For thousands of years, Native Americans settled this part of western South Dakota, with many tribes developing an intense spirituality, absent knowledge of the One True God. Their search for God was rooted in nature and a deep intrinsic understanding of the existence of a Creator. This is a great starting point for us, on our Advent journey, as we recall the centuries long search for the coming of God’s promised Son, the Messiah.
The Christmas miracle – when God fully revealed Himself to man – repeats itself every time when those who are struggling in their search to know God finally encounter Jesus Christ. This was indeed the case of Servant of God Nicholas Black Elk, a Lakota leader of the Sioux tribe in this part of South Dakota. He went from being a pagan medicine man and Indigenous visionary from the age of nine, to a devout Catholic, whose cause for canonization is now being considered.
Amid great tragedy – he witnessed the collapse of his tribe and so many of his people killed by the Army at Wounded Knee; the collapse of the bison hunt and destruction of many of the traditional ways of life for his people; and personal tragedy in his family. Yet, he persevered first in his search to fully know God, then as a committed Catholic, accompanying the suffering among his people. One witness for the canonization process – who lived near him as a teenager – spoke of how he would go out in the middle of the night, even in a blizzard, to pray with someone in need if he heard that the person was ill or dying. In times of great trial, he united himself to Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, “Now my heart is getting sad — but my heart will never turn bad..Ever since Wakan Tanka (the Lakota name for God) gave light to my heart, it stands in light without end.”
One of his most memorable quotes, from 1911, was: “Die to your old self , and live the new life Jesus gave you. That way you will receive help and there will be love. That is it.” This is how he instructed his flock and this reminds us of the new life in Christ that was made possible through the Christmas miracle.
One beautiful aspect of his conversion is that it was not simply an interior conversion, but a full embrace of the Gospel, to the point where he became a catechist in the local church and an active missionary converting other native souls to the one true God.
His grave is located in the Pine Ridge Reservation outside of Rapid City.
Rapid City
Rapid City – the base for exploring Mount Rushmore, and some remarkable national parks – is the closest nearby city. Next time you travel through South Dakota, be sure to check out the sites linked to Nicholas Black Elk and other amazing places in Catholic South Dakota. You can get more ideas from my blog entry here.
Concluding Psalm
Psalm 8 provides a fitting summary of what Black Elk must have contemplated in the late stages of his conversion journey:
When I see your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and stars you set in place – what are humans that you are mindful of them, mere mortals that you care for them? Yet you have made them little less than a god, crowned them with glory and honor. You have given them rule over the works of your hands, put all things at their feet. (Psalm 8: 4-7)
CATHOLIC CONCIERGE 
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