Black Elk and Nature

Last night I went to a talk on Black Elk at the Westminster West church. The speaker was Damian  Costello, author of a book on Black Elk: Nickolas Black Elk: Colonialism and Lakota Catholicism. Who knew that Black Elk was a Catholic the last 50 years of his life? The famous book Black Elk Speaks did not mention this because its author was not interested in it. Costello attended a Catholic liberal arts college and he leaned about Black Elk and his Catholic faith there, and he became obsessed, if you will, with everything Black Elk. He believes that Black Elk's native spirituality, and particularly his understanding of the human species' relation to non-human species (a deep spiritual connection) can revolutionize our understanding of our relation to nature. He is also promoting the elevation of Black Ell to sainthood. It was a multi-layered talk, complex, but very interesting. I sat with John who is very interested in this subject and shared in a Q&A his experience of connecting with non-human species through sound, through listening. The turn-out for this talk was high - the church was standing-room only. Clearly, this touches on something people are concerned about, in these parts at least.

Dr. Damian Costello

You Tube video about Costello's book