Black Elk SpeaksThe book Black Elk Speaks was written in the early 1930s by author JohnG. Neihardt, after interviewing the healer named Black Elk. Neihardt was already a published writer, and before this particular story, he published a collection of poems called Cycle of the West. Although he was initially seeking information about a particular Native American religious movement that emerged in the late 19th century to conclude his poetry collection, Neihardt was quite good with the story of Black Elk's life. Black Elk's words are said to explain much about the nature of wisdom as well as the lives of the Sioux and other tribes of this period. The priest or holy man calling himself Black Elk was born in December 1863, into a family in the Ogalala band. the Sioux. Black Elk's family was well known and he counted the famous Crazy Horse as a friend and cousin. Black Elk's family was also recognized as a family of wise men, with his father and grandfather themselves being holy men bearing the name Black Elk. The youngest Black Elk soon had a vision as a young boy, a vision of the inherent wisdom of the land that would direct him toward his true calling of being a wichasha wakon or holy man like his predecessors. BlackElk's childhood vision stayed with him throughout his life and offered him help and wisdom whenever he sought it. It was through the strength of this vision and the wisdom of his heart that Black Elk ultimately realized his place as a leader and wise man in the Ogalala Band of the Sioux. The wisdom possessed by Black Elk is immediately present in his memories of various lessons learned by himself and others. These stories ran the gamut of life experiences, from the most innocent acts of a boy in love to the harsh lessons learned from white betrayal. Through these stories one can gain a better understanding of the ways of the Sioux, as well as lessons about the nature of all men. Most important in these lessons about the nature of man was wisdom, and in all of Black Elk's memories, a deeper wisdom can be found somewhere. The story of High Horse's Courting stands out as a perfect example of one of Black Elk's tales. Typically, Black Elk stories attempt to impart one or more lessons that the listener can learn from, just as the subject of the story sometimes does..