Black Elk Told How the Pipe Came to the Lakota Nation

Bison, drawing from the cave la Grèze in Dordogne.
Source: Wikimedia Commons

Casually reading the first chapter of Black Elk Speaks, as I surely did for the first time many years ago, it seems a simple recollection by an old Lakota Indian. However, looking back, I have read the chapter more times than I can remember, and I find something new with each reading.

Black Elk’s own narration, in the chapter basically begins with the story about how the pipe came to the Lakota people. He described, without mentioning the name we so commonly hear, Pte Ska Win, Pteskawin, Ptesanwi, or White Buffalo Calf Woman. He told how two Lakota scouts chanced upon her and how, eventually, she took the pipe and to the Lakota Nation.

Symbolism in the Story of the Pipe

Once again, we see Black Elk, in this short chapter, introducing us, as the listeners of his tale, more symbolic tradition than a mere reading or two allows us to comprehend. I have heard the story, much as Black Elk told it, in the Temazcal of the Osos Mario and Lety.

I will not repeat the story here, but, rather, refer the reader directly to the original text. Here, I’ll concentrate, instead, on the symbolic elements and their relationship to the temazcal.

Foolishness

The story begins with the two scouts, one “being foolish” and the other “not foolish.” The first, “had bad thoughts and spoke them,” while the latter urged the other to, “throw all bad thoughts away.” The “foolish” scout ends up as “a skeleton covered with worms,” while his companion, who Black Elk says was, “...very much afraid…,” takes the news and instructions to his people so that they may receive the sacred woman in a teepee that they must build for her.

Feminine Strength in the White Buffalo

The story also introduces us, as readers, to concepts critical to the northern gateway, or second door of the temazcal, which faces north. The spirit guardian for the gateway, of course, the buffalo, in the temazcal ceremony, represents feminine strength, as seen in White Buffalo Calf Woman. The pipe that the sacred woman gave to the Lakota chief, had “... a bison calf carved on one side to mean the earth that bears and feeds us,” says the tale.

Eagle Feather Moons

The pipe, aside from its carved bison calf, had, “...twelve eagle feathers hanging from the stem to mean the sky and the twelve moons, and these were tied with a grass that never breaks.” I have read, though, for example, on the Akta Lakota Museum Cultural Center website (1999), of 13 moons in the Lakota calendar, and I am aware of other Native American and world cultures that use the 13 moon calendar (i.e., Bruchac 1997; Konstantin 1996-2015; MayanKin. 2010 - 2017; and Skywise Unlimited. Date unknown). Did the 12 moon reference come from Black Elk's Christian education in later life?

White

The color, like the snows of the north, white and pure, appear in the sacred woman’s buckskin dress, as a cloud that envelops the “foolish” one and her, as the smoke that comes from her mouth as she sang, and in her eventual transformation into a white buffalo. Earlier in the chapter, Black Elk described the buffalo skin mouthpiece of the pipe, as, “... for the earth, from whence we came and at whose breast we suck as babies all our lives,...”

Likewise, in the temazcal, guides adorn the north pole of their circle with a white flag and talk of the white bison and feminine strength in the second gateway or door of the ceremony. Guides, during this doorway often defer prayer and songs to one or more female figures in the group, and may designate a female to apply medicine, like copal or sage, to the abuelitas (literally, grandmothers, which are the red-hot volcanic rocks) introduced into the “ombligo,” or belly button, at the center of the temazcal.

White Buffalo Calf Woman

White Buffalo Calf Woman, in Black Elk’s version of the story, had long hair and “was young and very beautiful.” She spoke “...in a voice that was like singing…” I have heard and read similar descriptions of the sacred woman in other Native American versions of the story.

With "... a white cloud that was good to smell ... " coming from her mouth, she sang:

"With visible breath I am walking.

 A voice I am sending as I walk.

 In a sacred manner I am walking.

 With visible tracks I am walking.

In a sacred manner I walk."

She gave a pipe to the Lakota Chief, and stated, "Behold! With this you shall multiply and be a good nation. Nothing but good shall come from it. Only the hands of the good shall take care of it and the bad shall not even see it."


Understanding the symbolism from this single, very short chapter ... in Black Elk Speaks provides a very effective baseline for learning more about Black Elk's story. Recall from earlier in the chapter, that it is "... the story of all life that is holy and good to tell," rather than the story of a single man. As Black Elk finished the tale, he concluded, "This they tell, and whether it happened so or not I do not know; but if you think about it, you can see that it is true."


... con todas mis relaciones! Aho!

References Cited

• Akta Lakota Museum Cultural Center. 1999. Thirteen Lakota Moons. Akta Lakota Museum Cultural Center website (http://aktalakota.stjo.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=8911), Reviewed 5 January 2017.
• Bruchac, J. 1997. Thirteen Moons on Turtle's Back: A Native American Year of Moons. Puffin Books; Reprint edition.
• Konstantin, P. 1996-2015. Indian Moons, Days & Other Calendar Stuff. On AmericanIndian.net website (http://americanindian.net/moons.html), Reviewed 5 January 2017.
• MayanKin. 2010 - 2017. Calendario 13 Lunas. On the MayanKin webpage (http://mayankin.com/calendario-13-lunas/), Reviewed 5 January 2017.
• Skywise Unlimited. Date unknown. American Indian Moons. On the Western Washington University website (https://www.wwu.edu/skywise/indianmoons.html), Reviewed 5 January 2017.