Black Elk, Lakota Sioux
Native American Heritage
"Personally, I do not believe in the animistic theory. But perhaps ignorance is bliss. I have had personal experiences with animism, nonetheless. My wife is Native American, Iroquois and Cherokee. She is Christian, as the text stated about white settlers coming to the Americas and sharing their religion with the Natives. Some of her family did convert. Her grandmother, on the other hand, did not.
"My wife's grandmother used to, before we ate, pray to the spirit of whatever animal we were eating. She would give thanks to the animal for letting us kill and eat it. It was a very spiritual time, eating that was. I grew up in a town where everyone hunted and fished. And every season, her grandmother would put a blessing on us that we would come out with good game. This is when the ignorance stopped. Each time she did that we came out with some of the biggest deer or fish we have ever hunted or caught before.
"Which brings me to my next question, who are we to say that animals don't have a spirit? They can be killed just like any other "living" thing out there. They die the same way we do. Granted their life span isn't as great as ours. Just take a look around. Sharks, turtles, rats, and certain reptiles have been around for millions of years. So who is to say that we are the "superior" race? Not a person if you ask me. Until we have survived as long as some animals, we have no right to say that we are advanced. Yes, we might have a larger brain or that we have opposable thumbs, who is to say that is superior? I guess we will all have to wait until the next chapter in our life to find out. If there even is a next chapter."
Black Elk's Vision
This student in the U.S. Air Force comments on the famous account of a Lakota Sioux vision- quest in the book, 'Black Elk Speaks.'
“The center of the circle represents the center of the universe. This to me means the center of my soul. I believe that my spirituality comes from within myself, and the center of my soul is the center of my universe, by which all things on earth are intertwined and affects me, then in turn affects my family, friends, and coworkers. These effects are represented by the smoke or light which Black Elk beholds, coming from all the created things in the world. I see this as a domino effect. For instance, the recent assassination of Bhutto in Pakistan does not immediately have an impact on me here: but due to her assassination, her countrymen are in an upheaval which then transcends to the UN, where many more nations are upset and appalled by the assassination, which eventually filters down to me as a single individual in the USAF.
“If Pakistan, a U.S. ally, begins to falter, then eventually the USAF will become involved, which then effects me the individual airman, thus affecting my spouse, coworkers, friends, and family. The ripple effects continue until they touch everyone in the world. I believe this is what Black Elk’s symbols of the circle, the four directions and the center of universe are meant to drive home.
“Black El’s vision shows us that the entire world is connected. We are all equal. And each action that a mere individual takes has a reaction for everyone else in the world. Therefore tread lightly, kindly, and thoughtfully….”
