Indigenous People Catholic man of the day

https://issuu.com/columbia-magazine/docs/columbiasep19en/7

Catholic Man of the Month on Indigenous People Day

Nicholas Black Elk (circa 1863-1950)*: His cause for canonization was opened in 2017.

A NATIVE AMERICAN BOY - in Wyoming, named Black Elk, had a vision. "I saw that the sacred hoop of my people was one of many hoops that made one circle....and in the center grew one mighty flowering tree to shelter all the children of one mother and one father." This experience of unity marked the rest of his life, first as a healer among his Oglala Lakota (Sioux) tribe and later as a Catholic catechist.

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Following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, Black Elk became a medicine man. He also joined his elders, including his cousin Chief Crazy Horse, in defending their territory at the 1876, Battle of Little Bighorn.

Together with 176 Lakota people, he signed a petition in 1885, supporting Kateri Tekakwitha's canonization.

Saint Kateri Tekakwitha is Lily of the Mohawks (1656-1680). Her feast day is July 14 and April 17, in Canada

Black Elk then traveled with Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show in the Eastern United States, Canada and Europe for several years.  He returned in 1889, to Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, here he was injured during the Wounded Knee Massacre the following year. 

He married Katie War Bonnet in 1892, and when she later became Catholic, all three of the children were baptized.  Following Katie's death, Black Elk converted to the Catholic faith and he was baptized on December 6, 1904, on the Feast of St. Nicholas. He then took the name Nicholas Black Elk and later married Anna Brings White, who was a Catholic widow with two children.  Together, they had three more children.

Black Elk was known for his love of Scripture and he collaborated with Jesuit missionaries to evangelize several reservations. Over his 46 years as a catechist, he was instrumental in the conversion of some 400 people. He died on August 17, 1950 (but Wikipedia reports his death as August 19, 1950 at age 86), at Pine Ridge. His cause for canonization was opened in 2017.

*Black Elk is perhaps most well known for the books written about him by amateur ethnologist, John Neihardt, whom he met near the end of his life. Neihardt wrote about Black Elk's religious views, visions, and events from his life. Neihardt published his book Black Elk Speaks in 1932. The words of Black Elk have since been published in numerous editions, most recently in 2008. There has been great interest in his work among members of the American Indian Movement since the 1970s, and by others who have wanted to learn more about Native American religions.