Book Report: Black Elk Speak

Heyoka Ceremony from Black Elk Speaks, by Nicholas Black Elk is a story dedicated to the Indian nation and the Hayoki - a religious people intrinsically connected to nature through their visions of thunderous creatures who were once part of this nation. Traditionally, Hayoki participates in religious ceremonies where this particular ceremony involved the sacrificing of a dog, a seemingly foolish act done with great reverence to the thunder beings of the west, that not only demonstrates their faith, beliefs, and traditions but also keeps them connected to the spiritual realm. It's important to note that as inhumane as it may seem to Western cultures, this sacrifice was done in the most respectful way possible, as Lakota promotes the respect of mother earth and everything in it. Even though the sacrificial killing of a domestic animal like a dog can be seen as controversial, in order to understand the Heyoka Ceremonies, we must first understand its origins.

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,

Many of the Indians that left with the missionaries were gone for many years and did not know how much had changed back at home. In the story The Soft-Hearted Sioux a young man comes back home after receiving an education from the missionaries. He had left before he was taught how to survive out in the wild. He came back to dying and starving parents. He was brainwashed by the missionaries because he went against his family’s customs and told the medicine man never to come back and that God will save his father. He started preaching God’s words to his people and they left the community. His father was growing sicker and sicker and he needed food. His son went out everyday trying to get something but had no skills in hunting. His father had told him to go two hills over and he could find meat. With no concept of ownership, the son went and killed a cow that belonged to an American. Upon leaving with the meat he was chased down and attacked by the “owner” of the cattle. The son accidentally killed the man and fled back to his father’s teepee only to realize that he was too late and that his father had died. He was so conditioned by the white man that he had forgotten his ancestors’ ways of survival.

Native Americans have existed in the different regions-the plains, mountains, marshes- of the North American continent- long before the United States existed. Yet, most were not treated with the respect and dignity that the white American settlers were given. Viewed as outlandish and savage by white settlers, series of negotiations to “correct” the Indian way of life were implemented- through forced relocation, war, and assimilation into white culture. Those who stood up against the American government were viewed as beacons of hope by their fellow Native Americans. Many Native American traditions still exist today, but unfortunately most of them have been lost along with their people.

The Wampanoag and Cherokee were two native Indian American tribes that had remarkable stories to American history in the 1600s and 1800s. At that time, they were two native Indian American tribes that did intensive interaction and built great relationships with European Americans who just came and started to live in the new world. The Wampanoag succeed to maintain their relationship with the European Americans for fifty years. In line with the Wampanoag, the Cherokee also maintained their relationship with European Americans for a long decades. Unfortunately, with the greediness of territories, lands, economic, politic as the superior group, the European Americans expelled the Wampanoag and Cherokee from their own lands. The European Americans

One extreme change for the Indians was the arrival of Anglo-Europeans. Native peoples’ lives were changed at the blink of an eye while new ideas, practices and beliefs were shown to them. The arrival of the Europeans changed the way the Indians viewed their world and manipulated their resources. This new change could be viewed as positive as well as negative, for while some tribes entered into trade relations with the Anglos, others were used as slave labor and all were subject to disease brought on by the European newcomers. However, despite all the advantages and disadvantages, no other introduction changed the lives of the Indians more than firearms and horses. West outlines one of the most important evolutions for Native life and how it represented a new way to harness resources and gain power. In just a few chapters, we are able to see the great advancements the Indians made in hunting and trade due to these new technologies and how they allowed the Cheyennes to rise to a new purpose as the Called Out People.

Black Elk explains the Lakota ideology and what it means to be native. Black Elk falls very ill. While ill, Black Elk has a vision known as “The Great Vision”(Neihardt 17 footnote 1). The Wasichus, a name for white people, start building the iron road, and the start of treaties being made. “Wherever we went the soldiers came to kill us”(Neihardt pg 105), this quote was spoken by Black Elk at the beginning of destruction of the Lakota Nation. Black Elk and his tribe leave for Grandmother’s land (Canada). While in Canada, the Lakota perform the Horse Dance. Cuts-to-pieces’ son was the first human to be healed by Black Elk, and after this miraculous deed happens his tribe performs the Heyoka ceremony. After the Heyoka ceremony, Black Elk performs the final part of his Great Vision. Black Elk travels over the big water and when Black Elk recovers from being sick, he then returns home to find his people dying from starvation and sickness. The messiah is introduced, and rumors are spreading that this man promises a new “better” world is coming, where all their loved-ones are alive and buffalo still roam. Historically known as the Massacre of Wounded Knee, Wasichus came into the native camp, at this time there were so few native tribes left that multiple tribes banded together and slaughter men women and children. This is when the Lakota Nation has one final battle against the U.S. Army. “Brothers, this is a very hard winter. The women and children are starving and

The Omaha Chief Big Elk commented on the effect of the white migration to the West across the Overland Trails while visiting Washington D.C. He stated eloquently, “there is a coming flood which will soon reach us, and I advise you to prepare for it.” An estimated 500,000 people made the journey West to California and the Willamette Valley between the years 1840 – 1870. However, much like the first rains in a wet season, benefits were found in the first storm of white emigrants heading west. Native people were able to cooperate with white emigrants and benefit from trading with them. But the storms continued, emigrants as plentiful as rain drops came through the Indian lands and eventually, the prophecy of a great flood Chief Big Elk spoke of came true. Overtime, whites used up the limited resources of the plains tribes, depended on one another instead of Indians for help, and used force rather than compromise to clear the way for the expansion of the West.

The Native Americans would offer the Europeans almost everything they had, which included fish and turkey to bread and the companionship of the chief’s daughter. The Europeans mistook the Native American’s generosity as evidence they were childlike. The old land in Columbus’ time was luscious and full of many different types of wildlife. Today that land is used and farmed down to provide food and tools for the Americans living here in the United States. “The land they left is different now. The white pines that towered over New England became masts for the Royal Navy's sailing ships. The redwoods that stretched from the Rockies to the Pacific exist in pockets smaller than the Indians' shrunken reservations. The hours long thunder of bison hooves no longer shakes Kansas or Nebraska, where only a few stretches of grassland remain on the prairie (pg. 6 Lord,

     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 seemed disgusted by the behavior of the United States government. Black Elk had lived through the government’s unlawful slaughter of Chief Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull. He had seen the Battle of Little Bighorn where an attempt was made to forcibly take their sacred land. Black Elk had witnessed the massacre of men, women, and children at the Battle of Wounded Knee. Black Elk went as far to say that “I did not know then how much was ended….I can see that something else died there in the bloody mud, and was buried in the blizzard. A people's dream died there. It was a beautiful dream.” Black Elk experienced the true injustices done by the government, and lived long enough to see their negative impact (“Black Elk”).

Throughout Black Elk’s life, their community was moved from one place to another, when they reached other destinations after awhile they had to fight whites and to live through loses and hard times. Black Elk always had the visions of the people dancing and the Grandfathers that were symbolizing villages in many dreams that he had to save. By telling the dreams to the village, they powered themselves and were going to fight in small groups relying on spirits to help them in, saying “today is a good day to live”.

With the discovery of the New World came a whole lot of new problems. Native American Indians lived in peace and harmony until European explorers interrupted that bliss with the quest for money and power. The European explorers brought with them more people. These people and their descendants starting pushing the natives out of their homes, out of their land, far before the 1800s. However, in the 1800s, the driving force behind the removal of the natives intensified. Thousands of indians during this time were moved along the trail known as Nunna dual Tsung, meaning “The Trail Where They Cried” (“Cherokee Trail of Tears”). The Trail of Tears was not only unjust and unconstitutional, but it also left many indians sick, heartbroken, and dead.

Not knowing how to cultivate the land or domesticate animals, the Cherokee at a standstill. The Whites, who knew how to cultivate the land and domesticate animals, would have been able to utilize the land to its fullest potential instead of withering away precious resources. The Whites tried various methods to persuade the Cherokee to part with their land, but they refused and were frequently abused. “… we have come to the conclusion that this nation cannot be reinstated in its present location, and that the question left to us and to every Cherokee, is, whether it is more desirable to remain here, with all the embarrassments with which we must be surrounded, or to seek a country where we may enjoy our own laws, and live under our own vine and fig-tree.” If the Cherokee had agreed to relocate further west, they would not have had to go through adversity. The Whites would have left them alone, free to create their own laws and free to do what they wanted. The Cherokee pushed their source of food westward leaving a shortage of deer and buffalo and they did not have the knowledge or resources to cultivate the land. Due to these facts, they were not self-sufficient and would not have been able to survive using their outdated methods of living. Compared to the Whites, the Cherokee population was miniscule, spread across a vast amount of land. “The