Black Elk Speaks

For the song "Black Elk Speaks" by Hawkwind, see Space Bandits.
Black Elk Speaks
AuthorJohn G. Neihardt
LanguageEnglish
Publication date
1932 (original cover)
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint

Black Elk Speaks is a 1932 book by John G. Neihardt, an American poet and writer, who relates the story of Black Elk, an Oglala Lakota medicine man. Black Elk spoke in Lakota and Black Elk's son, Ben Black Elk, who was present during the talks, translated his father's words into English.[1] Neihardt made notes during these talks which he later used as the basis for his book.[2]

The prominent psychologist Carl Jung read the book in the 1930s and urged its translation into German; in 1955, it was published as Ich rufe mein Volk (I Call My People).[3]

Reprinted in the US in 1961, with a 1988 edition named Black Elk Speaks: Being the Life Story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux, as told through John G. Neihardt (Flaming Rainbow) and a State University of New York Press 2008 Premier Edition annotated by Lakota scholar Raymond DeMallie, the book has found an international audience. However, the book has come under fire for what critics describe as inaccurate representations of Lakota culture and beliefs.

  1. ^ Kaye, Frances W. (April 21, 2005). "Interpreting the Legacy: John Neihardt and Black Elk Speaks (review)". Studies in American Indian Literatures. 17 (1): 98–101. doi:10.1353/ail.2005.0029. ISSN 1548-9590. S2CID 162008558. Archived from the original on June 3, 2018. Retrieved June 19, 2020 – via Project MUSE.
  2. ^ Holler, Clyde (June 1, 2000). The Black Elk Reader. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 978-0-8156-2836-1. Archived from the original on June 19, 2020. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
  3. ^ Neihardt, John G (1955). Ich rufe mein Volk: Leben, Traum und Untergang der Ogalalla-Sioux von Schwarzer Hirsch [Übers. von Siegfried Lang] (1st German ed.). Olten: Walter Verlag. ISBN 3889775411.