The greed that Americans had for the land was new and harmful to Black Elk and the Lakotas. His people were used to living off the land, and taking only what they needed from it. For example, when they killed a buffalo, they would use the fur for warmth; hide for clothing, shelter, and shoes

; bones for tools; and the meat and organs for food. The Americans, on the other hand, were more destructive to the environment. For example, they would kill the buffalo for the purposes of trade and to starve-out the Indians, not to use the buffalo for their full benefit. While the Lakotas cherished the environment so much, it was hard for them to understand the white man’s waste. In fact, the Americans proved to care more about themselves and their own desires than for the people and land they were destroying. Therefore, the Lakotas did not have respect for what the Americans did or said.

In fact, the United States government and the U.S. Army lied to the Indians on almost every treaty or pact they made with them. The people on the reservations were not given the food or money promised to them. “There were many lies, but we could not eat them. The forked tongue made promises” (p.165). Black Elk watched his people starve—both when the Americans killed their main food supply, and then when they came to the reservations. For, “hunger was among us often now, for much of what Great Father in Washington sent us must have been stolen by Wasichus who were crazy to get money” (p.165). While the lies the U.S. told were beneficial to themselves, they severely harmed the Indians, including many dying from starvation.

The Lakotas lived in constant lookout for soldiers trying to kick them off of their land. The Americans bombarded In

Some topics in this essay:
Moreover Americans, Black Elk, Elk Lakotas, Father Washington, Indians Americans, West Americans, Indian Wars, Furthermore Indians, John Neihardt, Wasichu American, black elk, “the soldiers, own land, forced indians, land taking, natural resources, crazy horse,