Black Elk Speaks: Being the Life Story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux

Title: Black Elk Speaks: Being the Life Story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux
Author: Nicholas Black Elk
Indigenous Studies: 1697342
ISBN: 9780803261709
Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
Published: 2000
Binding: Paperback
Language: English
Edition: Twenty-First-Century Edition
Number of Pages: 230
Section: Biography & Autobiography | Indigenous
Condition Note: Excellent, unmarked copy with little wear and tight binding. We ship in recyclable American-made mailers. 100% money-back guarantee on all orders.
Publisher Description: Named one of the ten best spiritual books of the twentieth century by Philip Zaleski of HarperSanFrancisco, "Black Elk Speaks" is the acclaimed story of Lakota visionary and healer Nicholas Black Elk (1863-1950) and his people during the momentous, twilight years of the nineteenth century. Black Elk grew up in a time when white settlers were invading the Lakotas' homeland, decimating buffalo herds and threatening to extinguish the Lakotas' way of life. Black Elk and other Lakotas fought back, a dogged resistance that resulted in a remarkable victory at the Little Bighorn and an unspeakable tragedy at Wounded Knee.

Beautifully told by the celebrated poet and writer John G. Neihardt, "Black Elk Speaks" offers much more than a life story. Black Elk's profound and arresting religious visions of the unity of humanity and the world around him have transformed his account into a venerated spiritual classic. Whether appreciated as a collaborative autobiography, a history of a Native American nation, or an enduring spiritual testament for all humankind, "Black Elk Speaks" is unforgettable.

This special edition features all three prefaces to "Black Elk Speaks" that John G. Neihardt wrote at different points in his life, a map of Black Elk's world, a reset text, a listing of Lakota words newly translated and reproduced using the latest orthographic standards, and color paintings by Lakota artist Standing Bear that have not been widely available for decades.