IndigoChild5559
Loving God and my neighbor as myself.
Most people think of the famous biography "Black Elk Speaks" when the name of Black Elk is mentioned. For those who don't know who Black Elk is, he is one of the most famous of the Lakota, specifically of the Oglala. He fought in the Battle of the Little Big Horn and became a medicine man.
However, it didn't end there. In 1904 he was baptized a Catholic. He became quite the catechist and hundreds of Lakotas were baptized due to his efforts.
Now the Catholic Church is considering him for Sainthood. They are sending authorities to the Pine Ridge Rez to investigate two possible healing miracles done by him (asking for his prayers via praying with his pipe).
Black Elk lived in an age where society regularly kidnapped NDN children and attempted to "kill the red in them, to saved the man in them." They were sent to religious boarding schools where they were prohibited from speaking their mother tongue or from performing any of their native traditions.
In that kind of culture, Black Elk stood apart as a man who regularly found a way to incorporate both his native traditions and his new Catholic faith. He would go to both Mass and to Lakota ceremonies. He felt comfortable praying with both rosary and pipe, and sometimes could be seen doing both simultaneously. Two centuries ago this would have been scandalous in the Church, but today, this is one of the very reasons he is being considered for Sainthood. In this view, not only is Black Elk Catholic, but he is precisely that sort of Catholic that the Church wishes to lift up as an example to emulate, who feels no need to become a white European, but is nevertheless part of the universal Church.
This is not the only view of Black Elk, however.
Not all of the Black Elk family is Catholic. A good many practice a more traditional Lakota spirituality. They pass on stories about how he hid under the bed when the priest came and poured water on his head (meaning the baptism was forced and therefore invalid). They argue that he "never really believed" what the Catholic Church taught, but was simply a pragmatist who did what he had to do to get along. Underneath, he always believed what he had always believed.
Then there is a third way to slice the pie. Black Elk was at heart a visionary and holy man. To reduce him to a creedalist or a pragmatist is probably to do him an injustice, and I think all sides will admit that. If I can remember by heart, he said that in his vision he saw that the center of the world was the Black Hills, and that the center of the World was everywhere. This is the vision that all of us who break out of form see. I practice Judaism, the religion of my own tribe. But I don't require that everyone in the world become a Jew. What Black Elk saw, if I could extrapolate, is this: The center is the Black Hills; the center is Rome; the center is Mecca, the center is Jerusalem; the center is the Genghis River; the center is wherever you make it, because the center is everywhere. Therefore it doesn't really matter if he is praying with a Rosary or a Pipe.
However, it didn't end there. In 1904 he was baptized a Catholic. He became quite the catechist and hundreds of Lakotas were baptized due to his efforts.
Now the Catholic Church is considering him for Sainthood. They are sending authorities to the Pine Ridge Rez to investigate two possible healing miracles done by him (asking for his prayers via praying with his pipe).
Black Elk lived in an age where society regularly kidnapped NDN children and attempted to "kill the red in them, to saved the man in them." They were sent to religious boarding schools where they were prohibited from speaking their mother tongue or from performing any of their native traditions.
In that kind of culture, Black Elk stood apart as a man who regularly found a way to incorporate both his native traditions and his new Catholic faith. He would go to both Mass and to Lakota ceremonies. He felt comfortable praying with both rosary and pipe, and sometimes could be seen doing both simultaneously. Two centuries ago this would have been scandalous in the Church, but today, this is one of the very reasons he is being considered for Sainthood. In this view, not only is Black Elk Catholic, but he is precisely that sort of Catholic that the Church wishes to lift up as an example to emulate, who feels no need to become a white European, but is nevertheless part of the universal Church.
This is not the only view of Black Elk, however.
Not all of the Black Elk family is Catholic. A good many practice a more traditional Lakota spirituality. They pass on stories about how he hid under the bed when the priest came and poured water on his head (meaning the baptism was forced and therefore invalid). They argue that he "never really believed" what the Catholic Church taught, but was simply a pragmatist who did what he had to do to get along. Underneath, he always believed what he had always believed.
Then there is a third way to slice the pie. Black Elk was at heart a visionary and holy man. To reduce him to a creedalist or a pragmatist is probably to do him an injustice, and I think all sides will admit that. If I can remember by heart, he said that in his vision he saw that the center of the world was the Black Hills, and that the center of the World was everywhere. This is the vision that all of us who break out of form see. I practice Judaism, the religion of my own tribe. But I don't require that everyone in the world become a Jew. What Black Elk saw, if I could extrapolate, is this: The center is the Black Hills; the center is Rome; the center is Mecca, the center is Jerusalem; the center is the Genghis River; the center is wherever you make it, because the center is everywhere. Therefore it doesn't really matter if he is praying with a Rosary or a Pipe.
