This wisdom that he relied on so fully predicted the coming of the whites, and it helped him to advise during the struggles that eventually followed. Wisdom was paramount to Black Elk’s whole existence since his vision as a child. The loss of the wisdom gained by his people was a concept that mortified Black Elk. From his birth to his old age, Black Elk lived through the entire westward expansion of whites into the land of his ancestors therefore he possessed a unique perspective on slowly going from a state of total freedom to one of dependence and servitude. This underlying dread of what is to come is pervasive in the text. Much of the narrative in Black Elk Speaks describes the tribesmen’s actions and fears concerning the encroachment onto their lands. The period in American history in which Black Elk lived witnessed the massive movement of whites into the Sioux territory seeking land and gold. This is how the wisdom of Black Elk comes through in the narrative, as a simple but relative story possessing many nuggets of observant truths. High Horse gets the girl through persistence and brave acts, Red Deer shows the rewards of loyalty by following his cousin on the warpath and coming out a wealthy man, and the girl’s father caps it all with his display of guile in selecting a suitable husband for his daughter. Thus the lessons of life are displayed to the listener of the story. Instead the father revealed that the true price High Horse paid was in his showing that he was a man in obtaining the horses in such a skillful manner, and thus able to take care of his only daughter. When shown the herd of horses that High Horse offered the girl’s father acquiesced and allowed him to have his daughter, but not solely because of the amount of horses High Horse had offered. Returning to the tribe with his new herd, High Horse immediately rode up to the girl’s family teepee. The two youths killed the sentry guarding the Crow horses, and each made off with a small herd for himself. High Horse and Red Deer fell upon a Crow encampment that night. Red Deer, still wanting to help his friend and cousin, decided to follow. To help his cousin, Red Deer advised High Horse on two separate occasions to sneak into the girl’s teepee and make off with her, both attempts ended as comical failures.įinally, in a fit of disgust and embarrassment, High Horse proclaimed that he was going on the warpath since he could not have the girl. The disclosure by the girl only acted to frustrate High Horse more, and he eventually had to turn to his cousin Red Deer for help. Eventually, High Horse did made contact with the girl and learned of her similar feelings for him, but also learned that she wished to be earned from her father like a lady and not to be stolen away dishonorably. High Horse neither possessed the respect nor the wealth to obtain this girl from her parents, so he had to resort to stealth and trickery to gain any access to her at all. High Horse’s Courting begins when a youth named High Horse falls madly in love with a girl of his tribe. Typically, Black Elk’s narratives try to bestow a lesson (or lessons) that the listener can learn from, just as the subject of the story sometimes does. The story of High Horse’s Courting stands out as a perfect example of one of Black Elk’s narratives. Most important in these lessons on the nature of man was wisdom, and in all of Black Elk’s recollections somewhere a deeper wisdom can be found. Through these stories, greater insight can be gained into the ways of the Sioux, as well as lessons into the nature of all men. These stories ran the whole gambit of life experiences from the most innocent acts of a boy in love, to the hard lessons learned from the treachery of the whites. The wisdom possessed by Black Elk is immediately present in his recollections of various lessons learned by himself and by others. It is from the strength of this vision, and the wisdom in his heart that Black Elk eventually realized his place as a leader and wise man in the Ogalala band of the Sioux. Black Elk’s childhood vision stayed with him throughout his life, and it offered him aid and wisdom whenever he sought it.
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