Lakota Storytelling: Black Elk, Ella Deloria, and Frank Fools Crow (American University Studies)

Lakota Storytelling interprets transcriptions and translations of Lakota (Sioux) autobiography, oral narrative, and oratory in the context of published ethnography and from the perspective of literary criticism. Separate chapters examine various expressions of Black Elk, especially the unedited interviews exclusive of Black Elk Speaks. Also discussed are representative stories from Ella Deloria's Dakota Texts and the oratory of Frank Fools Crow. The transcribed texts are closely read to reveal symbolic patterns which evoke Lakota history, customs, and ceremonies. Two themes predominate: kinship relations among the people and to the spirits, and cultural survival as an historical phenomenon in the face of governmental repression.