A famous warrior and medicine man of the Oglala Sioux, Black Elk describes the sacred rites that are at the heart of Native American religious life. 2 cassettes.
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Editorial Reviews
From AudioFile
Joseph Epes Brown describes several Native American sacred rites in fine detail. This is a dense reference work best heard with frequent breaks. Four chapters are excerpted from the original text. Each description is rich and resonant and deserves to be thoroughly absorbed before the next is heard. The production is excellent and is a clear enhancement of the text. Contreras's somber voice, accompanied by chanting and drumming, surrounds the listener. His clear and unrushed pace echoes the nature of his topic and invites the listener to be receptive to each rite. E.S.B. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very Good Reading Of Chapters 3, 4, 5, and 8, With "Interesting" Non-Siouan Musical Accompaniment,
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This review is from: Black Elk: The Sacred Pipe (Provincetown Poets) (Audio Cassette)
While conducting research for my review of Teaching Spirits: Understanding Native American Religious Traditions I came across this item. Dr. Joseph Epes Brown, the co-author of "Teaching Spirits" is best known for his highly acclaimed work, The Sacred Pipe Black Elk's Account of the Seven Rites of the Oglala Sioux, which is one of my favorite books. "The Sacred Pipe" is a very technical and in-depth book, which makes it difficult for many to read and easily comprehend--let alone understand. So, when I saw this listing I decided to purchase a copy--despite the fact that it was listed as abridged and that it was on cassette tapes rather than on CD disks. Moreover, this is the first time I have ever purchased or listened to an audio version of a book.
After getting the tapes, I learned what "abridged" meant in this case: it included only four of the eight chapters of the very slim book (the current edition listed above is 152 pages). These four chapters cover what are likely the most popular and easiest to comprehend: Chapter III, Inipi: The Rite of Purification (or the Sweat Lodge Ceremony); Chapter IV, Hanblecheyapi: Crying for a Vision (or the Vision Quest Ceremony); Chapter V, Wiwanyag Wachipi: The Sun Dance (Ceremony); and Chapter VIII, Tapa Wanka Yap: The Throwing of The Ball (the seventh Sacred Rite of the Oglala Sioux that encapsulates the path through life that one should follow). The reason I say this, is because most people approach Dr. Brown's "The Sacred Pipe" after reading the immensely more popular book by John G. Neihardt, Black Elk Speaks: Being the Life Story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux, the Premier Edition or because they are looking for information on Sweat Lodges, Vision Quests, or the Sun Dance. As a grader and teaching assistant for Joseph Epes Brown, I learned that most students were more interested in learning how to do these ceremonies than learning their significance, function, role, and place in Oglala life and culture, and, therefore, seldom read about the other rites told in the unabridged book. Books such as Joseph Bruchac's The Native American Sweat Lodge: History and Legends, Vision Quest by Terry Davis, or, even worse, books like Wolf MoonDance's Spirit Medicine: Native American Teachings to Awaken the Spirit and Hank Wesselman's Visionseekers have became more popular than the "tedious" tombs like The Arapaho Sun Dance: The Ceremony Of The Offerings Lodge, James R. Walker's Lakota Belief and Ritual, or Peter Powell's Sweet Medicine: The Continuing Role of the Sacred Arrows, the Sun Dance, and the Sacred Buffalo Hat in Northern Cheyenne History (Civilization of the American Indian Series). Regrettably, the much more difficult and less interesting chapters (for most non-Native Americans) concerning the powerful gifts of White Buffalo Woman (as explained in the unabridged book), the Rite of the Sacred Pipe, the Rite of Keeping of the Soul, the Rite of Making of Relatives, and the Rite of Preparing A Girl for Womanhood are not included. Since I never knew about this version of Joseph Epes Brown's book, I never spoke to him about it, but I am sure that he was aware of it himself. On the other hand, I have to wonder why Lakota music and a Lakota reader were not used. I also know Joseph was very eclectic, so perhaps he had no problem with Fred Contreras, whose native heritage is not given in the description on the box, doing the reading; and he did go on to record "Black Elk Speaks" as well. And I found some irony for myself in the fact that the drumming and chanting that accompany the narrative are performed by an Ohlone (in the Miwuk language it means "people of the West"), named Chemo Candelaria. I was raised in Fremont, California, not six blocks from an Ohlone cemetery and the Mission San Jose, while I attended Mission San Jose High School, whose "mascot" at the time was (sadly) the Ohlone Indians; and the yearbook was called "Costanoan," the Spanish name for Ohlone Indians. I find this interesting because when I went to high school in the late 1960s, the Ohlones were considered "extinct;" that is, there were no known people of Ohlone descent. It was not until Interstate 680 was proposed to pass through the Ohlone cemetery that it then became known that there were, in fact, Ohlones still alive, as individuals began divulging their heritage in order to stop the Interstate from crossing sacred ground. So, from that stand point, I very much enjoyed the tapes. However, as a visual learner, Mr. Contreras's readings are way too fast to obtain a visual picture in my mind of what he is saying. I would have to rate this version as a three star item because I feel that a Lakota reader and music were required and, for people like me, the reading was too fast. On the other hand, the unabridged book itself is most definitely five stars. Therefore, overall I have given it a four star rating. It is not the "real" thing, but it is pleasant enough. Please Note: If this review was not helpful to you, I would appreciate learning the reason(s) so I can improve my reviews. My goal is to provide help to potential buyers, not get into any arguments. So, if you only disagree with my opinion, could you please say so in the comments and not indicate that the review was not helpful. Thanks.
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