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  • Black Elk Speaks

  • Being the Life Story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux, The Premier Edition
  • Written by: John G. Neihardt
  • Narrated by: Robin Neihardt
  • Length: 6 hrs and 35 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (53 ratings)

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Black Elk Speaks

Written by: John G. Neihardt
Narrated by: Robin Neihardt
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Publisher's Summary

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

What listeners say about Black Elk Speaks

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  • 2021-06-19

A great book

A good testament of a peoples fighing warrior spirit struggling to hold on to life

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Will the hoop ever be restored?

A great story of a young man going through the struggles of Colonialism in the late 19th century. I would recommend this book to anybody in the West, but particularly to people interested in Indigenous history, spirituality, Jungian psychology, or symbolism in general.

The story in general is a sad one. However, I think the account of his vision and the overview of Lakota life can give us some good suggestions on how to improve our Western, materialistic society, or simply improve our own lives. The "hoop" he speaks about is not only shattered in the Indigenous world, but I think it is shattered all throughout North America.

On a more personal note, I was excited to piece together that Black Elk spent a considerable amount of time in Southern Saskatchewan, right beside my home town while camping with Sitting Bull after the Battle of Little Bighorn.

Overall I think this is a very important and insightful book.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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Robotics narration

the narration was robotic, and if not for the story it self I would have not finished .

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