The hard winter comes early. Many Indians resign from war. Indian agencies are established, and some Indian bands go to the agencies. Those who do not, like Black Elk’s group, are almost starving. The Indians eat their ponies that died of starvation. In November, Col. Mackenzie attacks a band of Shyelas as they sleep, many of them fighting naked in the snow. Those who survived joined Black Elk’s people, but there was nothing to eat; they headed for Soldiers’ Town to surrender.

Crazy Horse is acting stranger. In January, General Miles attacks their camp on the Tongue River. The Indians have little ammunition and retreat, in a blizzard, to the Little Powder. In February or March, Spotted Tail, Crazy Horse’s uncle, comes to try to convince Crazy Horse to surrender to the whites. In April, they head for Soldiers’ Town (Fort Robinson), and Black Elk hears a rumor that Crazy Horse surrendered. At Fort Robinson, the Indians finally have enough to eat.

Analysis

This chapter describes the increasing fragmentation and dislocation of the Indians following the Battle of Little Big Horn. The American Government regards them as hostile forces occupying U.S. Territory. No longer recognized as sovereign nations with treaty-making prerogatives, the Indian tribes lose their land that is sold and simply taken from them. Death is frequently the alternative to the process of assimilation that is being more and more forcefully imposed upon them. The bison are on the verge of extinction and the curtailment of the Indians’ movements does not allow them to search for food. Their horses and ammunition are being taken from them.

The decrease in population that Black Elk notes here reflects an even bigger decrease across the country. It is estimated that 5 million native people inhabited what is now the United States when European explorers first entered the continent. By 1910, the number of Indians dropped to 210,000.

This chapter takes its title from Black Elk’s vision (see Chapter 3), in which the fourth Grandfather showed him a black road leading from west to east and explained that it was a road of great trouble. Now, the road of Black Elk’s people becomes literally black as they leave a trail of burned grass behind them, hoping to prevent the mounted forces of the U.S. Government from following.

Glossary

Agencies organizations established by the U.S. Government to contain and control Indian life; at this point in American history, the term was used synonymously with “reservations”.