BLACK ELK, WALLACE

(1921–2004)

An OglalaLakotawho conducted healing and shamanic rituals both for Native and non-NativeAmericans. His conversations with William Lyon (beginning in 1978) led to the publication ofBlack Elk:The Sacred Ways of aLakota(1990), a series of anecdotes about becoming and being a Lakota shaman. In 1973 he and his wife, Grace, were among the firsteldersto support the occupation of Wounded Knee (site of one of the last massacres of Native Americans by the U.S. military in 1890) by a “Warrior Society” of Native activists of many Nations that became theAmerican Indian Movement(AIM). He is also credited with having been instrumental in the passing of the American Indian Religious Freedom Act in 1978. Nonetheless, his willingness to teach a version of Lakota spirituality andneo-shamanismto non-Native people, especially those labeled “Rainbow Warriors,” led to his naming in AIM’s 1984 resolution against those considered disrespectful and exploitative of sacred ceremonies and of the clients they charge to participate. Groups and websites such as Gohiyuhi/Respect andCenter for SPIRITlist him among “frauds” and “plastic medicinepeople.” His take on these conflicting assessments (apart from an encouragement not to engage in conflict) was that he aimed to preserve a “sacred way” while making it accessible to all. The two phases of his life may be marked by his close relationships first withLeonardCrow Dogand then withSun Bear(Vincent LaDuke). He was not, as he and others have sometimes claimed, the grandnephew ofNicholas Black Elk.