At the young age of nine, Black Elk had a vision that would follow him throughout his life, and he believed it was this vision that gave him his power. It was a very long, detailed vision that included a meeting with the six grandfathers who represented the six powers of the world. Although too young at the time to fully understand the exact meaning, it was in this meeting that Black Elk was given the powers and the knowledge to help his people against the “Wasichus” who wanted to take over his peoples’ land. In his vision, he also saw his people going through great suffering, and he saw the nation’s sacred hoop broken. It was not until Black Elk performed the Horse Dance that his powers came to their full strength.

As Black Elk grew up, and the struggle against the Wasichus intensifie

Black Elk arrived at Wounded Knee soon after the massacre to see piles of women, children, and babies scattered everywhere. The site was so horrifying, Black Elk said, “When I saw this I wished that I had died too…” (Neihardt 200). This was the end of life as they knew it, for now on it would be life as the Wasichus wanted them to live it. “…I can see that something else died there in the bloody mud, and was buried in the blizzard. A people’s dream died there. It was a beautiful dream.” (Neihardt 207)

d, his powers became stronger and manifested themselves in different ways, such as sensing trouble. His people realized that Black Elk had a gift, but he never told them of his vision. The six powers had given Black Elk the tremendous responsibility of saving his people. Black Elk felt inadequate for the task, and often times questioned why it had not been given to someone more worthy than himself. Although he had these feelings and doubts about himself, he drew upon powers from his vision time and time again to help his people with their struggle, and had even been given the power to heal.

This third event is what Black Elk saw at Wounded Knee. The American army had occupied a village and was disarming them. W

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