Black Elk Speaks

Being the Life Story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux, The Premier Edition

By: John G. Neihardt

Narrated by: Robin Neihardt

The famous life story of the Lakota healer and visionary, Nicholas Black Elk.

Widely hailed as a spiritual classic, this inspirational and unfailingly powerful story reveals the life and visions of the Lakota healer Nicholas Black Elk (1863–1950) and the tragic history of his Sioux people during the epic closing decades of the Old West. In 1930, the aging Black Elk met a kindred spirit, the famed poet, writer, and critic John G. Neihardt (1881–1973) on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. The Lakota elder chose Neihardt to share his visions and life with the world. Neihardt understood and today Black Elk is known to all.

Black Elk’s remarkable great vision came to him during a time of decimation and loss, when outsiders were stealing the Lakotas’ land, slaughtering buffalo, and threatening their age-old way of life. As Black Elk remembers all too well, the Lakotas, led by such legendary men as Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull, fought unceasingly for their freedom, winning a world-renowned victory at the Little Bighorn and suffering unspeakable losses at Wounded Knee.

Black Elk Speaks however is more than the epic history of a valiant Native nation. It is beloved as a spiritual classic because of John Neihardt’s sensitivity to Black Elk’s resounding vision of the wholeness of earth, her creatures, and all of humanity. Black Elk Speaks is a once-in-a-lifetime read: the moving story of a young Lakota boy before the reservation years, the unforgettable history of an American Indian nation, and an enduring spiritual message for us all.

The premier edition features the first-ever annotated edition of Black Elk’s story, done by renowned Lakota scholar Raymond J. DeMallie, the original Standing Bear illustrations and new commentary on them, new maps of the world of Black Elk Speaks, and a revised index.

©2008 The John G. Neihardt Trust (P)2014 Skyyrim Studios

An Essential and Timeless Piece of Work

I’ve always enjoyed biographies but this one stands out and defies category. If I were in charge of education it would be required reading in American history, philosophy, religious studies and classic literature. It is the story of Black Elk, a holy man of the Oglala Sioux, as translated into English by the Nebraska poet Richard Neihardt. It begins saying:
“My friend, I am going to tell you the story of my life, as you wish; and if it were only the story of my life I think I would not tell it; for what is one man that he should make much of his winters, even when they bend him like a heavy snow? So many other men have lived and shall live that story to be be grass upon the hills.  It is the story of all life that is holy and is good to tell and of us two leggeds sharing in it with the four leggeds and the wings of the air and all green things for these are children of one mother and their father is one Spirit.”

Wonderful beyond belief!!

This book was amazing! I felt as though I was there as it was narrated. I don't think I would have had the same experience reading it.

Black Elk Lucid Dreams

So what is the daylight star and what is this crazy herb he talks about?

Fantastic story

Great story, a must for anyone interested in Lakota history and culture. Fantastic insight in the way of thinking.

"I did not know what I knew...."

Would you consider the audio edition of Black Elk Speaks to be better than the print version?
Yes-such a powerful story.
The narrator does an incredible job, I enjoyed the book so muck more hearing Neihardt.

Which scene was your favorite?
His boyhood vision and the Ghost Dance