Black Elk Speaks of Sorrow

Black Elk Speaks of Sorrow

As a child in the American school system, I was taught, from a very young age, a romanticized version of the interactions between early white settlers and Native American people. Every fall, my mind was saturated with stories of cooperation, kindness, and friendship. As I progressed through school, the sweater began unraveling and I started to understand that the white man had been cruel, calloused, and abusive. The truth that I had known for so long was revealed to be not much more than a fictional story.
Black Elk Speaks provided me with an entirely new perspective. I reached a new understanding of this time in history through the eyes of a Native American. In the end, I realized that the truth is that the Wasichu’s (white man’s) greed and lust for power marginalized the Native American culture and ultimately destroyed countless lives, families, and communities.
The book spoke to me of happier times when the native people of America wer...