Black Elk Speaks

This is by far the longest chapter in the book and it presents the central event of Black Elk's life, his vision. It was common among many Indian tribes, including the Sioux, to induce a vision by means of fasting and sweating, at the time of initiation into adulthood. What Black Elk experiences here is different. The vision came to him, rather than being induced, indicating that he is singled out to receive something extraordinary. It is important that other special individuals in the band, holy men and medicine men, recognize the unique experience of Black Elk and support him in claiming the tribal role that the vision directs him to. Black Elk's vision is partly apocalyptic, that is, it deals with the end of history or the human race in the imaginable future. Apocalyptic visions are not unusual during a time of crisis in a culture; historically, concerns that the world as it is known is about to end have even been precipitated by the turn of a century or of a millennium, such as the Y2K scare in the late 1990s. The Judeo-Christian tradition also features an apocalyptic phenomenon, especially the concept of the final judgment or judgment day as it is represented in the Book of Revelation in the New Testament. Black Elk's vision presents a condensed history of mankind, from its innocent and blissful beginnings, similar to a garden of Eden, through the difficult present and horrific near-future, into a final return to prosperity and happiness similar to its beginning state.