Black Elk Speaks

Black Elk begins by describing his recollections of his early childhood, when he was around three years old. As a child, Black Elk is aware that white people—referred to as Wasichus—are encroaching on the Lakota land. The Wasichus hope to mine for gold, “the yellow metal that they worship and that makes them crazy” (7), and they are seeking permission from the Lakota tribe to build towns and roads in their land. Though the Wasichus promise the road will be unobtrusive, the Lakota do not trust them, and they believe the road will lead to intense development and altercation of the environment. Years earlier, a Lakota “holy man” had prophesied that a “strange race” would surround the Lakota and force them to “live in square gray houses, in a barren land” (8). Many of the Lakota believe the prophecy refers to the Wasichus, and the Lakota chief Red Cloud calls for an attack on the Wasichus. Black Elk’s friend, Fire Thunder, describes the victorious battle, which leads to 100 Wasichus being killed by the Lakota.

Black Elk’s father, who is also named Black Elk, breaks his leg during the battle, leaving him with a limp for the rest of his life. Following the battle, the Ogalala leave westward to distance themselves from the Wasichus. After a harsh winter and calm summer, the Lakota and Wasichus again have a battle, known as “The Attacking of the Wagons.” During the battle, the Wasichus use new types of guns that allow them to kill many of the Lakotas. During the next summer, however, the Wasichus agree to flee the Lakota land, and they sign a treaty with Red Cloud that states, “[The Lakota] country would be ours as long as grass should grow and water flow” (14). Black Elk, now four years old, begins to hear voices calling out to him when he is alone. When Black Elk is five, he goes hunting with his grandfather and has a vision. Black Elk is about to shoot a kingbird when the bird speaks to him, after which two men appear to approach Black Elk riding on a cloud. The men tell Black Elk that “a sacred voice is calling you” (15). 

Black Elk describes an intense vision that he has when he is nine years old. While eating dinner one day, Black Elk hears a voice calling out to him. Black Elk leaves his teepee to follow the voice, but he quickly feels intense pain in his thighs and ceases walking. Over the next days, Black Elk becomes intensely ill and is bedridden. One night, two men approach Black Elk from the clouds and tell him that “your Grandfathers are calling you” (17). Black Elk is suddenly able to walk, and a cloud carries him into the sky with the two men, where Black Elk encounters a bay horse who promises to show Black Elk the horse’s “life-history” (18). Black Elk also sees groups of dancing horses in each direction: black horses to the west, white horses to the north, sorrel horses to the east, and buckskin horses to the south.

The bay horse then takes Black Elk to a teepee with a rainbow as its door, inside of which “six old men” (19)—the Lakota Grandfathers—are having a meeting. The Grandfathers represent the “Powers of the World”: the four directions, as well as the Sky and the Earth. Black Elk receives a variety of gifts that offer him different powers, including a bow and arrows, a cup of water, a pipe, and a sapling. The bay horse then takes Black Elk to a “terrible” blue man, who Black Elk kills with a spear (25). Black Elk reflects that the blue man represents drouth, and Black Elk killed him by taking the form of rain. Black Elk is then taken to a village representing Black Elk’s “nation,” and Black Elk plants the sapling in the middle of the “nation’s hoop,” which grows into a tall “rustling tree” (27).

Black Elk joins his nation’s people as they begin a procession up “four ascents,” which Black Elk believes to represent four generations (28). As Black Elk’s people reach the third ascent, they are overcome with sickness and starvation. The bay horse takes Black Elk to a black stallion—“the chief of all the horses”—who summons the powers of the four quarters of the universe to heal Black Elk’s people (31). Black Elk then travels to the “center of the earth,” at the top of the “highest mountain,” where he is gifted an “herb of understanding” (33). Black Elk returns to the six Grandfathers, who congratulate Black Elk on his journey and tell him that he may now return to his tribe and use the power he has gained to help his people. Black Elk finally returns to his body, healed of his prior sickness.

Black Elk is afraid to tell his family or friends about the vision, as he does not think they will believe what he says. For a while after, Black Elk feels alienated from the tribes, and describes them as “almost like strangers” (38). Many of Black Elk’s friends and relatives notice that Black Elk’s demeanor has changed. When Black Elk goes hunting with his grandfather, he refuses to shoot at a bird, as he recalls feeling in his vision that he “was to be like a relative with the birds” (39). Black Elk’s friend, Standing Bear, speaks and talks about how Black Elk began to act more like an “old man” than a “boy” (40).

Soon after the vision, the tribe crier announces that scouts have spotted a large herd of bison. A hunt of the bison ensues, with the tribe’s men circling the bison on horses. Though Black Elk is not old enough to participate in the hunt, he and his friends ride along on ponies and imitate the hunters. Afterwards, the tribe’s women prepare the bison meat by cutting and drying it. Black Elk describes several games he and the other Lakota boys would play, including a “chapped breast dance” (45).

Following the hunt, a group of the Ogalala Lakota, including Black Elk’s family, venture for the Soldier’s Town (Fort Robinson), where the Wasichus live. They decide to go there as some Ogalala relatives are already living at the Soldier’s Town. The Ogalala make a camp at White Butte outside of the Soldier’s Town, and remain there for the entire winter. Black Elk describes seeing a Wasichu for the first time, explaining how he thought “they all looked sick” (48). One day, several Ogalala boys climb and break the Wasichu flagpole. A fight almost breaks out between the Wasichus and the Ogalala, but Red Cloud is able to calm the Wasichus down. In the spring, Black Elk’s family leaves the Soldier’s Town and begins heading for the Black Hills. Black Elk describes how occasionally he is overcome with a “queer feeling” that he recognizes from his vision (49). 

Black Elk describes how High Horse, a member of the Ogalala, courted a woman in the Ogalala tribe. High Horse is so in love with this woman that he gets “sick all over from thinking about her” (53). However, the woman’s father is very protective over her, for fear that man might try and “steal her” (53). After the woman admits to High Horse that she likes him, High Horse offers her father two horses in exchange for the woman’s hand in marriage, but the father refuses. High Horse’s friend, Red Deer, advises High Horse that he must steal the woman from her father. High Horse and Red Deer sneak into the teepee one night, but High Horse accidentally cuts the woman, causing her to yell. The next night, plan to try stealing the girl again, with High Horse’s body painted so that the family will think High Horse is a “bad spirit” (56) if they awake. However, High Horse falls asleep when hiding from the woman’s father, and is spotted the next morning. High Horse and Red Deer decide to flee the village, where they come across a tribe of Crow Native Americans. The two steal the Crow’s horses and bring them back to the woman’s father, who agrees to allow High Horse to marry in exchange for the horses. 

Rumors begin to spread through Black Elk’s camp that groups of Wasichu soldiers are venturing into the Lakota’s Black Hills mountains. These soldiers are led by General Custer, referred to by Black Elk as Pahuska, in violation of the treaty made with Red Cloud several years earlier. Red Cloud, who now resides at the Soldier’s Town, defends the Wasichu soldiers, claiming that they are only venturing into the hills to “keep the diggers out” (61). However, the Ogalala no longer trust Red Cloud, and believe him to be protecting the Wasichus.  

A council of many of the Lakota is called to discuss the Wasichus. They talk about requests from the “Grandfather at Washington […] to lease the Black Hills” (62). Many Lakota believe the Wasichus will take the Black Hills mountains whether the Lakota agree to the lease or not. However, no definitive plan is made at the council about how to respond to the Wasichus. The Ogalala travel to join Crazy Horse’s camp at Powder River. Crazy Horse is a Lakota chief and a cousin of Black Elk. Crazy Horse is known for his “great power” in battle, which is believed to have been granted to him through a vision (65). One day, a group of Wasichus attack Crazy Horse’s camp in the early morning, surprising and killing numerous Lakotas. However, Crazy Horse gathers a group of warriors and fights the Wasichus off.