Black Elk Speaks by John G Neihardt (first published in 1932)
This book is pretty interesting if you are interested in more Traditional Native American Medicine Men.
My best friend was reading this book likely in 1970 or 71 and read about them crawling into a Buffalo Herd and being among them. However, when he did this all of a sudden he realized the whole Herd of Buffalo was looking at him like some strange foreign being. He realized he might be in danger so he slowly crawled out of the herd backwards and lived. However, then after climbing into the herd on his belly he finished the book and realized one or more people who had crawled into the Herd of Buffalo had been killed by that particular herd in the book.
Also, it might be important to realize that the animal that kills the most people in the U.S. is by far the Buffalo every year. Because they are herd animals they don't necessarily run away when threatened or feel threatened especially the bulls of the herd. So, if people underestimate them they are soon knocked over and stomped on in about one or two seconds and passed away.
Most people don't realize this about buffalo and think like they are cows in a domestic herd but that isn't true because Buffalo are wild and used to taking on Cougars (mountain lions), Wolves and anything else stupid enough to attack their herd including men, women and children. So, if you see even a lone Buffalo Bull you want to pretty much stand way back. Also, stay back from Buffalo Cows with babies because they can be fatal too.
However, this is an amazing book that was published in 1932 by someone studying Black Elk who was a very famous Native American Medicine man of his time. So, I highly recommend reading it if you are interested in studying and learning about all this.
People offended by this book are usually either really Christian or Atheistic and not Cultural Relativists who can fully appreciate the culture that Black Elk Grew up in.
I myself after beginning to understand non-dualism was able to see the value of Native American Religions and Medicine man and women and later Tibetan Lamas and traveling to India and Nepal and studying with Tibetan Lamas in California, Oregon, India and Nepal. So, for me, understanding Native American religions led me to studying Tibetan Buddhism too.
Also, after studying anthropology I liked the idea of studying about 100s of different Creation Theories around the world including Native American Creation Stories. I find them all at least equally valuable to everything else I studied growing up in the U.S. of all religions including Christianity.
So, my path is more about embracing the useful parts of all religions worldwide. It's sort of like Choosing Cars in a way. Which car do you feel the safest in? Which Car looks the best? Which Car entertains you best? Which car is the most useful for you to travel in? Religions can be like this too.
Black Elk Speaks,
the story of the Oglala Lakota visionary and healer Nicholas Black Elk
(1863–1950) and his people during momentous twilight years of the ...
The story of the Oglala Lakota visionary and healer Nicholas Black Elk (1863-1950) and his people during momentous twilight years of the nineteenth century.
Black Elk speaks
the spiritual traditions of Native American cultures intricate and
diverse offer profound insights into the interconnectedness of life.
Black Elk Speaks offers testimony to the price in human suffering that the Sioux paid for the westward expansion of the United States. As an elegy, it mourns ...
The story of the Oglala Lakota visionary and healer Nicholas Black Elk (1863–1950) and his people during momentous twilight years of the nineteenth century.
$22.71 to $24.95 · In stock · 4.3(3) · Free delivery · 30-day returns
As we know from Black Elk Speaks, Black Elk related to Neihardt the story of the vision that had come to him as a boy. Neihardt also told Black. Elk of a ...
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.Wikipedia
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