Marketing Research

Black Elk Speaks

Black Elk Speaks is a novel based on the memories of Black Elk that he shared with a poet John Neihardt. Black Elk was an Oglala Sioux religious leader that had become a medicine man when he had had a vision in his teen age. Black Elk had already catholicized when he met Neihardt and was a catechist in reservations. He told Neihardt the story of his life so that it got eternalized and the future generations had the possibility to get to know the history of the Sioux.

The novel gives us a good idea about the traditions, beliefs and way of life of the Lakota Indians as well as about the hardships that occurred for them when they had to defend their lands from the Wasichus as they called the white men. And what is more, the story describes in details the fights between Lakota and Wasichus for the land. The reason the white men wanted to occupy the Lakota lands was that they had found gold there. The Indians called gold the yellow metal and considered it inapplicable for anything. According to the novel there was the archenemy of the Lakotas whom they called Pahuska. Actually, his name was George Armstrong Custer. He and his army fought the Lakota Indians and were defeated by them after devastating battles.

Black Elk remembers himself being a boy and remembers how he started having visions. At the very beginning they were queer and he couldn't understand them. But as he tells in his memories, many of his tribesmen had visions about various things and their visions helped them realize the reality, cure other people and even made them strong and invulnerable in the battle. For example, his cousin and the Lakota chief Crazy Horse got the vision and received the power and as a result he became a

chief. He got the name of Crazy Horse because in his vision his horse was dancing in a weird way. His ability was to inspire people that were going to fight and also to be invincible in the battles. He had never been hurt in any battle.

The hard times for Lakota Indians started when Pahuska led his people to the sacred land of the Oglala Sioux called Black Hills to capture it and mine gold there. The Indians were ready to protect their lands and to fight the soldiers. The Indians knew that they had to be together and protect themselves. That's why the tribes of the Ogalalas, Hunkpapas, Minneconjous, Sans Arcs, Black Feet, Brules, Santees, and Yanktonais and also many Shyelas and Blue Clouds gathered and stood for their lands.

The story describes the events of some years in the 1870s when all the battles were held. Black Elk was a teenager then - about eleven - thirteen years old. But he already was considered a man and could fight together with all grown up warriors.

From the novel we can make a conclusion that the white men tried to deceive Lakota Indians. Pahuska promised that the lands will belong to the tribes as long as the grass grows and waters flow. But he not only broke this promise but also tried to bring the part of the tribe to come to the Soldiers' Town in winter. It was unfair because the Indians would have definitely died on the way in the snow. The band of Lakota people managed to come to the Soldiers' Town during the thaw but soon they found out that something bad happened at home so they rushed back. This part of the story describes how deceitful the Wasichus were towards the Indians.

When Lakota settlement was attacked by the Wasichus it was night and everybody was asleep. But this sudden aggression was nothing more then a robbery - the white people stole the ponies from the settlement and tried to escape. But the Indians sang

the death song and painted their faces black. Painting the face black means that the warrior is going to kill somebody.

Happily, Crazy Horse that stayed in the settlement followed the soldiers and won the ponies back together with his warriors.

On the way back to the settlement the band of communicators saw Wasichus that were heading for the Lakota settlement to attack it. The band started the fight. The description of the tactics used in this battle is really catching. The Indians surrounded the wagons of Wasichus and kept riding in a circle. This technique prevents the enemies from hitting the Indian riders. And it worked as it had worked times before. It was the first fight of Black Elk and he felt himself a hero.

Further in the book some other battles are described from the point of view of different people that participated. But in all of the fights the Indians as well as Wasichus were ruthless. Black Elk describes really naturalistically how they fought, what wounds they got. The Wasichus camped not far from the settlements of all the tribes that gathered to fight in the same region. And the battles lasted for some days - they fought during the day and went back to their camps at night. And what was interesting that nobody attacked each other at night.

When the warriors were going to the battle they decorated their hair with feathers of different birds that had to protect them in the battle. They also painted their faces in different colors. The women - the wives and the sisters sang songs and told parting words that had to encourage and inspire the warriors. During the battle both sides fought for dear life. And naturally, many died in the battles.

What is strange about the Indians, it didn't bother them to dig out the newly-made graves and take such necessary things as blankets, pieces of clothes and rings from

the dead Wasichus. Black Elk was once lucky to find the pocket watch with one of the bodies. He considered it a necklace and wore it until he found out what it really was and how he could make it tick. And after the battle the women of the Lakota people that were hiding in the forests came out and stripped the dead bodies.

Besides, the Indian