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Black Elk Speaks
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Black Elk (Heȟáka Sápa), c. 1885 Black Elk (left) and John G. Neihardt, 1945
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Black Elk (Heȟáka Sápa), c. 1885
Black Elk (Heȟáka Sápa), c. 1885 Black Elk Speaks (1932) is the autobiography of Oglala Lakota warrior and holy man Heȟáka Sápa, commonly known as Black Elk.

Black Elk Speaks

work by Neihardt
Also known as: “Black Elk Speaks: Being the Life Story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux as Told to John G. Neihardt (Flaming Rainbow)”(Show More)
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History

Black Elk Speaks, the autobiography of Oglala Lakota (Oceti Sakowin, or Sioux) warrior and holy man Black Elk, published in 1932. Black Elk dictated his life story to Nebraska-based writer John G. Neihardt in Lakota, with Black Elk’s son Ben serving as an English translator and Neihardt’s daughter Enid transcribing their conversations. Neihardt then shaped the conversations into an autobiographical narrative. Although not a big seller upon its release (perhaps because of its esoteric qualities),...

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