The Loss of Culture and Community Theme in Black Elk Speaks

At the time of Black Elk Speaks’s initial publication in 1932, westward expansion was still perceived as a heroic and admirable period of American history. Neihardt’s narrative rendition of Black Elk’s experience with the growing influence of Wasichu (white) culture complicates this prior narrative, explaining it from the perspective of the Lakota people who experienced subjugation as a result of westward expansion. Black Elk’s perspective paints westward expansion as a wholly negative force that robbed the Lakota people of their traditions and sense of community.

American westward expansion resulted in the depletion of natural resources that were central to Lakota people’s way of life. One example of this is the depletion of the country’s bison population. Prior to the arrival of the Wasichus, the bison that roamed the plains “were so many that they could not be counted.” Not only did bison provide the Lakota people with a steady food supply, the “great bison hunt” that Black Elk recounts in Chapter 4 presents the hunt as a culturally significant event in which young men can demonstrate their bravery and hunting prowess. Black Elk reinforces the bison hunt’s significance by emphasizing how it brings the village together: the hunters sing songs together as they return to camp with their butchered meat, and the women make drying racks on which to hang the meat. Little boys have a “war” and “endurance” games that they traditionally engage in after a hunt. In one such game, boys form their own play “village” away from camp and are tasked by a lead boy or “advisor” with stealing small pieces of drying meat from the adults’ village. Black Elk describes the traditions associated with the bison hunt to show that bison were not just a food source for his people: they were integral to important cultural and social practices of his people. Thus, when the Wasichu moved westward and began killing large numbers of bison for sport or to make money from their hides, the Lakota were deprived not only of food but of a key cultural component.

The dwindling bison population resulted in the loss of the Lakota people’s nomadic lifestyle, as well, emphasizing the negative domino effect of the Wasichus’ westward expansion. Black Elk states that by 1883, “the last of the bison herds were slaughtered by the Wasichus.” Prior to the Wasichus’ arrival in the west, the Lakota had practiced a nomadic lifestyle, moving camp to follow the bison herds and other primary food sources. After they could no longer rely on bison for food—and after the Wasichus had confiscated their horses, limiting their ability to travel great distances to hunt—the Wasichus were forced to rely on the Wasichus for food, which meant that they had to live on government-run agencies and give up their nomadic lifestyle.

Life on government agencies—the parcels of land that the U.S. government allotted to Native American tribes to live on after colonizers stole Native lands in the process of westward expansion— resulted in the loss of important spiritual symbols, as well. The Lakota used to live in tepees, whose circular bases reflected the larger symbolic, spiritual importance the Lakota people place on the circle. According to Black Elk, “everything an Indian does is in a circle […] because the Power of the World always works in circles, and everything tries to be round.” The Lakota people form this idea from their culture’s interdependence on nature, citing, for example, the roundness of Earth and the moon, the circular shape of bird nests, and the circular movement of the changing seasons as evidence that all of nature—including humans, who are part of the larger natural world—is meant to live and act in circles. As the Wasichus killed off the bison upon which the Lakota depended for food and bought more of their rightful land, the Lakota people were forced to live on government agencies if they wanted to survive and, subsequently, forced to abandon the symbols, such as the circle, that had been integral to their culture and spiritual beliefs. That the Indians had to give up their circular homes for “square boxes” favored by the Wasichus represents a loss of tradition and spiritually significant symbolism.

Beyond the loss of cultural practices and traditional symbols, westward expansion also resulted in the loss of a unified Lakota people. Black Elk foresees the destruction of his culture and the splintering of his people in his “great vision” in Chapter 3, in which he is transported to a cloud world and witnesses his people forced to walk down a “black road” of war and violence. When Black Elk’s people walk down this road in the vision, Black Elk sees that the “nation’s hoop,” which symbolizes the unity of his people, is “broken like a ring of smoke that spreads and scatters and the holy tree seemed dying and all its birds were gone.” Black Elk’s vision anticipates the literal splintering of his people across different government-run agencies and across different, opposing alliances. While some Lakota leaders like Crazy Horse remain resistant to Wasichu forces (Crazy Horse is ultimately killed resisting arrest in 1877), other leaders, like Red Cloud, decide to stop fighting, give up their rightful land, and yield to the invading Wasichu forces. This example illustrates a dual loss of community and culture: because of the Wasichus’ westward expansion, the Lakota lost both their traditional sense of unity as well as the cultural symbol—the “nation’s hoop”—used to portray that unity.

The Loss of Culture and Community ThemeTracker

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The Loss of Culture and Community Quotes in Black Elk Speaks

Below you will find the important quotes in Black Elk Speaks related to the theme of The Loss of Culture and Community .

But now that I see it all as from a lonely hilltop, I know it was the story of a mighty vision given to a man too weak to use it; of a holy tree that should have flourished in a people’s heart with flowers and singing birds, and now is withered; and of a people’s dream that died in bloody snow.

Related Characters: Black Elk (speaker)

Related Symbols: The Nation’s Hoop and the Blooming Tree

Page Number and Citation: 1

Explanation and Analysis:

This passage, taken from Black Elk’s introductory remarks to his audience, is important because it introduces the theme of unrealized dreams that unfolds across the narrative. As Black Elk introduces his audience to the story he will tell, he reflects back on his past, portraying his life as “the story of a mighty vision given to a man too weak to use it.” Black Elk regards himself as a failure and, by extension, his life, an unfinished journey. Black Elk’s remarks show that he attributes his inability to realize his “mighty vision” to personal shortcoming rather than the extenuating circumstances—namely, Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis iure. Sint qui qui. Qui similique praesentium. Ex consequatur magnam. Aliquid iste enim. Sequi aut maxime. Adipisci voluptate et. Voluptas suscipit alias. In et eveniet. Eaque et repellendus. Dolores aut voluptatibus. Voluptatem qu

Once we were happy in our own country and we were seldom hungry, for then the two-leggeds and the four-leggeds lived together like relatives, and there was plenty for them and for us. But the Wasichus came, and they have made little islands for us and other little islands for the four-leggeds, and always these islands are becoming smaller, for around them surges the gnawing flood of the Wasichu; and it is dirty with lies and greed.

Related Characters: Black Elk (speaker)

Related Symbols: Yellow Metal / Gold

Page Number and Citation: 6

Explanation and Analysis:

In this passage, Black Elk describes what his boyhood was like before his life was full of troubles, and then he establishes what lies at the root of those troubles: “the gnawing flood of the Wasichus.” Before the Wasichus (white people) arrived, Black Elk and his people “were happy in [their] own country,” living harmoniously with “the four-leggeds […] like relatives,” with humans and animals alike only using the natural resources they needed so that “there was plenty for them and for us.” The Lakotas’ relationship with the natural world was harmonious because they weren’t trying to control it—they only Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis iure. Sint qui qui. Qui similique praesentium. Ex consequatur magnam. Aliquid iste enim. Sequi aut maxime. Adipisci voluptate et. Voluptas suscipit alias. In et eveniet. Eaque et repellendus. Dolores aut voluptatibus. Voluptatem qui voluptatum. Voluptatibus sed placeat. Aut tenetur autem. Fugit voluptates in. Quidem

Sometimes dreams are wiser than waking.

Related Characters: Black Elk (speaker), Black Elk’s father, Drinks Water

Page Number and Citation: 7

Explanation and Analysis:

Black Elk recalls a story his father told him about a Lakota holy man named Drinks Water who had a vision that predicted the Wasichus’ (white people’s) arrival and his people’s resultant suffering. Shortly after witnessing this vision, Drinks Water died—some say, of sorrow. In response to Drinks Water’s vision and tragic end, Black Elk remarks, “sometimes dreams are wiser than waking,” implying that Drinks Water died intentionally, knowing that his dream would come true and not wanting to live in a world of so much suffering. Black Elk is also referring to himself and his own vision, however. Like Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremq

So I took the bright red stick and at the center of the nation’s hoop I thrust it in the earth. As it touched the earth it leaped mightily in my hand and was a waga chun, the rustling tree, very tall and full of leafy branches and of all birds singing. And beneath it all the animals were mingling with the people like relatives and making happy cries. The women raised their tremolo of joy, and the men shouted all together: “Here we shall raise our children and be as little chickens under the mother sheo’s wing.”

Related Characters: Black Elk (speaker), The Six Grandfathers

Related Symbols: The Nation’s Hoop and the Blooming Tree

Page Number and Citation: 21

Explanation and Analysis:

This passage is taken from a scene of Black Elk’s great vision. It describes the appearance of two symbols that become critical to Black Elk’s visions and to the book, as a whole: the blooming tree, or waga chun (the Lakota word for “cottonwood”) and the nation’s hoop. The tree comes from a “bright red stick” given to Black Elk in his vision by the fourth Grandfather. The nation’s hoop represents the unity of Black Elk’s people. Together, these two symbols symbolize the possibility of a thriving and cohesive Lakota people, and thus the tragedy of the fragmentation and displacement Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto

Our people knew there was yellow metal in little chunks up there; but they did not bother with it, because it was not good for anything.

Related Characters: Black Elk (speaker)

Related Symbols: Yellow Metal / Gold

Page Number and Citation: 49

Explanation and Analysis:

Black Elk and his people hear that there are Wasichus (white people) in his people’s land in the Black Hills. The Wasichus are in the Hills because they found “yellow metal in little chunks up there.” The “yellow metal” to which Black Elk refers is gold. “Yellow metal” is a central symbol in Black Elk Speaks that illustrates the Wasichus’ greed: Black Elk explains that his people “knew that there was yellow metal in little chunks” in the Black Hills, but hadn’t bothered to unbury it themselves, as “it was not good for anything.” By this, Black Elk means that Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur

He was a queer man. Maybe he was always part way into that world of his vision. He was a very great man, and I think if the Wasichus had not murdered him down there, maybe we should still have the Black Hills and be happy. They could not have killed him in battle. They had to lie to him and murder him.

Related Characters: Black Elk (speaker), Crazy Horse

Page Number and Citation: 54

Explanation and Analysis:

Black Elk describes Crazy Horse, whom he regards as the greatest chief of all time. Black Elk presents Crazy Horse as a kindred spirit, a man who also felt the alienating psychological impact of having a vision and higher purpose, of being “always part way into that world of his vision.” Black Elk also connects the deceitful murder of Crazy Horse to the equally unjust destruction of his people and the failure of his spiritual quest. Further, this passage highlights the deception and immorality with which the Wasichus treated the Lakota. The disdain with which Black Elk describes Crazy Horse’s Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explica

But only crazy or very foolish men would sell their Mother Earth. Sometimes I think it might have been better if we had stayed together and made them kill us all.

Related Characters: Black Elk (speaker), Red Cloud, Crazy Horse

Page Number and Citation: 83

Explanation and Analysis:

The Sioux have a significant victory against the U.S. government in the Battle of Little Bighorn, but a harsh winter follows, and their situation worsens in other ways, as well. One notable setback Black Elk mentions is how the Wasichus (white people) apparently gave some of the Sioux chiefs whiskey and tricked them into signing the 1876 Black Hills Agreement, a treaty that gave the Black Hills, as well as other lands outside of the Great Sioux Reservation, to the U.S. government. This passage addresses the remorse and disbelief that Black Elk feels in response to learning about this new, Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis iure. Sint qui qui. Qui similique praesentium. Ex consequatur magnam. Aliquid iste enim. Sequi aut maxime. Adipisci voluptate et. Voluptas suscipit alias. In et eveniet. Eaque et repellendus. Dolores aut voluptatibus. Voluptatem qui voluptatum. Voluptatibus sed placeat. Aut tenetur autem. Fugit voluptates in. Quidem impedit sunt. Excepturi ullam nobis. Ducimus odio quo. Ut autem harum. Omnis vel voluptatum. Assumenda officia

How could men get fat by being bad, and starve by being good? I thought and thought about my vision, and it made me very sad; for I wondered if maybe it was only a queer dream after all.

Related Characters: Black Elk (speaker), Spotted Tail, Crazy Horse

Page Number and Citation: 86

Explanation and Analysis:

When Black Elk wonders whether his vision is “only a queer dream after all,” he reflects on the vision’s incompatibility with the real world. The logic of his vision—in which the good are rewarded and the evil defeated—is illogical in the real world, in which people like Spotted Tail, who wrongly cooperate with the Wasichus (white people), are rewarded with food. At the same time, people like Black Elk’s family, who honorably struggle to maintain their way of life, are left to starve. Black Elk’s reflection here also emphasizes the growing divide between American Indians who benefited in the short Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum vo

I was fifteen years old that winter, and I thought of my vision and wondered when my duty was to come; for the Grandfathers had shown me my people walking on the black road and how the nation’s hoop would be broken and the flowering tree be withered, before I should bring the hoop together with the power that was given me, and make the holy tree to flower in the center and find the red road again. Part of this had happened already, and I wondered when my power would grow, so that the rest might be as I had seen it in my vision.

Related Characters: Black Elk (speaker), The Six Grandfathers, Crazy Horse

Related Symbols: The Nation’s Hoop and the Blooming Tree

Page Number and Citation: 91

Explanation and Analysis:

Black Elk and his family have just fled from their homeland to Canada to escape the restrictions that they would have to endure if they stayed and were forced to live on an agency. Living in a strange land away from most of his people is jarring for Black Elk, and it makes him reflect more seriously on his vision, his higher calling, and the responsibility he has to restore his people to the prosperity and cultural unity they had prior to Wasichu (white) settlement. Black Elk knows that his vision is legitimate, for he can see the events that Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis iure. Sint qui qui. Qui similique praesentium. Ex consequatur magnam. Aliquid iste enim. Sequi aut maxime. Adipisc

I could not get along with my people now, and I would take my horse and go far out from camp alone and compare everything on earth and in the sky with my vision. Crows would see me and shout to each other as though they were making fun of me: “Behold him! Behold him!”

When the frosts began I was glad, because there would not be any more thunder storms for a long while, and I was more and more afraid of them all the time, for always there would be the voices crying “Oo oohey! It is time! It is time!”

Related Characters: Black Elk (speaker)

Related Symbols: Thunder

Page Number and Citation: 99

Explanation and Analysis:

Black Elk and his family have returned to their homeland from Canada. Black Elk’s people’s situation continues to worsen, and Black Elk is troubled by the fact that he has yet to act on his vision and save them and their culture from destruction. In this passage, Black Elk articulates the psychological torment he feels as a result of his unrealized vision: “I could not get along with my people now, and I would take my horse and go far out from camp alone and compare everything in earth and in the sky with my vision.” This statement shows that Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui

“Nephew, I know now what the trouble is! You must do your duty and perform this vision for your people upon earth. You must have the horse dance first for the people to see. Then the fear will leave you; but if you do not do this, something very bad will happen to you.”

Related Characters: Black Road (speaker), Black Elk

Page Number and Citation: 100

Explanation and Analysis:

Black Elk and his family return to their native land from Canada, but Black Elk continues to anguish over his inability to enact his vision and restore his people’s unity. He finally gets a breakthrough after confiding in a medicine man named Black Road. Black Road explains to Black Elk that, if he wants to relieve his internal suffering, he “must do [his] duty and perform this vision for [his] people upon earth,” specifically, in the form of a horse dance. If Black Elk does this, “the fear will leave [him].” Black Road’s guidance emphasizes the importance of ceremony and Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eli

And now when I look about me upon my people in despair, I feel like crying and I wish and wish my vision could have been given to a man more worthy. I wonder why it came to me, a pitiful old man who can do nothing. Men and women and children I have cured of sickness with the power the vision gave me; but my nation I could not help.

Related Characters: Black Elk (speaker)

Page Number and Citation: 112

Explanation and Analysis:

Black Elk digresses from his narrative to reflect on the remorse he feels about not being able to save his people. He expresses this remorse using language that recurs throughout the narrative, namely calling himself a “pitiful old man.” He is “pitiful,” he believes, because he was given a gift, a higher calling, in his vision, yet failed to bring that higher calling to fruition and prevent the Lakotas’ erasure. When he says that “men and women and children I have cured of sickness with the power the vision gave me,” he acknowledges the smaller-scale ways in which he has Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accu

But in the heyoka ceremony, everything is backwards, and it is planned that the people shall be made to feel jolly and happy first, so that it may be easier for the power to come to them. You may have noticed that the truth comes into this world with two faces. One is sad with suffering, and the other laughs; but it is the same face, laughing or weeping. When people are already in despair, maybe the laughing face is better for them; and when they feel too good and are too sure of being safe, maybe the weeping face is better for them to see. And so I think that is what the heyoka ceremony is for.

Related Characters: Black Elk (speaker)

Related Symbols: The Nation’s Hoop and the Blooming Tree

Page Number and Citation: 117

Explanation and Analysis:

Black Elk explains the logic behind the heyoka ceremony, a ritual in which heyokas—“sacred clowns”—publicly perform their visions in an entertaining, “backwards” style. According to Black Elk, the idea behind a heyoka ceremony is that people are “made to feel jolly and happy first, so that it may be easier for the power to come to them.” Put simply, a heyoka ceremony gives people good news first, so that they are in a better and more receptive mood to receive bad news, and vice versa: “when people are already in despair,” reasons Black Elk, “maybe the laughing face is better Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero

It is from understanding that power comes; and the power in the ceremony was in understanding what it meant; for nothing can live well except in a manner that is suited to the way the sacred Power of the World lives and moves.

Related Characters: Black Elk (speaker), The Six Grandfathers

Related Symbols: The Nation’s Hoop and the Blooming Tree

Page Number and Citation: 129

Explanation and Analysis:

Black Elk explains the significance of ceremony to Lakota culture, specifically addressing the connection between understanding, power, and ceremony. “It is from understanding that power comes,” explains Black Elk. In other words, power is useless if one doesn’t know what it is for. For example, Black Elk receives powers from the Six Grandfathers in his vision and the directive to restore the nation’s hoop, but because he doesn’t fully understand how to use these powers, he remains unable to enact them and fulfill his duty to his people. Black Elk continues, explaining the particular power that ceremony holds: “the power Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis iure. Sint qui qui. Qui similique praesentium. Ex consequatur magnam. Aliquid iste enim. Sequi aut maxime. Adipisci voluptate et. Voluptas suscipit alias. In et eveniet. Eaque et repellendus. Dolores aut voluptatibus. Voluptatem qui voluptatum. Voluptatibus sed placeat. Aut tenetur autem. Fugit volupt

I can remember when the bison were so many that they could not be counted, but more and more Wasichus came to kill them until there were only heaps and heaps of bones scattered where they used to be. The Wasichus did not kill them to eat; they killed them for the metal that makes them crazy, and they took only the hides to sell. Sometimes they did not even take the hides to sell. Sometimes they did not even take the hides, only the tongues; […] they just killed and killed because they liked to do that. When we hunted bison, we killed only what we needed. And when there was nothing left but heaps of bones, the Wasichus came and gathered up even the bones and sold them.

Related Characters: Black Elk (speaker)

Related Symbols: Yellow Metal / Gold

Page Number and Citation: 134

Explanation and Analysis:

Black Elk explains that shortly after he performed the ceremony of the elk, the Wasichus killed off the last of the country’s bison population. He compares the bison population before and after the Wasichus’ (white people’s) arrival, noting that while before, “the bison were so many that they could not be counted,” the population dropped immediately as Wasichus killed them in droves “for the metal that makes them all crazy.” Unlike the Lakota, who only hunted bison for what they “needed,” the Wasichus slaughter bison to amass material wealth. Further, because the Wasichus don’t have the Lakotas’ reverence for nature, Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis cons

I was in the air, with outstretched arms, and floating fast. There was a fearful dark river that I had to go over, and I was afraid. It rushed and roared and was full of angry foam. Then I looked down and saw many men and women who were trying to cross the dark and fearful river, but they could not. Weeping, they looked up to me and cried: “Help us!” But I could not stop gliding, for it was as though a great wind were under me.

Related Characters: Black Elk (speaker), Wovoka (“The Wanekia”)

Page Number and Citation: 154

Explanation and Analysis:

Black Elk leads a Ghost Dance and has a vision in which he sees people living in paradise which, presumably, is the better world that Wovoka (the Wanekia) prophesied in his vision. Near the end of his vision, Black Elk flies through the air and sees people beneath him, drowning in a fearsome river. Black Elk’s flight seems to represent an idealized spiritual world: a world devoid of external circumstances like colonization, hunger, and oppression. This world is one in which Black Elk’s vision is realized. The people in the river below him represents the physical world—a world of real, Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia

I did not depend upon the great vision as I should have done; I depended upon the two sticks that I had seen in the lesser vision. It is hard to follow one great vision in this world of darkness and of many changing shadows. Among those shadows men get lost.

Related Characters: Black Elk (speaker), The Six Grandfathers

Related Symbols: The Nation’s Hoop and the Blooming Tree

Page Number and Citation: 157

Explanation and Analysis:

This passage occurs after Black Elk receives another vision while dancing the Ghost Dance. In the vision, he sees a lot of imagery from his initial great vision—namely, the flaming rainbow, the cloud tepee, and an eagle, who cautions Black Elk to “remember.” Black Elk reflects on the vision and decides, in retrospect, that the eagle’s advice to “remember” was a warning to him not to depend on his “lesser vision” and to stay focused on the higher calling that the Six Grandfathers gave to him in his initial vision of restoring the nation’s hoop and saving his people. He Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis iure. Sint qui qui. Qui similique praesentium. Ex cons

The snow drifted deep in the crooked gulch, and it was one long grave of butchered women and children and babies, who had never done any harm and were only trying to run away.

Related Characters: Black Elk (speaker)

Page Number and Citation: 164

Explanation and Analysis:

Black Elk describes the aftermath of the Wounded Knee Massacre. He depicts a gruesome scene of Lakota civilians murdered by the U.S. Army, their scattered bodies appearing as “one long grave of butchered women and children and babies.” The Wounded Knee Massacre is particularly troubling to Black Elk because its victims aren’t warriors who willingly offered up their lives for the greater good of their tribe: they are innocent women, children, and babies “who had never done any harm and were only trying to run away.” The Wounded Knee Massacre is a critical point in Black Elk’s story because it Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et u

And I, to whom so great a vision was given in my youth,—you see me now a pitiful old man who has done nothing, for the nation’s hoop is broken and scattered. There is no center any longer, and the sacred tree is dead.

Related Characters: Black Elk (speaker)

Related Symbols: The Nation’s Hoop and the Blooming Tree

Page Number and Citation: 169

Explanation and Analysis:

These lines conclude Black Elk’s story. Rhetorically, this passage is significant because it frames the story, as Black Elk’s story begins and ends with this same sentiment: that he was given a “great vision,” failed to fulfill what the vision asked of him and, as a result, “the nation’s hoop is broken and scattered.” Somber and mournful in tone, these lines establish Black Elk’s story as a tragedy about his failed quest to realize the duty to save his people that was given to him in his vision. Black Elk’s frank delivery of these lines implies his reluctant acceptance of Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro p

The Loss of Culture and Community Theme Analysis

The Loss of Culture and Community ThemeTracker

The Loss of Culture and Community Quotes in Black Elk Speaks

Chapter 1 Quotes

Chapter 2 Quotes

Chapter 3 Quotes

Chapter 7 Quotes

Chapter 10 Quotes

Chapter 12 Quotes

Chapter 13 Quotes

Chapter 15 Quotes

Chapter 16 Quotes

Chapter 18 Quotes

Chapter 19 Quotes

Chapter 22 Quotes

Chapter 23 Quotes

Chapter 24 Quotes

Chapter 25 Quotes