A vision granted to him at the age of nine empowers Black Elk to lead and minister to his people, and especially to maintain their "sacred hoop" — their cultural identity and coherence as a tribe. This is a mandate that he now says he has failed to enact. Black Elk's growing anxiety about carrying out the promise of the vision is evident throughout the narrative. In the immediate aftermath of the vision, he repeatedly felt "queer" because he had been so marked for a special destiny; he feels separated from other members of the tribe. Black Elk typically feels somewhat daunted, rather than overly proud, at having been singled out: He is often worried that he may be unworthy of the power given to him; in any case, he specifies that the power is not his own; he is only an instrument of something much greater working through him. Despite some misgivings, he develops a confident-but-modest sense of himself; and in his late teen years, enacts his great vision within a public ritual in order to validate his tribal role. He performs individual healings, but the circumstances of Sioux life at the time of American westward expansion prevent him, he laments, from preserving his tribal culture.
Respectful of his elders, his parents, the various medicine men who support him in becoming a holy man and healer, and the Sioux chiefs, Black Elk consults with medicine men, listens to his elders' stories, obeys his father, and makes his mother happy. His characteristic regard for those older than himself reflects the values of his culture, which greatly esteemed the wisdom that comes from age and experience. Indeed, this respect for authority might have contributed to the vulnerability of the Indians, some of whom initially had some trust in "the grandfather at Washington" (the U.S. President). Black Elk is also shown being respectful of Queen Victoria, for whose jubilee celebration he participated in a command performance as part of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. Black Elk also exhibits the bravery for which the Sioux were known. As a young boy, he participates wholeheartedly in the games that test and challenge his manhood. He hunts with his father, using a bow his grandfather made for him when he was five. He takes his first scalp at the Battle of Little Bighorn, when he was thirteen. Empowered by his vision, he is fearless in battle with the cavalry. Like other members of his tribe, he endures great privation with courage during the transition to reservation life. His greatest hero among the Sioux is Crazy Horse, famed for his bravery.
