Black Elk Speaks IV: Creator's Planetary Warning: Narration by a Teton Sioux

I dearly love to hear the history , of some very famous battles, from the side of a Native American. Clearly, our current history books could use much updating.Black Elk's vision remained the same as the vision as recorded by Neihart.I was very saddened to hear that Black Elks family have never received any royalties from the Neihart trust. Shame on them.And shame on the bureau of Indian services for not making right those hundreds broken treaties.

I have always waited for this book, meaning, I was hoping that someone else would put more of a Native perspective on it. Ed McGaa has done this and I had always hoped it would be his searching and true direction that lead to something so priceless. I am honored that John N, who first spoke to Black Elk about his prophecy, wrote something for all to remember, but I have always had a bad taste in my mouth, thinking about the conquering that took place, the displacement of a people and then the 'archeologist" moving in while people might have been worn down, to tell their story. It's a great honor to see this book by Ed McGaa uprising the message again, it just feels so right to me, reading something connected to Black Elk, by those who truly understood his meaning and not those who came to try to understand after they had conquered the lands.

A passionate account of Black Elk and the history of indigenous people

Ok

Only purchase this book if you want to find out the authors opinion of other books about Black Elk and/or the authors of said books. So as not to waste your time and money. This author does not speak highly of the other books or the other authors. And that's pretty much what I got out of this book.

Interesting reading of our native americans.

The best one yet......So much above the rest....

I read ' Mother Earth Spirituality' at a time when i felt demoralized, and dispirited.I wish i could write that it became an instant epiphany of light and hope. It became a text of affirmation of a long hidden logos that wasn't part of the dominant society in which I strived to belong. The first appeal, the Ethos of the author was his military service, and his participation in bringing the Sun Dance back into prominence, when the constituted authority is against such use of Civil and Religious Rights. The Pathos,or emotional appeal, of such courage and wisdom became a manual of aid against the feeling of despair, isolation,and outlawry. I found it a simple and straightforward way to find a higher power always felt,but never known. It has been a long journey on this red road , fed by the solitude of nature, ignoring the restraints,threats, and pleadings of a lifetime of uncertainty placed by a dominant christian religion. The freedom and intimacy of a Inipi or yoga pose is more liberating than the four walls of chapel, architectural grandeur of a cathedral, or Mosque. The sound of the wind,chatter of birds, chitter of squirrels, the whisper of current in a clean river, or the heartfelt Namaste' at the end of a yoga session is much more comforting than the implorings and threats from pulpits. Our environmental health and future is needful of this spirituality, if we are to pass on a world devoid of degradation,overpopulation, hunger, or constant conflict to our descendants. In writing Black Elk Speaks IV, one gets the sense that even when a straightforward, logical,and appealing narrative as is found in Black Elk Speaks, there are those of organized religion who will usurp the transcript for their own use. Ed, writes the truth,and refutes the lies and embellishments of those who would use the words of Black Elk to propagate their own pedagoguery... The writings of Ed McGaa opened a new way of thinking, and what I believe ,so I am...and it has been an adventure....Jeff Isenhart

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