Black Elk Speaks

Story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux

Black Elk was born into an Oglala Lakota family in December 1863 along the Little Powder River (at a site thought to be in the present-day state of Wyoming).^[6]^:3 According to the Lakota way of measuring time (referred to as Winter counts), Black Elk was born in "the Winter When the Four Crows Were Killed on Tongue River".^[6]^:101

The most important aspect of this book is upon the contemporary generation of young Indians who have been aggressively searching for roots of their own in the structure of universal reality. They look to it for spiritual guidance, for sociological identity, for political insight, and the affirmation of the continuing substance of Indian tribal life.

^{The Absolute True Story of a Part-Time Indian}

Sherman Alexie

Alexie was born on October 7, 1966,^[6] at Sacred Heart Hospital in Spokane, Washington. As a little child he lived on the Spokane Indian Reservation, located west of Spokane.^[7] Alexie was born with hydrocephalus, a condition that occurs when there is an abnormally large amount of cerebral fluid in the cranial cavity.^[10] He had to have brain surgery when he was six months old, and was at high risk of death or mental disabilities if he survived.^[8] Alexie's surgery was successful; he suffered no mental damage but had other side effects.^[10]

His parents were alcoholics, though his mother achieved sobriety. His father often left the house on drinking binges for days at a time. To support her six children, Alexie's mother, Lillian, sewed quilts, worked as a clerk at the Wellpinit Trading Post and had some other jobs.^[10]

Alexie has described his life at the reservation school as challenging because he was constantly teased by other kids and endured abuse he described as "torture" from white nuns who taught there. They called him "The Globe" because his head was larger than usual, due to suffering hydrocephalus as an infant. Until the age of seven, Alexie suffered from seizures and bedwetting; he had to take strong drugs to control them.^[10]^[11] Because of his health problems, he was excluded from many of the activities that are rites of passage for young Indian males.^[11] Alexie excelled academically, reading everything available, including auto repair manuals.^[12]