Dec. 1: (Nicholas) Black Elk, Lakota (Sioux) elder

BORN DECEMBER 1:

(Nicholas) Black Elk (1863-1950) a second cousin to Crazy Horse who fought at his side in the Battle of Little Bighorn, he became a "medicine man" of his people, the Oglala Lakota ("Sioux"). He also survived the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre, and toured with Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. In 1932, poet John Neihardt published Black Elk Speaks based on Black Elk's religious views, visions, and life story. How much was Black Elk and how much Neihardt no one can be sure. He later became a Catholic and served as a catechist.

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