Black Elk Speaks
Black Elk was born into a tribe of the Plains Indians, the Ogallala Lakota. He hadfive sisters and one brother. He had many children, but his daughter, Lucy Looks Twice, is the one discussed in this essay. The Lakota were hunters, and they relied mainly on the buffalo. Buffalo was their main source for not only food but, also shelter and clothing. The Lakota lived throughout the midwestern plains of North America, until they were put on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota. Black Elk took part in many historical events, like the Battle of Little Big Horn. As an adult Black Elk became a medicine man and a prominent member of his tribe. His religion was very important to him. Lucy Looks Twice recalls that her father had suffered a lot, and had experienced inner confusion. Black Elk knew that something was wrong in his life because he suffered socially, physically, and psychologically. Black Elk soon had to visit the hospital due to ulcers. While there he received the holy sacrament, and never suffered from his ulcers again. This instance, and with the encouragement of his friend, Kills Brave, Black Elk converted to Catholicism. On December 6th, 1904 he was converted by a pr
4Black Elk was afraid to tell his experience, and moped around as a shy, withdrawn boy for eight years. Though he was a confirmed Catholic his Lakota 2spirituality remained strong throughout his life. The first Grandfather gave him the power to heal. The second Grandfather then gave the boy the power of cleansing. At that moment he became a powerful medicine man or shaman, healing, he said, many people of illnesses from tuberculosis to despair. Then, he and his family were placed on a South Dakota reservation after the surrender of Sitting Bull. He was shown an elaborate vision oriented around a classic Native American Mandela, the circular hoop, the four directions, and the center of the world on an axis stretching from sky to earth, numerous neighing, dancing horses, surrounded by lightning and thunder, filled the sky at each direction. The oldest grandfather welcomed the boy and said: "Your Grandfathers all over the world are having a council, and they have called you here to teach you" (blackelkspeaks). Inside, sitting on clouds, were six grandfathers, "older than men can ever be - old like hills, old like stars" 3(blackelkspeaks). The third Grandfather gave the boy the power of awakening and its peace.
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Acceptance Essays
