41 pages • 1 hour read
John NeihardtBlack Elk Speaks
Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 1932A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
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Ghost Dance
The ghost dance is a Native American spiritual ceremony whose popularity spreads amidst Native American tribes during 1889 and 1890. The dances play a central role in the final chapters of the book, and the narrative explores the wide-ranging ramifications the ghost dance has for Native Americans. For many Native Americans, including Black Elk, the ghost dance is a powerful symbol of hope for a struggling people. The ghost dance first spreads following the preaching of Wovoka, who claims that a new world is arriving “just like a cloud,” where “all the dead Indians were alive, and all the bison that had ever been killed were roaming around again” (179). Wovoka preaches that Native Americans must practice ghost dance ceremonies in order to be accepted into this coming world when the time comes.
The ghost dance spreads amongst Native Americans during a time when the Wasichus have all but completely eradicated their culture. Many tribes, such as the Lakota, are starving due to a lack of resources from the killing of the bison. The ghost dance serves as a last hope for these tribes, promising a rejuvenation of old Native American customs. As the Wasichus seek to curtail the ghost dance, fighting breaks out, culminating in the Wounded Knee Massacre. As the Lakota are forced to surrender and abandon the ghost dance, Black Elk notes that the end of the ghost dance is the death of “a people’s dream” (207). Black Elk suggests that the ghost dance represented the final hope the Native Americans held for restoring their former society.
Sacred Hoop and Holy Tree
The sacred hoop and holy tree are two related symbols that feature prominently in Lakota culture and Black Elk’s vision. In Black Elk’s vision, he is given a “flowering stick” by the Grandfathers, which he is meant to plant in the center of his people’s camp, which forms a circular “hoop” (26). When Black Elk does so, the stick grows into a holy tree known as a “waga chun” (27). Black Elk then watches as his people climb up four different “ascents,” representing four successive generations of Lakotas (28). As the people reach the third ascent, the “nation’s hoop [becomes] broken” and the holy tree dies, representing the plight of his people. Black Elk’s vision culminates with him visiting a great spirit and receiving the ability to mend his nation’s broken hoop, representing the rejuvenation of the Lakota society. Black Elk frequently employs the language of the hoop to describe the Lakota’s situation. As the Wasichus starve the Lakotas and force them to live on reservations, Black Elk describes the sacred hoop as becoming “broken and scattered” and wonders how he might mend it and save his people (165).
The sacred hoop serves as a core symbol in Lakota culture and spirituality. Black Elk explains that Lakota see the hoop as central to their society: “All our power came to us from the sacred hoop of the nation, and so long as the hoop was unbroken, the people flourished” (150). As a result of this belief, the Lakota structure their lives around the form of the circle: They live in circular shelters called teepees, and they arrange these teepees in a larger circle whenever they make camp. Such an emphasis on the circle means that they struggle with the Wasichus’ insistence that they live in rectangular buildings. As the circle is the source of the Lakota's power, Black Elk and other Lakota feel that living on reservations weakens the Lakota: “But the Wasichus have put us in these square boxes. Our power is gone and we are dying, for the power is not in us any more” (151). For Lakota, the circle serves as a life force, allowing them to live in harmony with the universe.
Red and Black Roads
The red and black roads are symbolic imagery that feature prominently in Black Elk’s vision, representing the two paths that the Lakota people might take as a society. The Grandfathers show Black Elk the two roads from their rainbow teepee in the sky. The red road runs from North to South and represents the “road of good” (22)—when walking along this symbolic path, the Lakota are gifted with prosperity and good health. However, the red road is crossed by a black road running from the West to the East, which represents “a fearful road, a road of troubles and of war” (23). In Black Elk’s vision, he sees his people walking along the black road and understands that he must help them walk along the red road to experience peace.
Black Elk frequently refers to the black and red roads using them as symbols of difficult and prosperous times, respectively. Black Elk believes that the Wasichus have led his people astray from the red road: “[My people] were traveling the black road, everybody for himself and with little rules of his own, as in my vision” (165). For Black Elk, the black road represents a time of chaos and selfishness, when the Lakota have forgotten their “old ways” (165). In Chapter 18, Black Elk employs the imagery of the red road in order to show his fellow Lakota how they might properly live. Black Elk performs a ceremony revolving around a moment in his vision when a red man becomes a bison, leading the Lakota to rediscover the red road. Black Elk explains that the image represents “the relation between the people and the bison” (158). By conveying this meaning to his people through a ceremony, Black Elk hopes to bring them to “the good red road that leads to health and happiness” (160).
