Black Elk (1863-1950) was a famous Lakota holy man whose life story was recorded in John Neihardt’s Black Elk Speaks. In 1946, when virtually no westerners were interested in Plains Indian spirituality and only a few serious scholars were studying shamanistic sacred traditions, Frithjof Schuon suggested to Joseph Epes Brown that he attempt to find Black Elk. Joseph Brown was successful in his search and the book that resulted was The Sacred Pipe: Black Elk’s Account of the Seven Sacred Rites of the Ogalala Sioux (1953).Schuon’s letters to Black Elk are preserved and cited in articles and books. Black Elk gave Catherine Schuon the Lakota name Wámbli Oyáte Win, which means “Eagle People Woman.”
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