![]() ![]() During this time, Black Elk got used to the white soldiers at the fort, although, at first, he thought they looked sick. The Indians' stay near the fort is one of the last best times they had. Black Elk's attempts to learn spear fishing from Watanye make for a humorous, if not slightly ghoulish, anecdote: Watanye laughed until his mouth bled when Black Elk fell into the water. The Indians also have a kinship with the creatures of nature that the whites, who destroyed the bison herd, do not have. The Indian relationship with the environment does not allow waste, especially as compared with the habits of the white men making their way westward. The eagle always reminds him of the name the Grandfathers of his vision gave him - Eagle Wing Stretches.īlack Elk describes fishing with his friends, kissing the fish as they are caught, throwing back those that are too small to use. This conflict contributes to the developmental aspect of the story: How will Black Elk grow into his role as a visionary when he lives in the ordinary world? He is happy in the world of hunting, fishing, and children's games, but he received a higher call from his vision. Later, however, he gets a "queer" feeling when he hears the whistle of a spotted eagle and he feels once more back in the world of his vision. He says that whenever he hears thunder, which was part of his vision, he feels happy. Watanye's mouth was covered with sores that bled when he laughed.īlack Elk begins to feel a little more comfortable thinking about his vision. He tells his father that they need not pursue the deer because the deer will be brought to them, and that comes to pass his father kills two deer.ĭuring his time at Soldiers' Town, Watanye teaches Black Elk to spear fish. Red Cloud was a great chief, but he quit fighting after the treaty of 1868, which was five years before.īlack Elk goes deer hunting with his father and feels back in the world of his vision when he hears the whistle of a spotted eagle. At one point during their stay, soldiers threatened to punish the Indians because an Indian boy mischievously cut off the top of a flagpole at the fort, but Red Cloud intervened and made peace. He tells about playing with the other children on sleds made of bison jaws and ribs. Black Elk joined his relatives near Soldiers' Town, where he saw his first white man, and camped there all winter. Some Oglalas went to Fort Robinson (Soldiers' Town) others stayed behind with Crazy Horse, who wanted nothing to do with white men. Sage a plant of the mint family (genus Salvia) with an aromatic taste and smell Indians burn sage to release purifying properties.The six Lakota bands (Ogalalas, Brules, Sans Arcs, Black Kettles, Hunkpapas, and Minneconjous) who camped together, scattered after the bison hunt. The performance of the vision also serves to develop Black Elk's character, as he now takes a further step in assuming his rightful place among his people. It emphasizes the esteem in which the visionary was held, and the shared understanding that the power of the vision would pass through him to his people. This chapter presents the importance for the Sioux of acting out the private vision of Black Elk in a public ritual for the entire community to see. He gets up every morning to see the daybreak star, which is called the star of understanding. People tell him that those who were sick have become well. He sings to the grandfathers to help him and the thunder rolls in, but only a little sprinkle of rain falls on the people. They enact the vision and as they do, Black Elk sees the vision again that he originally had, and which the enactment is but a shadow of. His mother and father help assemble what is needed to enact the vision: horses, riders, and maidens all painted and decorated. He teaches them the songs from his vision. They tell Black Elk he must purify himself in a sweat lodge. ![]() Black Road and an old man, Bear Sings, paint a sacred tepee for Black Elk with scenes from his vision, the objects associated with the four directions, and bison and elk.
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