Black Elk Essays - Lakota People, Elk, Circle, Pi,

Black Elk For the power is not in us anymore. After the Heyoka ceremony, I came to live here where I am now between Wounded Knee Creek and Grass Creek. Others came too, and we made these little gray houses of logs that you see, and they are square. It is a bad way to live, for there can be no power in a square. You have noticed that everything an Indian does is in a circle, and that is because the Power of the World always works in circles, and everything tries to be round. In the old days when we were a strong and happy people, all our power came to us from the sacred hoop of the nation, and so long as the hoop was unbroken, the people flourished. The flowering tree was the living center of the hoop, and the circle of the four quarters nourished it. The east gave peace and light, the south gave warmth, the west gave rain, and the north with its cold and mighty wind gave strength and endurance. This knowledge came to us from the outer world with our religion. Everything the Power of the World does is done in a circle. The sky is round, and I have heard that the earth is round like a ball, and so are all the stars. The wind, in its greatest power, whirls. Birds make their nests in circles, for theirs is the same religion as ours. The sun comes forth and goes down again in a circle. The moon does the same, and both are round. Even the season form a great circle in their changing, and always come back again to where they were. The life of a man is a circle from childhood to childhood, and so it is in everything where power moves. Our tepees were round like the nests of birds, and these were always set in a circle, the nations hoop, a nest of many nests, where the Great Spirit meant for us to hatch our children. But the Wasichus have put us in these square boxes. Our power is gone and we are dying, for the power is not in us anymore. You can look at our boys and see how it is with us. When we were living by the power of the circle in they way we should, boys were men at twelve or thirteen years of ago. But now it takes them very much longer to mature. Well, it is as it is. We are prisoners of war while we are waiting here. But there is another world (150-151). These lines from Black Elk Speaks are found close to the middle of the story, just after the Heyoka ceremony. Black Elk is expressing his concern for the loss of the power that can only be found in circles. He recalls the many ways in which circles influence the Power of the World, and now the Wasichus have put them in the square houses thus taking their power away. As is expressed in much of this novel, Black Elk describes the loss that his people are being forced to accept. He says, In the old days when we [they] were a strong and happy people, all our [their] power came to us [them] from the sacred hoop of the nation, and so long as the hoop was unbroken, the people flourished (150). In this Black Elk reports that in the old days his people were strong and happy due to the power from the sacred circle. However, now the hoop has been ruptured thus causing unhappiness and frailty. His people are no longer flourishing in the ways that used to bring strength to the circle; in fact, it appears as though the youth of his people are naive to the significance of many important ceremonies and customs. Black Elk speaks of various circles that embody the Power of the World. He discusses the sky, the earth, the stars, the sun and moon, seasons, and life itself. Perhaps the most poignant description is that of the tepees, Our [their] tepees were round like the nests of birds, and these were always set in a circle, the nations hoop, a nest of many