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Grown men may learn from very little children, for the hearts of little children are pure, and, therefore, the Great Spirit may show to them many things which older people miss.

Black Elk

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Black Elk
Age: 86 †
Born: 1863
Born: December 1
Died: 1950
Died: August 19
Heyoka
Medicine Man
Tribal Chief
Many
Show
Indian
Children
Learn
Diversity
Great
Culture
Miss
Heart
Spirit
Older
Things
Shows
Hearts
Men
Littles
Missing
People
May
Therefore
Native
Little
Pure
Grown

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And I saw that the sacred hoop of my people as one of many hoops that made one circle.
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It is in the darkness of their eyes that men lose their way.
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May you always walk in Beauty.
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To use the power of the bison, I had to perform that part of my vision for the people to see.
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Birds make their nest in circles, for theirs is the same religion as ours.
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If I thought that I was doing it myself, the hole would close up and no power could come through. Then everything I could do would be foolish.
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Even the seasons form a great circle in their changing, and always come back again to where they were. The life of a person is a circle from childhood to childhood, and so it is in everything where power moves.
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Like the grasses showing tender faces to each other, thus should we do, for this was the wish of the Grandfathers of the World.
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The boys of my people began very young to learn the ways of men, and no one taught us we just learned by doing what we saw, and we were warriors at a time when boys now are like girls.
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And when I breathed, my breath was lightning.
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I think I have told you, but if I have not, you must have understood, that a man who has a vision is not able to use the power of it until after he has performed the vision on earth for the people to see.
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I had a vision with which I might have saved my people, but I had not the strength to do it.
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And if the great fear had not come upon me, as it did, and forced me to do my duty, I might have been less good to the people than some man who had never dreamed at all, even with the memory of so great a vision in me.
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Every place is the center of the world.
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After the horse dance was over, it seemed that I was above the ground and did not touch it when I walked.
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Let every step you take upon the earth be as a prayer.
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It is good to have a reminder of death before us, for it helps us to understand the impermanence of life on this earth, and this understanding may aid us in preparing for our own death. He who is well prepared is he who knows that he is nothing compared with Wakan-Tanka, who is everything then he knows that world which is real.
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Everything an Indian does is in a circle, and that is because the power of the world always works in circles, and everything tries to be round. In the old days when we were a strong and happy people, all our power came to us from the sacred hoop of the nation, and so long as the hoop was unbroken the people flourished.
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I was four years old then, and I think it must have been the next summer that I first heard the voices.
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One should pay attention to even the smallest crawling creature for these too may have a valuable lesson to teach us.
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