Black Elks Vision provides a unique perspective on American history. Black Elk was a Lakota-Oglala medicine man who lived from 1863 until 1950. The cousin of Crazy Horse, Black Elk was involved in the battles of the Little Bighorn and Wounded Knee. He also travelled to New York and Europe as part of Buffalo Bill's Wild West show. Most important, however, was the vision he had as a young boy, which shaped his life. Through the medicine man's own words, as well as historical documentation, author S. D. Nelson brings to life what it was like to be Native American in the mid to late 19th century and early 20th century. The native people found their land overrun by the Wha-shi-choos or White Man, the buffalo slaughtered for sport, and their people gathered onto reservations. Interspersing archival images with his own artwork, Nelson conveys how Black Elk clung to his childhood vision, which planted the seeds to help his people and all people understand their place in the Circle of Life. (Hardcover, 48 pages)