Symposium Week

Project Length: 5-7 minutes

For the final week of our course, each of you will present a brief summary of your research to the class. You may choose to summarize the central argument of your paper by reading your thesis and one or two of your close readings of passages. Or, you might decide to read sections of your paper that you most enjoyed writing. The format and content of this presentation are left entirely up to you. But, keep in mind that the point is to generate questions in and between members of your audience. If you have any questions in the meantime, please let me know.

Good luck!

A Note on the Heyoka Ceremony and the Ending of *Black Elk Speaks*

The ending to Black Elk seemed discontiguous. He initially ‘ends’ with the
seemingly definitive:  “There is no center any longer, and the sacred tree
is dead.” However, in the afterword the story continues and ends on a more
optimistic note. The two endings seem contradictory and there is little
reconciliation to be found between the two. The endings reminded me of a
passage found in the chapter called “Heyoka Ceremony” which I think
reflects the duality found in the last chapters of Black Elk. It says
“When a vision comes from the thunder beings of the west, it comes with
terror like a thunder storm; but when the storm of vision has passed, the
world is greener and happier.” Black Elk to me seems to be trying to say
that suffering and agony is followed by happiness and joy in the natural
order of things. “The world, you see, is happier after the terror of the
storm.” It seems to me that the ending of Black Elk is playing off the
fact that Black Elk’s visions are tied with the idea of a storm, as well
as the idea that suffering is inevitably followed by happiness. The vision
of suffering comes true in reality, but instead of ending with the circle
being broken and Black Elk’s personal failure, we see a light of hope. I
think this stems from said belief that troubles are inevitably followed by
their end. In Heyoka Ceremony, Black Elk compares suffering to a thunder
storm and I find it interesting that his visions seem to garner their
power from beings that are embodied in thunder and rain. The inclusion of
an afterword might also be playing off the idea that after a storm is over
greener pastures are sure to follow, the storm of course being the visions
seen by Black Elk. It seems like a bit of a stretch but I think this
interpretation could work.

~K. N.

Black Elk as the Messiah

Black Elk mirrors the Messiah. He feels the burden of his people’s sufferings, yet comes to love the burden and pity his people. Black Elk was given power from the Great Spirit to cure the sick, just as Jesus miraculously healed those who came to Him.

The journey of Black Elk to the secluded mountain with Few Tails parallels Christ’s actions and emotionality the night before He was arrested. Black Elk and Jesus travel to a secluded area for prayer and lamentation.

They both feel sorrow as a sickness. Jesus expresses this emotion, telling His disciples that “He is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.” Black Elk has often expressed how deep emotions of fear or even love are a disease. Before a vision Black Elk will feel queer and his first vision caused serious illness.

When alone, each shares their fear and begs for the Great Spirit/ God to release them from their duties. Jesus asks “may this cup be taken from me,” while Black Elk “begged the Grandfathers to pity [him] and spare [him]” (142). Though both are afraid, Black Elk and Jesus conclude that they will fulfill their callings if this is what the Great Spirit/ God desires. Once they reach this decision, to “do it if they could” (142), both are relieved of their fears and can focus on achieving what was asked of them.

Black Elk expresses in an aside that he wishes his vision could have been given to someone more worthy. He sees that though he cured the illnesses of many people, he didn’t succeed in saving his nation. This sentiment may have been felt by Jesus while on the cross, seeing the hatred of those condemning Him to death and wondering if He did any good on this Earth. Even now, if He is looking upon us, the hatred and anger that still remains may cause Him to feel like Black Elk, that He failed.

~E.D.

A Time of Change: A note on Chapters 13-17 in *Black Elk Speaks*

In Chapters 13-17, we notice a large magnitude of change in Black Elk.
Black Elkuses his vision to help his people escape an attack from the
Blackfeet, experiences a lot of anxiety surrounding his vision and his ability
to utilize it successfully,overcomes his anxiety with the help of some of his
parents, Black Road and Bear Sings, and becomes one of the medicine
men.He sees another vision, and also sees his group suffer the effects of
the U.S. Government displacing them off their land. We also see Black
Elk become 19 years old and begin his new reputation as a healer.

Chapter 13 is the first place where the reader is able to notice Black
Elk’s anxiety surrounding his vision. It all starts out when Black Elk’s
vision ends up in saving his village.  More specifically, when Black
Elk and some other members of his group are moving towards the
settlement they used to live at.  Black Elk suddenly gets an odd feeling
that this had something to do with his vision when he starts to hear a
clear voice telling him to “Be careful and watch.” He climbs to the top
of a bluff to get a better vantage point, and he notices that there are
Blackfeet Indians planning an attack on his village.  After Black Elk prays
to the spirits and the grandfathers of his vision, he proceeds to warn the
people of his village.  They all flee quickly, and a large thundercloud comes
above.  Black Elk states that he knew it came to protect them, as it did not
have much rain, but was full of lightning and voices, and clearly was a part
of the vision.  He says, “I knew better than ever now that I really had power,
for I had prayed for help from the Grandfathers and they had heard me and
sent the thunder beings to hide us and watch over us while we fled.”
Although this was all a success, now Black Elk has a great sense of anxiety,
as he feels like he has a significant burden now. He even states “A terrible
time began for me,” referring to everyone in his village feeling a sense of
accomplishment and wanting time to celebrate while Black Elk senses
anxiety from his pressure to perform.   When Black Elk sees thunderstorms
he fears that the spirits in the thunder will demand him to know his vision
and to use it to save his people. Black Elk, however, is confused, and this
lack of certainty in deciphering his vision makes him nervous.

Chapter 14 is a place where the vision is talked about more and
is given more importance.  In this chapter, details of the vision
are applied to other things, and we see it as taking intangible
ideas and constructing tangible things that represent parts of the
vision, and all of this happens through collaboration amongst
members of his group.  For one, the vision is used to construct
something physical for the first time - Black Road and Bear Sings
work on a sacred teepee with scenes and symbols from Black
Elk’s vision.  Black Elk also teaches songs of his vision with
others.  Further, Black Elk’s mother and father help facilitate to
enact the vision by getting horses, maidens, and riders all
together and painted.  The enactment works and Black Elk sees
the original vision he had.  There is a lot of singing, and even a
thundercloud comes above.  The sacred pipe is passed along,
and Black Elk is happy, regains his confidence, is no longer
nervous, and is one of the medicine men.

Black Elk receives another vision in Chapter 15, and has many
similarities to the first vision.  Black Elk sees flying men, the herb,
the sacred pipe, the flowering stick, arrows, birds, and the four
quarters of the Earth, and butterflies and dogs. He is empowered
by the spirits to restore his people against the actions of the White
Men.  Black Elk learns that this is a rare vision that has been granted to
him, and that he has twenty days to perform for his people. 

Chapter 16 is all about the actual enacting of the dog vision.  A dog is
killed, it is boiled, and Black Elk rides past the dog and spears it.
In Chapter 17, we see Black Elk digress and talk about a complete
tangent to the story: the discussion of the sacredness of the circle,
and his resentment of square living structures.  Further, we see that
Black Elk is now 19 years old, so we begin to see that he has undergone
significant change.  He performs his first healing, after he finds the
herb that he saw in his vision.  It is a success, and now we see Black
Elk state he is busy most of the time healing people.

So what do you guys think? How else have we seen Black Elk change?


~A.R.

A Note on Death in *Black Elk Speaks*

One of the more striking commonalities that I found after reading
chapters 10-12 was the theme of death and the impact it had on Black
Elk’s life. Following the Battle of Little Big Horn, the Lakota’s were
increasingly being pushed and driven away from their land. Death was
frequently the only alternative to not abiding to the process of
assimilation and following the orders of the Waishus (whites). Also,
this theme of death was foreshadowed from Black Elk’s vision when his
fourth Grandfather showed him a black road leading from west to east and
how it explained great trouble. I saw this black road as path of the
Lakota and how the road resembles the troubles forced upon by whites and
the ultimate result of death.

In chapter 11, the iconic leader Crazy Horse is killed and has a
profound effect on Black Elk and his father. Crazy Horse was a legendary
warrior and refused to surrender to the whites and the federal program
for managing Indians. He refused to live on a reservation and was
eventually killed while captive as he tried to escape. The death of this
legendary leader is a great example of the theme of death seen in this
segment of Black Elk’s life.

In the chapter “Grandmother’s Land”, Black Elk and his people leave for
Canada to meet up with Sitting Bull so they would not have to live upon
a reservation. There is more death recorded during this chapter after
the Lakota have a few fights with the Crow Indians. The deaths of Brave
Wolf and Hard-to-hit portray the Lakota’s reputation of being brave and
courageous, as Brave Wolf sacrificed his life for a beautiful girl and
Hard-to-Hit was killed defending a fellow Lakota. Although these deaths
were acts of heroism, the overall tone of these chapters surrounded
death and was rather morbid for Black Elk and his fellow tribesmen. At
the end of the chapter, Black Elk and his people feel homesick and are
battling a brutal winter searching for food. It seems that Black Elk and
the Lakota’s are doing what they can to survive and avoid the increasing
alternative of death that was foreshadowed by the fourth grandfather in
his vision.

A Discussion of Vision in *Black Elk Speak

Black Elk finally decides to reveal his visions.  When he does, the elders
decide to make it more tangible and paint it out.  They also decided to have
it acted out in fear that if they did not, something bad would happen.  This
Horse Dance is very intricate with many participants, use of colors and
symbols, and inclusion of song.

In class we mentioned the idea of disabilities portrayed in the
autobiography.  The visions that Black Elk had caused him to be sick, as
mentioned in the story quite frequently.   I think it is interesting that
this disability led to the restoration of other things.  Black Elk seems to
have been better after he did what he was told to do.  Also, people who were
sick got better after he did the dance, and the horses seemed to be
healthier too.  This disability turns into something that Black Elk has
learned to embrace.

Black Elk becomes very in tuned with his visions.  He uses it to find
meaning in what he has to do to help his nation.  At the age of seventeen,
it is a lot to take on.  Having such important visions and having to make
something out of it requires a lot of maturity.  Although he does question
himself at times, I think overall he feels that he has an obligation to his
gift.  He pushes away all the fear and understands that this “disability”
should be conquered and used to help his nation.

I would also like to mention intricacy of the Horse Dance.  The inclusion of
numbers, colors, direction and song all seem to have a sense of harmony. 
When he was having these visions, they felt unorganized and he couldn’t
truly make sense of them, but the Horse Dance came around and everything
seemed to be so organized and harmonious.  This was a little weird to me.

Any thoughts?

A Note on Chapters 10-12 in *Black Elk Speaks*

   After reading these three chapters, I realized that they reflect a common
phrase I have heard, “no good deed goes unpunished.” In chapters ten
through twelve, Black Elk describes how his tribe yearns to be back on
their land to live peacefully. Yet, they are constantly driven away,
while fighting between the tribe and soldiers continues to ensue. Black
Elk states, “Wherever we went, the soldiers came to kill us, and it was
all our own country. It was ours already when the Wasichus made the
treaty with Red Cloud, that said it would be ours as long as grass should
grow and water flow. That was only eight winters before, and they were
chasing us now because we remembered and they forgot.” They fled their
land to save their people, but no matter what they did they were met with
death. In “The Rubbing Out of Long Hair,” Black Elk describes how
soldiers came and starting shooting the tepees while the tribe was
sleeping. The tribe could be in the most peaceful state, and yet they are
met with harm. He then later describes a story about the man called Brave
Wolf “who did a very great deed,” in the chapter “Grandmother’s Land.”
Brave Wolf saved a young girl’s life and died saving her and while
defending soldiers from two elders that were stuck in the mud, “he stood
there by the two old people and fought until all three were killed.”
Black Elk also describes a brave deed made by his cousin, Hard-to-Hit,
who also died.
      I find that Black Elk has a reason for writing this theme “no good deed
goes unpunished,” into his autobiography due to the audience of the time.
I believe that he wants people to understand that they faced injustice,
and while they were trying to live in peace, the Wasichus were causing
pain and suffering to innocent people. Black Elk’s tribe was not always
so “innocent” when it came to wars, but I believe working in this theme,
is his way to make the reader forget about the tribes faults. Black Elk’s
tribe had made advancements on other tribes and the Wasichus, but a way
of using these descriptions, Black Elk attempts to justify that they had
reason to harm others because “we were all alone there in that country
that was ours and had been stolen from us.”
      As he describes good deeds tribal members had made, I believe it is
done to convey that these the tribal men only fought for the innocent. I
understand that what happened to the tribe was unjust, but I feel that
Black Elk makes a point to include these deeds, to make the audience of
the time feel sympathetic. During this period, many still looked down
upon the Native tribes, so Black Elk used his voice to attempt to change
this. Black Elk’s tribe, and all Native tribes, dealt with many
injustices, but Black Elk’s way of intertwining this theme into his
narrative, is an attempt to gain pity.