Black Elk Speaks

In this book are recounted the spiritual journeys, experiences, and memories that the Native American shaman and holy man of the Oglala Sioux, Black Elk of the Great Horn, told to John G. Neihardt.

“When Noble Horse crawled inside, his nerves were so taut that he could hear his heart pounding rapidly; it seemed as though the sound of his heart would awaken the old people inside. But what he feared did not happen, and after a while he began cutting the thongs. Each thong he cut made a sharp pat sound, and each time he felt as though he were about to die. Still, the work was going well. All the thongs wide enough for the girl’s hips to pass through had been cut. At a moment when his nerves were stretched to the breaking point, the knife slipped and stabbed the girl. She let out a loud, piercing scream…

At that time I did not know how much of it had ended. Now, as I look back from the high summit of my old age, I can still see—just as clearly as I did with my young eyes—the many children and women scattered about, cut down, lying on the crooked slopes of the dry ravine. And now I can also see that something else died there too, and was buried beneath the heavily falling snow. The dream of a people died there. But it was a beautiful dream.”

‍