Because Black Elk Speaks is an autobiography, not a work of fiction, it does not use characters in the same way that a novel or short story might. The characters in this narrative are actual people, some of them well-known historical figures, whom Black Elk knew and interacted with. (The question mark following some of the dates below indicates an uncertainty about a date due to the lack of written records.)
Black Elk (1863-1950) Oglala Sioux holy man and healer; also the name of his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather.
White Cow Sees Black Elk's mother.
Refuse-to-Go Black Elk's maternal grandfather.
Plenty Eagle Feathers Black Elk's maternal grandmother.
Standing Bear Minneconjou Sioux; Black Elk's friend from childhood, who participated in the Battle of Little Bighorn, who is present at Black Elk's meeting with Neihardt and occasionally supplies more information in his story.
Whirlwind Chaser Standing Bear's uncle, the medicine man who is paid to cure Black Elk of the illness he suffered at the time of his great vision, and who recognizes that Black Elk has had a genuinely sacred experience.
Crazy Horse (1842?-77) Oglala Sioux chief whom Black Elk thinks was the greatest of all; holy man and warrior; fought in the Battle of Little Bighorn; Black Elk's second cousin; imprisoned and killed by U.S. cavalry officers.
Red Cloud (1822-1909) Oglala Sioux chief; Sioux peacemaker and representative in numerous treaty negotiations with U.S. Government.
Long Hair General George Armstrong Custer (1839-76); commander of the U.S. Seventh Cavalry, defeated in the Battle of Little Bighorn; led the Black Hills Gold Discovery Expedition of 1874; a veteran of the Civil War.
Sitting Bull (1834?-90) Hunkpapa Sioux chief and holy man; fought in the Battle of Little Bighorn; he was killed by U.S. cavalry officers while resisting arrest shortly before the massacre at Wounded Knee.
Buffalo Bill William Frederick Cody (1846-1917); U.S. plainsman, frontier scout, and showman whose Wild West Show takes Black Elk to Europe from 1886-89.
Grandmother England Queen Victoria (1819-1901); queen of Great Britain and Ireland (1837-1901) and Empress of India (1876-1901).
Bear Sings The medicine man who helps Black Elk perform the horse ceremony, a public enactment of his great vision.
