Study Help
Practice Projects
1. Draw or paint Black Elk's great vision as it is described in Chapter 3.
2. Examine the accounts of the settlement of the American West given in high school or college history textbooks. Compare them to Black Elk's story.
3. Examine newspapers from the 1880s and 1890s to see how the U.S. Government's war against the Sioux was described. Compare them to Black Elk's account.
4. Watch videotaped movies that depict the settlement of the American West. Compare their stereotypes of Indians and whites to Black Elk and the Indians that he describes.
5. Create a Web site for the Sioux Nation and/or Black Elk.
6. Create a collage that reflects Black Elk's experiences as recorded in Black Elk Speaks.
7. Draw a map of North America that shows Indian tribal boundaries.
8. Draw a map of the United States that shows the pattern of westward migration and the annexing of Indian territory.
9. Research any of the following topics:
a. The construction of the Transcontinental Railroad
b. The hunting practices of the Sioux Indians
c. The healing practices of the Sioux Indians
d. The westward migration of settlers onto the Plains
e. London and Paris, 1887-88: What would Black Elk have seen there as a member of the Wild West Show?
f. The ghost dance religion
g. The life of General George Armstrong Custer
h. The life of Sitting Bull
i. The life of Crazy Horse
j. The life of Buffalo Bill Cody