Historian Damian Costello explores the life of the man behind the famous book Black Elk Speaks. Nicholas Black Elk’s Lakota philosophy can help us see the natural world as a unified whole, and his continued hope amidst great tragedy can inform how we approach contemporary crises.

Damian Costello is a historian and the author of Black Elk: Colonialism and Lakota Catholicism. 

Series Underwriter: Chroma Technology Corp.

Statewide Underwriters

For more information

• New Yorker article on Black Elk by Ian Frazier, author of On the Rez
• National Catholic Reporter on Black Elk’s candidacy for sainthood
• Video: Red Cloud school, founded by Jesuits, teaches a mix of Lakota and Christian heritage and language