Black Elk Speaks-

Black Elk Speaks is an incredibly raw, honest narrative that hearkens back to a culture all but lost in our modern society. Reading it brought me a sort of sorrow, as our current way of life in comparison seems to be so shallow and out of touch with our spiritual selves. It also made me feel ashamed to be considered among a group that was responsible for the demise of this culture. We placated them with promises we never intended to keep. "You can see it is not the grass and the water that have forgotten."(490). As a culture, we wasichus seemed determined to ignore our most basic emotions and spirit in order to show that we are "logical and fully functioning members of society". A lack of emotional or spiritual connectedness is somehow akin to maturity. We seem to believe that logic is the center of all truth. But if the acquisition of knowledge has taught us anything, it is that there is so much that is unexplainable. Furthermore, we seem as a race to have a certain imperial complex. That is to say, we long to dominate others, and in our infinite greed take all that we can, by force or otherwise. This trait has led us to subjugate millions of people over the course of history.

Another striking aspect of the narrative was the way that Black Elk began to treat animals in response to his vision. "I felt queer again, and remembered that I was to be like a relative with the birds." (504) He suddenly understands that there is in an equal value to all life, and thus all life is sacred. Even though we as humans must kill animals in order to eat, we should only do so when we must, and in doing so always carry a reverence for the animal within us. Similarly, in Vizenor's "Squirrel", the narrator discovers this very same concept. "I would not shoot an animal again unless my life depended on the hunt." (5) This is a concept that we Wasichus have forgotten, perhaps never known. In our greed we take more than we need, and then some, never able to have our fill. In my opinion, we do so because of a lack of respect for life. Hopefully we discover this truth- that all life is inherently equal and worth respect- before it is too late, and we destroy what we have left entirely. Although as history has evidenced, this is unlikely ever to occur.