Steltenkamp (Black Elk
) delivers an exhaustively researched and unrelentingly dry biography of the Oglala Sioux religious elder, Nicholas Black Elk (1863–1950). Throughout his life, but particularly during childhood, Black Elk was prone to visions that propelled him onto a humanitarian and spiritual life path. That path has frequently—and erroneously—been portrayed as traditionalist, according to the author, who corrects omissions in early accounts—John Neihardt (Black Elk Speaks
) and Joseph Epes Brown (The Sacred Pipe
)—to analyze Black Elk's later years, his conversion to Catholicism, its conflict and synthesis with his Native American beliefs and his work as a catechist and religious leader of his people. The resulting history of Lakota culture, rehashing of previous scholarship and interviews with Black Elk's children create a more complex and accurate portrait of Black Elk, but with the paucity of genuinely new information, readers familiar with the history—or with Dee Brown's iconic Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
—will feel as if they've read it all before. (Nov.)
