Black Elk

Black Elk or Hehaka Sapa was born in December of 1863 in Little Powder Wyoming to the Oglala Lakota or Sioux tribe. As an adolescent he witnessed the Battle of Little Bighorn and the disturbance that followed forcing his tribe to flee to Canada. He was also wounded during the attack at Wounded Knee. In 1886 he joined Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Tour but by 1889 he was back to the Pine Ridge Reservation where he became a spiritual leader. Black Elk’s first married in 1892 to Katie War Bonnet who became a Catholic. Their three children were all raised as Catholics, and shortly following Katie’s death in 1903 Black Elk was baptized where he took the name Nicholas Black Elk.
He continued to be a spiritual leader among the Sioux people finding no contradiction in his Native American and Christian beliefs. He remarried in 1905 to Anna Brings White who was a widow and had two daughters of her own. She gave birth to three more of Black Elk’s children and remained his wife until her death in 1941.
Black Elk knew that the Sundance Ceremony was very important to him and all the Sioux people, so when it was suppressed by the U.S. Government and other religious groups he did everything in his power to make it legalize. In 1929 it was once again openly practiced at Pine Ridge, South Dakota. Black Elk described Sundance as “A council of old men, where one of the men began to dance in a specific manner.”
In 1904 Black Elk was called to aid a dying boy. When he arrived at the boy’s bedside he noticed there was a Jesuit priest there as well, wearing the required black robes. Black Elk felt that there was a spiritual presence far greater than anything he had ever felt before and became intrigued by it. The priest invited Black Elk to stay at the mission, and he agreed not knowing that it would change his life forever. On December 6th he was baptized into the Catholic Faith and took the name Nicholas. Similar to his feelings as being chosen a Sioux Medicine Man, Black Elk felt that God had chosen him to teach his people and lead them to a new way of living.
For thirty-one years Black Elk taught the Christian Faith to everyone that he encountered. For years he labored to spread the news of the hope, love, and mercy that was found in Jesus. Even when he was forced to retire because of old age, he continued to visit, console and pray with others who were older and sicker than he. Even though he was ill and suffering he remained happy and cheerful. As his days grew fewer, he told to his daughter Lucy that he was well prepared. He said, “that a sacred man, a very holy priest from overseas, came every day and prayed with him.” No one doubted him.
Today Sundance is practiced several times a year in different locations across the mid-west. Sundancers can be compared to Christian Martyrs in that they give a flesh offering on the 2nd to 4th day of dancing. It is a small offering but symbolizes the pain and suffering they are willing to go through in thanks of all God’s gifts to us.