,

Black Elk was a member of the Oglala Sioux and grew up during the beginning of the production of the Transcontinental Railroad. Black Elk first remembered hearing voices around the age of five, but did not have his first vision until he was 9 years old when he befell very ill. His vision constitutes for one of the longest chapters of the book; Black Elk describes being taken on a cloud to cloud world to meet with his six grandfathers. Each grandfather gives Black Elk an object that holds a specific power that will save his people: a cup, a bow, a pipe, and a red stick. He is told that he must remember what has been bestowed upon him for his people will face difficulties and great change. He is given visions of fighting, war, starvation, and people fleeing (Neihardt, 1972). Many have argued that Black Elk’s vision could also contain bias due to the fact that the story was told sixty years after the account and Black Elk’s story could

Some key images and symbols of Black’s Elk’s vision: bay horse moving in circular movements in all four directions. There was twelve horses in each direction. All horses on the north were all in white, to ones on the east were sorrel, the horses on the south were all buckskin color

The first book that I’m going to talk about is “The Black Elk Speaks” and my feelings about the book. The reason I choose this book is because I have an Indian background in my family and thought it would be to learn about the culture and beliefs. In the beginning of the book there was a line

In The Journey of Crazy Horse, written by Joseph Marshall III, power plays a significant role in determining the fates of both the Lakota Indians and the white men. In the Lakota way of life, power directly correlates to responsibility, leadership, and honor. Like Crazy Horse, any Lakota seeking power and recognition must demonstrate wisdom and determination. In contrast, the white men seemingly allot power in arbitrary manners, giving leadership positions to those who deserve it least. The Lakota’s cultural practices relating to leadership illustrate how highly they regard authority. All of their traditions, however, do not always necessarily benefit the tribe as a whole. The Lakota’s revival of the Shirt Wearers tradition prefigures the tribe’s eventual demise to the white man’s way of life by demonstrating the harmful effects of giving individuals undeserved power.

For example, a theme of survival of the fittest is presented when Buck first joins the sledding team, as there is a constant power struggle between characters, particularly Buck and Spitz. On the other hand, incidents such as Buck’s initial beating at the hand of his master symbolize Buck’s departure from his pampered life at the estate to his survival-based situation as a sled dog. These literary devices add a crucial element to the book and enhance the story for the reader.

In The Bear, the “wilderness” is one of the significant motifs. Issac and Faulkner saw the wilderness as gigantic, chaotic, and fearful. It gets over the cultural differentiation of human and separation, which are characteristics of the “Symbolic Order” of Lacan’s theories (Dobie 71). In other words, the chaotic wilderness alludes to the “Real Order,” which remains foreclosed form the analytic experience (Dobie 70-71). Moreover, the wilderness is considered as primitive chaos and part of semiotic. Actually, a description of Isaac’s first entrance into the wilderness shows how the passage conveys somewhat sexual impression. “…He entered

When one pictures a buck, they see that they are gentle, and sensitive creatures. Like Mahdi which says, “that buck is used to symbolize freedom because it’s speedy, usually fast animals symbolize freedom and power” (Mahdi). However, when one sees a “small buck” (614) that is dying, the meaning changes. The dying buck in the story represents how everything that is living in this world will eventually come to an end and die. To some, like Haneen Othman believe that the “buck that symbolized death and fate” (Othman); hence, each person has their different view of the animal. The color black is a symbol itself and its seen in that ants. The boy says, “The ground was black with ants” (615). The color black be a grim reaper that is chasing its prey. “It looked like a small buck that had black ragged tufts of fur standing up irregular all over it” (614); as a matter of fact, the “black ragged” (614) is what a grim reaper would be seen wearing. “The veld symbolized the world we live in” (Othman), says Haneen Othman meaning that death can happen anywhere. Othman also states, “the boy also symbolized an innocent child who has yet to discover the sadness in the world” (Othman). Although most young kid never see death at a young age, only a few will understand that they can’t control everything. The last main symbol are the ants that eat the buck at the end of the story. They are death itself looming over the buck, but to Mahdi it doesn’t