1. Discussion: Black Elk in the 1960s - 318 Discussion Group 2 However...
Discussion: Black Elk in the 1960s - 318 Discussion Group 2
However important Black Elk Speaks is today, it was a publishing failure when it first
appeared in the 1930s. It was reborn with the 1961 edition, and it gained in popularity
throughout that historic decade. In the 1979 edition, a new introduction was provided by
Vine Deloria Jr., an important figure in American Indian philosophy, religion, and literature.
In his introduction, he discussed the book's importance and made several allusions to what
we might call "cultural road signs" of the era; on our Canvas page I have included Wikipedia
entries for several of them, since by now that era is ancient history and you probably have
never heard of the references he makes.
A few decades later, his grandson, Philip J. Deloria (a historian and a prominent scholar in
American Indian Studies) wrote the Introduction to the Complete Edition and provided his
personal experiences with the book. Some of those experiences reflected the mood or
responses of the era his grandfather described.
Explain why, according to the Delorias, this book would have become so popular in the
1960s and 1970s. What audiences did it find then? How did it speak to them?
Deloria's references (Wikipedia links):
The Greening of America (Linkhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Greening_of_America) :
Book from 1970 about the counterculture in the United States, which would have included
rebellion against authority and environmentalism.
Future Shock:Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Future_Shock) Book from 1970 about
the social and psychological impact of rapid change, especially technological changes.
Silent Spring:Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_Spring) Book from 1962 about the
impact of chemicals on the environment. Considered a foundational document of the
environmental movement in the United States.
