This biographical account of Black Elk - a Lakota/Oglala medicine man - follows him from childhood all the way through adulthood. His story begins with visions he had as a young boy. He was four years old when he first heard spirit voices. A year later he heard and saw the spirits. Then, when he was nine, another vision occured when Cloud People led him to the Six Grandfathers who pass him two things and tell him a valuable lesson: the cup of water has the power to give life and a bow and arrow has the power to destroy. Readers will follow Black Elk through his trials and tribulations of life on the villages to being a part of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, to his fighting in the Battle of Wounded Knee. A unique perspective for American history, told from the Native American point of view, not the white man's. Complete with archival images, a bibliography and S. D. Nelson's signature art.