Black Elk's Religion: The Sun Dance and Lakota Catholicism by Clyde Holler (review)

140BOOK REVIEWS sional schools and university status; undulating student population and corresponding financial chaUenges; a Student BUl of Rights never born; the Blue Book of Students' rights and responsibUities; faculty tenure and promotion poUcies ; freedom of speech and press along with campus sit-ins and protests; and lack of alumni enthusiasm and support until post-1977. This was a fast and interesting read, and it would be of great interest to anyone associated with VUlanova, or any institution of higher learning. Moreover, it should be an eye opener for some MaUi Line grousers who do not see the gem in their midst. Although one might quibble with some very lengthy quotations in the text, and what could be construed as overstating the Neo-Thomism impact on the university population, still this is an outstanding record of a top notch CathoUc university. ThomasJ. Donaghy St. Paul's Church, Ellicott City, Maryland Black Elk's Religion:The Sun Dance and Lakota Catholicism. By Clyde HoUer. (Syracuse: University of Syracuse Press. 1995. Pp. xxxUi. 246. $39.95 cloth; $16.95 paperback.) This book's title promises more than the book deUvers. At best, HoUer surveys some historical Uterature on the Sun Dance, and then speculates how the Lakota holy-man, Black EUc, might have influenced its present practice. It is a shortcoming that the author, a comparative reUgionist, does not differentiate CathoUcism from other forms of Christianity, but it is a major flaw that he sought the assistance of many in the preparation of this text except for the two principal writers in the field, Raymond DeMaUie and me. Poor editing and awkward diction support the judgment of a coUeague whose evaluation prompted another press not to pubUsh this text. Besides misspellings on pages xxvU, n. 5, 1 1, 40, 65, 155, and 190, does it make sense to say: "a subtext of commitment, backsUding, and recommitment . . . mirrors . . . sin, confession, and forgiveness?" Elsewhere, is "central tenant" meant to be "central tenet?"What is the meaning of "this sort ofthing makes certain people crazy? [itaUcs added]"? Or, when HoUer writes that "Steinmetz reported to me in a communication," one wonders how else Steinmetz could have reported to him but "in a communication" of some kind or other! FinaUy, history is reversed when we read that "Black EUc first interviewed Neihardt and other elders." Since any encyclopedia shows that native people served as nuns and priests south of the border since the 1500's (even Father Craft, present at Wounded Knee in 1890, was of Mohawk descent), I have no idea why HoUer defines a "catechist" as: "UntU recently,the highest office a native American could hold in the CathoUc Church."When he critiques an author by saying, "It isn't clear ex- BOOK REVIEWS141 actly what period 'recently' refers to," HoUer indicts himself since he uses precisely the same vague phrase within his own, grossly incorrect definition. Hilda Neihardt is cited as an authoritative source when, in feet, her writing is Uttle more than an advertisement for her father's book. HoUer thus lends credence to her erroneous claim that the holy-man's daughter left the CathoUc faith after reading Black Elk Speaks. The indisputable truth is that Black Elk's daughter remained a faithful member of the Church until her death. The speculative tenor ofthis book is evident in phrases such as "the fascinating possibUity exists" and " [his] account provides almost an embarrassment of riches for the interpreter."With no evidence to support him, HoUer states that "Black EUc . . . officiated at the Sun Dance for a number of years. . . ." Just as whimsical is his statement that the holy-man's "creative reconciliation" of two reUgious traditions is "the basis for much Lakota reUgiosity today." HoUer admits that he has "trespassed in many areas [notably anthropology] Ui which" he has "no formal training," and this is evident throughout the text. For example, he wrongly asserts (1) that people camped without regard to rank (ethnographies state otherwise); (2) that Boasian "salvage ethnography" overlooked the present (a misreading of "historical particularism"); (3) that the Ghost Dance was directly attributable to the Sun Dance's ban (in addition to "faith," a constellation of reasons prompted embrace...