Black Elk Speaks (45 page)

6
.
‘Knnikinick,’ often referred to as “red willow,” is actually the inner bark of red osier dogwood; it was smoked in ritual contexts and used as an additive to tobacco. See Walker
, Lakota Belief and Ritual, 88, 132,
and Lakota Society, 75–76; Gilmore, “Uses of Plants by the Indians of the Missouri River Region,” 107–8
.

7
. “Soldier band” refers to the akíchita appointed by the council to oversee order during the hunt
.

8
.
A detailed account of the ritual of the returned scouts before a buffalo hunt by
(Yanktonai-Teton from Standing Rock) appears in Densmore, Teton Sioux Music, 440–42
.

9
.
Yuhú! is an interjection that apparently expresses triumph
.

10
.
The sound of the Lakota women’s tremolo is a rapid, high-pitched lililililili! that is called
‘screech owl hoot’ (Boas and Deloria, “Dakota Grammar,” 151)
.

11
.
ša wi ‘Red cherries moon
.’

12
.
Hayé! Thanks!’ An exclamation, often used ritually
.

13
.
Counting coup on an enemy in battle, that is, touching or striking him, was the highest war honor a man could achieve. In Lakota the act is called kté ‘kill,’ a figurative use of the word. Thus a “kill talk” is a man’s stylized recitation of a coup
.

14
. Hiyá! ‘No!’

15
.
The Lakotas recognized four fundamental virtues: bravery, generosity, fortitude (endurance), and integrity (Walker
, “Sun Dance,” 62).

*
“It is so indeed.”
⁸

1
.
The Lakotas comprised seven major divisions, not six; although these groups are frequently referred to as bands, they are more accurately designated as independent tribes. Here, Neihardt has merged the Blackfoot Sioux and Two Kettles into a single group
.

2
.
Camp (later Fort) Robinson was established March 8, 1874, at Red Cloud Agency, near present Crawford, Nebraska (Prucha, Military Posts of the United States, 102). The Lakota name for the White River is Makhizíta wakpá ‘smoking earth river
.’

3
.

4.
sápa wi ‘black cherries moon.’

5
.
Pumpkin Buttes, near the head of the Belle Fourche River in Campbell County, Wyoming
.

6
.
White Cliffs, near present Crawford, Nebraska
.

7
.
Black Elk told Neihardt that “some of the Indian boys went up and chopped the flagpole down during the day time
” (Sixth Grandfather, 154).
Neihardt misunderstood Black Elk and assumed the incident was a prank of mischievous boys. The Lakota word khoškálaka ‘young man’ is frequently translated as “boy.” The flagpole incident reflected the Lakotas’ opposition to flying an American flag at Red Cloud Agency; on October 23,1874, a group of northern Lakota warriors visiting the agency chopped the flagpole to pieces as it lay on the ground, before it was even erected. See William Garnett’s account in Jensen
, The Indian Interviews of Eli S. Ricker, 114-16;
also see Hyde
, Red Cloud’s Folk, 220-22,
and Olson
, Red Cloud and the Sioux Problem, 168–70.

8
.
This statement about Crazy Horse does not appear in the interview transcript and apparently reflects Neihardt’s judgment. However, in 1944, Black Elk commented to Neihardt, “Crazy Horse is the last big chief, and then it’s all over” (Sixth Grandfather, 322)
.

9
.
Phe
í ša hin
pha wi ‘red grass appearing month.’ The Lakotas visited the Black Hills to cut the tall, straight lodge pole pines to make tipi poles. See Gilmore
, Uses of Plants by the Indians of the Missouri River Region, 63.

10
.
The name wath
ye ‘uses for Bait’ seems to refer to his skill as overman
.

*
Ogalalas, Brules, Sans Arcs, Black Kettles, Hunkpapas, Minneconjous.
¹

† Fort Robinson.
²

‡
Aguiapi, “brown all over,” bread. Paezhuta sapa, “black medicine,” coffee. Chahumpi ska, “white juice of the tree,” sugar.
³

1
.
The story of High Horse’s courting does not appear in the 1931 interview transcript. However, the 1944 interviews mention it: “Black Elk said High Horse’s courting is absolutely true.” High Horse, a Northern Cheyenne, was an old man when Black Elk visited him around 1900 and heard the story of his courting. See
Sixth Grandfather, 346.

2
.
The Lakotas practiced three farms of marriage. Elopement was the simplest, but least honorable. Marriage by mutual agreement was the most common. Marriage by purchase was the most honorable form for it allowed a woman to boast throughout her life that her husband thought so much of her that he had given a certain number of horses or other goods for her. See Deloria,
The Dakota Way of Life,
chap
. 5; Walker
, Lakota Society, 179n.59.

1
.
Swallows are the akíchita of the West
.

2
.
Chips
(ca
. 1836-1916) was an Oglala medicine man (wicháša
‘holy man’) who is particularly remembered for having provided the war medicine (wóthawe) that protected Crazy Horse in battle. See interview; with Chips in Jenson, The Indian Interviews of Eli S. Ricker, 273–77
.