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Today’s missionary hero is Nicholas Black Elk, a home missionary of the 20th century.
Black Elk was born in Little Powder River in Wyoming, before Wyoming was a state. He was of the Oglala Sioux.
When he was 9-years old, Black Elk had a vision about how all of creation was a unity. When he grew up, he told a Nebraska poet, John G. Neihardt, about his vision. John wrote about Black Elk’s vision in the book, Black Elk Speaks. In time, Black Elk became very famous because of the book. And unlike other famous Sioux such as Red Cloud, Crazy Horse, and Sitting Bull who all became famous because of their war activities, Black Elk achieved fame as a result of his reputation as “holy man” of his people.
Black Elk led an incredibly interesting life even as a child. For example, when he was 10-years old, he was at the Battle of Little Big Horn, and in his 20’s, was at the massacre at Wounded Knee. In addition, Black Elk was part of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show and toured all through Europe.
As a young adult, Black Elk married. But after his first wife died in 1903, he became a Catholic Christian and took the name Nicholas as his baptismal name. As a home missionary to his own people, Nicholas baptized hundreds of other Sioux, taught the Bible, preached sermons, and was a model of righteousness in his community.
Nicholas Black Elk died on August 19, 1950 in the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.
In October 2017, Nicholas Black Elk was named a Servant of God of the Catholic Church, the first step in the journey to canonization.
