Connecting with Black Elk Speaks
Reading Black Elk Speaks this second time around, I tried harder to see connections between Black Elk’s experience and my own in this class. This time around, I also found myself understanding the story more and getting used to Black Elk’s voice. For the most part, our class relates to Black Elk’s story through our focus on leadership visions and totem animals. Moreover, Black Elk’s story corresponds to the themes of compassion and unity in this class, similar themes as well found in the movie, Avatar.
Black Elk's vision served the greater good of his people, his nation.
How does Black Elk Speaks relate to my leadership vision? For one, Black Elk’s vision primarily serves his people and the wellbeing of his community. At one point, Black Elk realizes, “I felt very happy, for I could see that my people were all happier…Everything seemed good and beautiful now, and kind” (xx). In the same way, I hope that my leadership vision contributes to the greater good of society. Moreover, Black Elk states two other important aspects of envisioning the future. He underscores the role understanding plays in his vision, saying, “It is from understanding that power comes” (xxix). Like Black Elk, understanding and open-mindedness are essential in my journey to becoming a leader. He also underscores the sense of purpose his vision gives him when he says, “Very few of them had seen the horse dance or knew anything about my vision and the power that it gave me” (xxi). Through P4 and creating my own leadership vision these past few weeks, I have strengthened my reasons for doing what I do and have found greater motivation to keep working toward my goals.
While Black Elk’s story relates to my leadership vision, his experiences also remind me of my totem animal quest. For instance, Black Elk meets various animals throughout his story; he sees eagles, chicken hawks, black swallows, and a cloud of beautiful butterflies as he laments. The animals give Black Elk courage and advice. In particular, Black Elk identifies with the eagle the most and honors the animal often by wearing its image on his body, whether through an eagle feather or sacred shirt. In the same way, we learned about totem animals last year and came to find our own. Like Black Elk, I discovered more about my personality and found guidance through my totem animals.
Last year, I learned the importance of totem animals at UT's Powwow.
Above all, I was surprised that I hadn’t noticed before the strong connections Black Elk’s story has with James Cameron’s movie, Avatar. For instance, Black Elk’s story emphasizes the importance of living in harmony with and having compassion for nature. When he describes the horses during the Grandfathers’ song, Black Elk says “they pranced as they stood in line. And all the while my bay was rearing too and prancing to the music of the sacred song” (xvii). In a way, Black Elk sees his horses as equals, as part of his community. Moreover, Black Elk values spirits and seeks guidance from them by praying. In Avatar, Jake Sully similarly seeks help from various spirits, including the mother goddess, Eywa, as well as the sacred Tree of Souls. Like James Cameron’s movie, Black Elk’s story also highlights the potential damage man can inflict upon nature. With the arrival of the Wasichus, Black Elk grieves over the loss of the bison. Just as the men in James Cameron’s movie are obsessed with profiting from the minerals under Hometree, the Wasichus “did not kill them [the bison] to eat; they killed them for the metal that makes them crazy, and they took only the hides to sell” (xxxi). Both stories emphasize the danger of forgetting “that the earth was their mother” (xxxi). After Black Elk witnesses the death of his tribe, he provides familiar imagery claiming, “There is no center any longer, and the sacred tree is dead” (xxxv). In the same way, the Na’vi’s sacred tree, Hometree, is obliterated and “dead” by the end of the movie.
Here is a clip from Avatar. In the same way, the Na’vi treated their “horses” with compassion and respect.
From these connections, all that I have learned this past year, all of my beliefs and opinions, are further strengthened. There is truth to my leadership vision, my totem animals. There is truth to living in harmony with nature. Ultimately, I can learn from Black Elk’s story and take heed of his warning.
