Two books in one. Black Elk, Holy Man of the Oglala is an account of Black Elk's spiritual life, his career as a medicine man, his conversion to Catholicism and his work as a catechist and missionary.
The Sacred Pipe is Black Elk's own account of the seven rites of the Sioux people: the Keeping of the Soul, the Rite of Purification, Crying for a Vision, the Sun Dance, the Making of Relatives, Preparing a Girl for Womanhood and the Throwing of the Ball.
"We should understand well that all things are the works of the Great Spirit. We should know that He is within all things; the trees, the grasses, the rivers, the mountains. . . . When we do understand all this deeply in our hearts, then we will fear, and love, and know the Great Spirit, and then we will be and act and live as He intends." - Black Elk
