Based on the compelling vision of Nicolas Black Elk as written by John G. Neihardt in Black Elk Speaks, Quentin H. Young has unlocked its messages, as he clarifies each detail of the vision. A vision given for all people of the world then, now, and for the future, and explains why a vision given to a young Lakota boy in 1872 has relevance today.
Black Elk Speaks:
As Black Elk, the bay horse, the blacks, whites, sorrels and buckskin horses all marched; they came to a cloud shaped like a tepee with a rainbow for its door. When Black Elk looked through the rainbow door, he saw six old men (Grandfathers) sitting inside. The eldest Grandfather spoke to Black Elk in a gentle manner and said; Enter and do not be afraid. As the Grandfather was speaking, all the horses whinnied, showing their support for Black Elk. He entered the lodge and stood in front of the Six Grandfathers. They looked older than men of the earth could be. The eldest Grandfather said; Your Grandfathers are having a gathering, and have sent for you, to instruct you. Black Elk said he knew these were not just old men; they were the powers of the six directions, and he was frightened.
Creely, Dan: - Dan Creely Jr. Professor Emeritus, Northeastern Illinois University
Young, Quentin H.: - Quentin H Young was born to Rosemary Likens Young and Mayo Beckford Young. His mother's side of the family has Lakota (Sioux) Sicangu (Brule) lineage; his father's side is Welsh. From the Lakota lineage, his grandmother's name was Rose Leaf Eliot, and his great grandmother was named Eliza Milton, a full blood Sicangu Lakota borne in 1854 in Nebraska. In 1855, a soldier took Eliza from the battlefield of the Blue Water Fight and gave her to the Milton's, a white family from Missouri who later adopted her. My mother believed the reason her grandmother, Eliza, named her daughter Rose Leaf and why Rose Leaf named her daughter (my mother) Rose Mary, was due to their knowledge that the Sicangu were located on the Rosebud Reservation. It was their secret way of connecting with their Lakota Sicangu roots. Quentin has been involved in the Lakota spiritual way of life since 1950 at age 6, by 1989, he began keeping a caŋnuŋpa (pipe). In 1996 Quentin became a Sun Dancer, and has danced consecutively for twenty-one-years Quentin served as paratrooper in the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne from 1962 through 1965. He retired as a design engineer in the year 2000 after 30 years. During this period, he designed and developed a complete set of prison locking devices for three corporations within the United States. Today, many of his lock designs are in use throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico. Quentin lives in Winfield, Illinois with his wife, Ginger, he has two grown children, two grandchildren and Sapa, his black cat who sat on the desk the whole time watching him write this book.
