Black Elk

Oglala Lakota leader (1863–1950)

Person · Open Library

Born: 1863
Died: 1950
Works: 8

Top works

Words of Ages
Black Elk speaks
Les rites secrets des Indiens Sioux [par] Héhaka Sapa (Black Elk)
Thes acred pipe
The gift of the sacred pipe

via Open Library + Wikidata

Music · MusicBrainz

Type: Group

via MusicBrainz · CC0

Listeners · Last.fm

Listeners: 103,862
Total plays: 517,853

Recent publications · Crossref

5 total works indexed

The Pricing of Options and Corporate Liabilities
· 1973 · cited 19,717x
AN EXAMINATION OF THE DEGTJAREFF METHOD FOR DETERMINING SOIL ORGANIC MATTER, AND A PROPOSED MODIFICATION OF THE CHROMIC ACID TITRATION METHOD
· 1934 · cited 16,708x
Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure
· 2003 · cited 10,041x
Disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) for 291 diseases and injuries in 21 regions, 1990–2010: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010
· 2012 · cited 6,787x
Observation of a new particle in the search for the Standard Model Higgs boson with the ATLAS detector at the LHC
· 2012 · cited 6,740x

via Crossref · CC0

Quotes

“I did not see anything to help my people. I could see that the Wasichus did not care for each other the way our people did before the nation's hoop was broken. They would take everything from each other if they could, and so there were some who had more of everything than they could use, while crowds of people had nothing at all and maybe were starving. They had forgotten that the earth was their mother. This could not be better than the old ways of my people.”
“All the things of the universe are joined with you who smoke the pipe — All send their voices to Wakan-Tanka, the Great Spirit. When you pray with this pipe, you pray for and with everything.”
“The Great Spirit is everywhere; He hears whatever is in our minds and our hearts, and it is not necessary to speak to Him in a loud voice.”
“[The Sun Dancers] also put rabbit skins on their arms and legs, for the rabbit represents humility, because he is quiet and soft and not self-asserting — a quality which we must all possess when we go to the center of the world.”
“It is good to have a reminder of death before us, for it helps us to understand the impermanence of life on this earth, and this understanding may aid us in preparing for our own death. He who is well prepared is he who knows that he is nothing compared with Wakan-Tanka who is everything; then he knows that world which is real.”
“Of all the created things or beings in the universe, it is the two-legged men alone, who if they purify and humiliate themselves, may become one with — or may know — Wakan-Tanka.”

via Wikiquote · CC BY-SA

Key facts

Born: ( 1863-12-01 ) 1 December 1863, Little Powder River , Wyoming , United States
Died: 19 August 1950 (1950-08-19) (aged 86), Pine Ridge , South Dakota , United States
Major shrine: Saint Agnes Catholic Cemetery, Manderson, South Dakota
Patronage: Native Americans (pending)

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Image: Black Elk.jpg

Show 3 more facts

date of death: 1950-08-19
date of birth: 1863-12-01
Commons category: Black Elk

Sources (1)

wikidata.org

via Wikidata · CC0

~12 min read

Article

Heȟáka Sápa, commonly known as Black Elk (baptized Nicholas; December 1, 1863 – August 19, 1950 ), was a wičháša wakȟáŋ ("medicine man, holy man") and heyoka of the Oglala Lakota people. He was a second cousin of the war leader Crazy Horse and fought with him in the Battle of Little Bighorn. He survived the Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890. He toured and performed in Europe as part of Buffalo Bill's Wild West.

Black Elk is best known for his interviews with poet John Neihardt, where he discussed his religious views, visions, and events from his life. Neihardt published these in his book Black Elk Speaks in 1932. This book has since been published in numerous editions, most recently in 2008. Near the end of his life, he also spoke to American ethnologist Joseph Epes Brown for his 1947 book The Sacred Pipe. There has been great interest in these works among diverse people interested in Native American religions, notably those in the pan-Indian movement.