Reddit reviews Black Elk Speaks: Being the Life Story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux, The Premier Edition
We found 5 Reddit comments about Black Elk Speaks: Being the Life Story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux, The Premier Edition. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Gently Used
I''ve always found it funny that historically, Sioux Native Americans called black people "Black Wasichu" because they only ever saw them with white people. Wasichu is their word for "White Person", so Black Wasichu effectively means "Black White Person"
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Edit: Source, for those interested in Native history. (Great read)
Some suggestions:
Oral History/Stories
Historical/Educational material
Native Authors
Non-Native Authors
Region Specific
And just for fun, a Movie
Feel free to point out any mistakes, I'll add more should I think of them.
These are just suggestions.
It's been a long time since I read Black Elk Speaks. It's not fiction, but I still remember it as a great book. It's short and well worth the time. http://www.amazon.com/Black-Elk-Speaks-Oglala-Premier/dp/1438425406/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1292062391&sr=8-1.
The Tony Hillerman series already mentioned is a good book (at least the first one) and a a light read in the mystery and detective vein.
Both of these are books that were in the syllabus of a Native American Literature class I took and the only two I can remember off the top of my head.
>it's just surreal that the natives of this land only gained the right to vote in it less than one century ago and it's kind of sickening to think about how archaic this time is.
I don't want to look like I'm forming a pity party, but the Civil Rights Movement didn't really help out Indian Country. We had to have our own round of protests and fighting in the 1970s. Check out the American Indian Movement, the Occupation of Alcatraz Island and especially the Alcatraz Proclamation, among others. What really stunning is that the American Indian Religious Freedom Act didn't come about until 1978, let alone the fact that they had to pass it at all!
>Are there any books, movies, or another form of media that are true stories or realistic fiction that depict American Indians in a way that you find to be interesting and faithful?
Anything by Vine Deloria, Jr. is awesome, although he is more historian and scientist than he is story-teller. A short list of my favorites:
If you want to read some great fiction that depicts American Indians accurately, start with Sherman Alexie:
Outside of those authors, some popular picks are Black Elk Speaks and Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee.
As far as movies go, any self-respecting Indian has seen the movie Smoke Signals dozens of times. Powwow Highway is a favorite of mine, and Dance Me Outside is movie gold, although it doesn't get enough attention.
>I'm thinking - why hasn't HBO or some big network done a drama that focuses on American Indians? This could be a very interesting book, as well... Or is this idea something even somewhat appealing to you as a young American Indian?
I'm not sure what you are thinking, but I have my own ideas. I'd like to see a series that focuses on a single reservation for each episode, and details the hardships that the people of that reservation deal with on a daily basis. Call it a pity party, but there are children in the United States right now that live in houses with dirt floors and sleep on pallets and go to school on 30-year-old school buses on unkempt dirt roads (and sometimes off-road) where they learn a curriculum outdated for a decade or more........ I can go on and on. Get in your car and drive to Pine Ridge Reservation RIGHT NOW, you'll be convinced that you walked into a third world country in the middle of a war. Its not pretty. The corruption in the tribal government needs to be put in the spotlight, and the part that the Federal and State governments have played in this tragedy need to be righted. That's the facts.
Black Elk Speaks by John Neihardt.
Interesting account of Native American spiritualism by a Lakota medicine man.