Black Elk quotes

“The first peace, which is the most important, is that which comes within the souls of people when they realize their relationship, their oneness with the universe and all its powers, and when they realize at the center of the universe dwells the Great Spirit, and that its center is really everywhere, it is within each of us.”
― Black Elk


“The Holy Land is everywhere”
― Black Elk



“Crazy Horse dreamed and went into the world where there is nothing but the spirits of all things. That is the real world that is behind this one, and everything we see here is something like a shadow from that one.”
― Black Elk, Black Elk Speaks


“Grown men can learn from very little children for the hearts of the little children are pure. Therefore, the Great Spirit may show to them many things which older people miss.”
― Black Elk



“Behold this day. It is yours to make.”
― Black Elk



“Any man who is attached to things of this world is one who lives in ignorance and is being consumed by the snakes of his own passions”
― Black Elk



“You have noticed that the truth comes into this world with two faces. One is sad with suffering, and the other laughs; but it is the same face, laughing or weeping. When people are already in despair, maybe the laughing face is better for them; and when they feel too good and are too sure of being safe, maybe the weeping face is better for them to see.”
― Black Elk



“All over the sky a sacred voice is calling your name.”
― Black Elk



“It is in the darkness of their eyes that men get lost”
― Black Elk


“There can never be peace between nations until there is first known that true peace which... is within the souls of men.”
― Black Elk



“Peace will come to the hearts of men when they realize their oneness with the universe, It is every where.”
― Black Elk




“I did not see anything [New York 1886] to help my people. I could see that the Wasichus [white man] did not care for each other the way our people did before the nation's hoop was broken. They would take everything from each other if they could, and so there were some who had more of everything than they could use, while crowds of people had nothing at all and maybe were starving. This could not be better than the old ways of my people.”
― Black Elk



“While I stood there I saw more than I can tell and I understood more than I saw;
For I was seeing in a sacred manner the shapes of all things in the spirit, and the shape of all shapes as they must live together like one being....And I saw that it was holy”
― Black Elk


“Know the Power that is Peace.”
― Black Elk




“I did not know then how much was ended. When I look back now from this high hill of my old age, I can still see the butchered women and children lying heaped and scattered all along the crooked gulch as plain as when I saw them with eyes still young. And I can see that something else died there in the bloody mud, and was buried in the blizzard. A people's dream died there. It was a beautiful dream...”
― Black Elk




“It is hard to follow one great vision in this world of darkness and of many changing shadows. Among those men get lost.”
― Black Elk, Black Elk Speaks



“When a vision comes from the thunder beings of the west, it comes with terror like a thunder storm; but when the storm of vision has passed, the world is greenier and happier; for wherever the truth of vision comes upon the world, it is like a rain. The world, you see, is happier after the terror of the storm.”
― Black Elk


“Every little thing is sent for something, and in that thing there should be happiness and the power to make happy. Like the grasses showing tender faces to each other, thus we should do, for this was the wish of the
Grandfathers of the World.”
― Black Elk


“there can be no power in a square”
― Black Elk



“I knew that the real was yonder and that the darkened dream of it was here.”
― Black Elk


“And I can see that something else died there in the bloody mud, and was buried in the blizzard. A people's dream died there. It was a beautiful dream.”
― Black Elk


“At the center of the universe dwells the Great Spirit. And that center is really everywhere. It is within each of us.”
― Black Elk



“This they tell, and whether it happened so or not I do not know, but if you think about it, you can see that it is true.”
― Black Elk


“Like the grasses showing tender faces to each other, thus we should do, for this was the wish of the Grandfathers of the World.”
― Black Elk




“The world, you see, is happier after the terror of the storm.”
― Black Elk






Black Elk Speaks


Black Elk Speaks: Being the Life Story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux
by John G. Neihardt



“Crazy Horse dreamed and went into the world where there is nothing but the spirits of all things. That is the real world that is behind this one, and everything we see here is something like a shadow from that one.”
― Black Elk


“You have noticed that the truth comes into this world with two faces. One is sad with suffering, and the other laughs; but it is the same face, laughing or weeping. When people are already in despair, maybe the laughing face is better for them; and when they feel too good and are too sure of being safe, maybe the weeping face is better for them to see.”
― Black Elk

“It is in the darkness of their eyes that men get lost”
― Black Elk


“I did not see anything [New York 1886] to help my people. I could see that the Wasichus [white man] did not care for each other the way our people did before the nation's hoop was broken. They would take everything from each other if they could, and so there were some who had more of everything than they could use, while crowds of people had nothing at all and maybe were starving. This could not be better than the old ways of my people.”
― Black Elk



“It is hard to follow one great vision in this world of darkness and of many changing shadows. Among those men get lost.”
― Black Elk



“When a vision comes from the thunder beings of the west, it comes with terror like a thunder storm; but when the storm of vision has passed, the world is greenier and happier; for wherever the truth of vision comes upon the world, it is like a rain. The world, you see, is happier after the terror of the storm.”
― Black Elk


“Every little thing is sent for something, and in that thing there should be happiness and the power to make happy. Like the grasses showing tender faces to each other, thus we should do, for this was the wish of the
Grandfathers of the World.”
― Black Elk


“I knew that the real was yonder and that the darkened dream of it was here.”
― Black Elk


“And I can see that something else died there in the bloody mud, and was buried in the blizzard. A people's dream died there. It was a beautiful dream.”
― Black Elk, Black Elk Speaks: Being the Life Story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux





Find quotes
Quotes By John G. Neihardt


LINK:
http://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/3813941-black-elk-speaks

DEPP'S INTEREST IN WOUNDED KNEE CAUSES A STIRn

FILE - This file publicity image released by Disney shows Johnny Depp, right, as Tonto, in a scene from "The Lone Ranger." For months, questions have swirled about whether developers, activists or tribes would be willing to plunk down millions to buy the Wounded Knee National Landmark. Now there’s a new potential buyer in the mix: Johnny Depp. (AP Photo/Disney Enterprises, Inc. and Jerry Bruckheimer Inc., Peter Mountain, File)



SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) —
For months, questions have swirled about whether developers, activists or tribes would be willing to plunk down millions to buy a portion of the Wounded Knee National Historic Landmark. Now there's a new potential buyer in the mix: Johnny Depp.

But is the star of "The Lone Ranger" really preparing to be the one who buys the property where hundreds of Native Americans were killed? Or is it just the latest rumor in the contentious debate over the landmark's future?

Depp touched off the story when he told London's Daily Mail newspaper that he is working to buy a piece of the landmark on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation to give back to the tribe because it's important to their culture.
The site is where 300 Native American men, women and children were killed by the 7th Cavalry in 1890.

"I am doing my best to make that happen," he told the newspaper of a possible purchase.
"It's land they were pushed on to and then they were massacred there. It really saddens me."

Landowner James Czywczynski, whose family has owned the property since 1968, is trying to sell the 40-acre fraction of the historic landmark and another 40-acre parcel for $4.9 million. The two parcels of land have been assessed for $14,000. The sale has sparked outrage among tribal members who feel Czywczynski is trying to profit from the killing of their ancestors.

Since the interview was published last week, Depp's been quiet, and there's been no record of an offer made for the land. Depp's publicist did not respond to repeated calls and emails seeking comment, while Czywczynski, who has said his goal has always been to get the land back to the tribe, did not return calls.

Oglala Sioux President Bryan Brewer, whose tribe lives on Pine Ridge, said he has not been contacted by anyone in Depp's camp and was first notified of the actor's interest when someone from England called him for reaction. Brewer said he and a group of descendants of Wounded Knee survivors are hoping to meet with Czywczynski soon.

The possibility of the celebrity purchase is generating debate in Native American communities. Some question Depp's motives due to the timing of "The Lone Ranger" release, which debuted with a dismal $19.5 million in ticket sales on its opening weekend in early July. Depp, who plays the part of the Native American character Tonto in the film, has been accused of playing into stereotypes and misappropriating Native American culture. Tonto speaks broken English, wears a stuffed crow on his head and has a face painted with white and black stripes. Some Native Americans view the character as a parody.

Depp's also been criticized for saying that he does have Native American ancestry, but he's unsure if it's Cherokee or Creek.

"People I've talked to think he's in it for redemption because he's gotten bad reviews," said Oglala Sioux tribal member Dawn Moves Camp, 30.

Besides its proximity to the burial grounds, the land includes the site of a former trading post burned down during the 1973 Wounded Knee uprising, in which hundreds of American Indian Movement protesters occupied the town built at the massacre site. The 71-day standoff that left two tribal members dead and a federal agent seriously wounded is credited with raising awareness about Native American struggles and giving rise to a wider protest movement.

Depp's purchase of the land would be an easy answer for the tribe, Moves Camp said, but it would also be dehumanizing.

"It's also buying into the idea that our ancestry and history have a price tag on them," she said, later adding: "We have pride too. We'd rather it be done in an honorable way. I hope our tribe finds some way to buy the land back without outside help."

For some descendants of those killed in the massacre, how the tribe gets the land doesn't matter. What does is that the tribe gets it back, said Joseph Brings Plenty, a former chairman of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe who had several ancestors killed in the 1890 massacre.

Although the land sits on the Pine Ridge reservation, many of the descendants of the massacre victims and survivors are members of several different Lakota tribes.

"Honestly, I don't think it would be a bad thing if Johnny Depp would purchase it with the cooperation of the tribes," he said. What's most important, he said, is that the land is preserved and an accurate account of what happened is shared with visitors through a monument.

Tribal members have disagreed over the years about how to commemorate the lives lost at Wounded Knee. While there is a small monument listing some of the names of those killed in 1890, some tribal members think a larger statue or structure is needed to educate the public.

Sonny Skyhawk, a Sicangu Lakota actor and founder of American Indians in Film and Television, said although he was not a fan of Depp playing Tonto in "The Lone Ranger," purchasing the land would be a "great opportunity" for Depp to step forward and do something for Native Americans.

"If it's from the heart, we accept it. If it's not from the heart, we'll accept it anyways because it's such a meaningful undertaking when you look at the significance of what the sacred ground next to it is," he said.

___

Associated Press reporters Felicia Fonseca in Flagstaff, Ariz., and Susan Montoya Bryan Albuquerque, N.M., contributed to this report.

___

Follow Kristi Eaton on Twitter at http://twitter.com/kristieaton

 Source:  http://bigstory.ap.org/article/depp-interest-wounded-knee-causes-stir

Cutbacks on 'The Rez'

Editors' Picks BUSINESS  VIDEO: Cutbacks on 'The Rez' At Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, one of the poorest parts of the United States, the budget cuts known as sequestration have slashed millions of federal dollars in funding.  Related Article Link: http://www.nytimes.com/indexes/2013/07/13/todaysheadlines/index.html

Cutbacks on ‘The Rez’: At Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, one of the poorest parts of the United States, the budget cuts known as sequestration have slashed millions of federal dollars in funding.

By ANNIE LOWREY

Published: July 12, 2013


Multimedia
Slide Show

Native American Reservations and Sequestration





Pain on the Reservation
By ANNIE LOWREY



PINE RIDGE, S.D. — The Red Cloud-Bissonette family needs a new trailer. Frank, who is disabled, and Norma, his wife, are members of the Oglala Sioux Tribe who live on the sprawling grasslands of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. 

Despite their constant efforts to patch the seams of one of their trailers that was hauled here in 1988, rot and mold continue to climb up the walls.

The Red Cloud-Bissonettes are one of about 1,500 families on a waiting list at a local housing improvement program that was recently told that it is being shut down. 

“These are real, real low-income people,” said Andre Janis, the housing program’s director.

“If we go away, a lot of people are going to be without these services completely.”

And it is just one of dozens of cuts the tribe is stomaching, many of them caused by the mandatory federal budget reductions known as sequestration. 

When Congress approved legislation for the budget cuts, which went into effect on March 1, they specifically exempted many programs that benefit low-income Americans, including Medicaid, tax credits for working families and food stamps. 

But virtually none of the programs aiding American Indians — including money spent through the departments of interior, education, health and human services and agriculture — were included on that list.

As a result, the cuts are starting to deliver yet another blow to hundreds of the United States’ most deeply impoverished communities.

“More people sick; fewer people educated; fewer people getting general assistance; more domestic violence; more alcoholism,” said Richard L. Zephier, the executive director of the Oglala Sioux tribe. “That’s all correlated to the cuts from sequestration.”

On the Pine Ridge reservation, home to around 40,000 members of the tribe, the unemployment rate is estimated at as much as 85 percent. 

Shannon County, home to the town of Pine Ridge, has a per-capita income of less than $8,000. The local economy is not just reliant on transfers from the federal government; it in no small part consists of them.

Over all, the tribe’s budget is about $80 million a year, of which $70 million comes from federal sources, said Mason Big Crow, the tribe’s treasurer. The tribe still did not know how much money it would lose, waiting on word from Washington, he said, but the number would be in the millions.

The tribe is cutting the size of a program that delivers meals to the elderly, many of whom are housebound. The school budget, Head Start program and health service are shrinking, too. The tribe has no choice but to cut everywhere, Mr. Big Crow said.

Despite the reservation’s extraordinary problems with crime — alcohol and methamphetamine abuse are rampant, many of the tribe’s youth are involved in gangs — its police force is absorbing more than a million dollars in cuts.

“We’re cut to the bone,” Ron Duke, the police chief, said. “Right now, we’re being reactive to things.

It’s really hard to be proactive when you don’t have enough staff. 

We’re just constantly answering calls.”

The force has already absorbed a cut of more than 6 percent, he said. This autumn, it will cut another 8 percent. Chief Duke has let 14 staff members go. 

He said that at any given time, the reservation had only nine patrol cars on duty to cover an area the size of Connecticut, exhausting his officers as they chased down calls.

With the cuts, the poverty trap that has plagued the reservation for generations looks certain to worsen, with yet more families mired in deprivation, reservation officials and residents said.

“Imagine how people feel who can’t help themselves,” said Robert Brave Heart Sr., the executive vice president of the Red Cloud Indian School on the reservation. “It’s a condition that a lot of people believe is the result of the federal government putting them in that position, a lot of people are set up for failure. 

People have no hope and no ability whatsoever to change their fate in life. You take resources that they have, that are taken away, it just adds to the misery.”

While the effect of sequestration on the overall economy has been diffuse, with the largest impact falling on the military and companies dependent on Pentagon spending, nowhere has the sting been felt more severely than on American Indian reservations.

There was a time when the Bureau of Indian Affairs was “a bunch of federal employees providing direct services to tribes,” said Kevin Washburn, the assistant secretary of the interior in charge of the bureau. 

“Now, a big part of the way we provide services to Indian tribes is that we contract with tribal governments, so they’re providing the services to citizens.”

The bureau, he said, had no choice but to pass the cuts directly to the tribes. “Tragic consequences are occurring,” Mr. Washburn said.

The tribes contend that the federal government does not just disburse money to them through federal programs. It meets its nation-to-nation treaty obligation to provide certain services to American Indians.

Viewed in that light, a cut is not just a cut but a broken legal promise, and one in a long line of them.

“The tribes in this country, the federally recognized American Indians and Alaska Natives, have the world’s first prepaid health plan,” said Stacy Bohlen, the executive director of the National Indian Health Board, an advocacy organization based in Washington that has argued vocally against the cuts to Indian health programs.

“They paid for it with their lives, and their land, and their culture, and the forced abrogation of their future.”

But on the reservations, a sense of resignation has set in.

“It’s one more reminder that our relationship with the federal government is a series of broken promises,” said the Rev. George Winzenburg, the Catholic priest who serves as president of the Red Cloud Indian School.

“It’s a series of underfunded projects and initiatives that we were told would be funded to allow us to live at the quality of life that other Americans do.”

Read More:

Link:  http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/13/business/economy/us-budget-cuts-fall-heavily-on-american-indians.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20130713