2/26/10
Pd. 1
Black Elk Analysis (lightly edited)
The Lakota people were part of an Indian tribe that lived their lives peacefully. They practiced their culture and gave sacrifices to their gods to ask for resources and leaders that could lead their tribe to a better place. They strongly believed in the spiritual realm and the children were taught by the elders. Buffalo were everything to the Indians: they were a source of food, shelter, clothes, and used for other things as well. The Lakota people lived with nature and prayed to the gods for food, shelter and protection. They were “happy people who were seldom hungry, for then the two-leggeds and the four-leggeds lived together like relatives, and there was plenty for them and for us.” (Neihardt 8-9) Then the Wasichus came and everything was destroyed. The Wasichus came with a barbarian outlook; like the Spanish, they came full of greed for gold, and destroyed the traditional way of life of the Lakota people. (Lopez 21)
The Washichus started the chain of events which later led to the destruction of a whole race of people. The Wasichus were like the Spanish, who caused the loss of “whole communities of people, plants, and animals, because a handful of men wanted gold and silver and title to land.” (Lopez 15) The Washichus were also greedy people and once they found out about the “yellow metal” or gold, they immediately started making every excuse to obtain them; the Wasichus started building their homes in the Indian lands and the Indians knew they would eventually take over their home. The only way to go was fight and so the Lakotas started to prepare for war. (Neihardt 8-9) Red cloud, the Oglala Chief at the time made a treaty in 1868 with the Wasichus saying that as long as the grass should grow and the water flow, the Indians could live in their land. (Neihardt 62) But, the Wasichus eventually got what they wished and the “Grandfather in Washington” asked to lease the Black Hills to them so that they could dig for the “yellow metal;” this eventually led to the loss of the Black Hills territory. (Neihardt 64) The fight with 3 stars and Long Hair ended in victory with Crazy Horse as the lead and gave new hope to the Lakota people. (Neihardt 83) The Wasichus then made agencies for the people to live appointing only the leaders that would obey the Wasichus. Because Crazy Horse would not join in any agencies he was trouble to many of the Lakota and Wasichus. When Crazy Horse finally gave up and wanted to make peace, the Wasichus were cowards and killed him as he let his guard down and was defenseless with no weapons of his own. The people were in grief for now there was no hope for people to ever return to the life they once had.
The battle of Wounded Knee was the last battle for the Lakota people and the ending of traditional Lakota culture. The battle of Wounded Knee caused all the Lakota people to become part of the Indian agencies. Black Elk stopped by the Pine Ridge agency and got a bad feeling so when he listened to the report of a messenger, he started saddling up with his sacred shirt and carried with him his sacred bow. The Wasichus were firing at the Lakotas with their cannons, leaving no one alive; both women and children were killed instantly as they tried to run for their lives. It was an act of “inhumanities and barbarisms as no age can parallel.” (Lopez 6) The battle of Wounded Knee started when Yellow Bird, a person from the Big Foot agency, would not give his gun to a Wasichu who was collecting it. By accident, the gun went off and killed the Wasichu. Without knowing the whole story, the soldiers started firing at Big Footʻs people, thinking it was a rebellion and leaving none to live. Black Elk went to get revenge for his people and with the powers that the grandfathers gave him, he went to fight, but during the fight, he got shot and was taken out of the battle. They kept fighting but soon the women and children were hungry so Black Elk and his people joined the agencies and it was all over, the vision, everything was over. (Neihardt 207-218)
The events that led to the destruction of the traditional culture of the Lakota people are similar to the events that led to the overthrow of Lili’uokalani. The overthrow of Lili’uokalani marks the loss of Hawaiian sovereignty and destruction of traditional culture The Haole came to Hawai’i with their foreign weapons and diseases and ended up taking over the land because of its usefulness as a port. Before contact, Hawaiians, like the Lakotas, lived off the land and respected the environment and their gods. Once the Hawaiians, like the Lakotas realized that the Haole were trying to take over their land, they began to fight for their sovereignty. In the end, the nation was lost and became owned by the Americans. Lili’u, like Red Cloud, had to make a decision for their people about what to do, whether to fight or to make a treaty with the Haole. Both chose the treaty and both were taken over with their nation coming to an end. Because of the evil of greed and violent corruption of the Americans, two nations, the Hawaiians and the Indians, were taken over and destroyed. (Lopez 11) Their culture, their people, and their pride were destroyed and these nations were forced to fit into the culture of their conqueror, America.
Bibliography
Lopez, Barry. Rediscovery of North America. New York: Vintage, 1992.
Neihardt, J. G. Black Elk Speaks. Toronto, Canada: Bison Books, 2004.