John Neihardt
Encyclopedia
Johnathan Gneisenau Neihardt (January 8, 1881 – November 24, 1973) was an American author of poetry and prose, an amateur historian and ethnographer, and a philosopher of the Great Plains
. Born at the end of the American settlement of the Plains, he became interested in the experiences of those who had been a part of the European-American migration, as well as American Indians
whom they had displaced. He traveled down the Missouri River
by open boat, visited with old trappers, became familiar with leaders in a number of Indian communities, and did extensive research throughout the Plains and Rocky Mountains
.
Niehardt wrote to preserve and express elements of the pioneer past in books that range across a broad variety of genres, from travelogues to epic poetry. In 1921 the Nebraska Legislature
elected Neihardt as the state's poet laureate
, a title he held for fifty-two years until his death.
His most well-known work is Black Elk Speaks
(1932), an extended narration of the visions of the Lakota medicine man
Black Elk
. It was translated into German as Ich Rufe Mein Volk (I Call My People) (1953). In the United States, the book was reprinted in 1961, at the beginning of an increase in interest in Native American culture. Its continuing popularity has supported four other editions. In 2008 it was published as a premier edition with annotations.
; his family moved to Wayne
, Nebraska
when he was 10. A graduate of Nebraska Normal College
in Wayne at the age of 16, he taught in rural schools near Hoskins
. Neihardt had been writing poetry since the age of 12; he published his first book, The Divine Enchantment
, at the age of 19. The book is based on Hindu
mysticism, a forerunner of many of his perspectives and much of his later work.
In 1901, Neihardt moved to Bancroft, Nebraska
, on the edge of the Omaha Reservation
. He worked with a local trader among the Indians, beginning a lifelong fascination with their culture. He also co-owned and edited the local newspaper, the Bancroft Blade. Sixty years later, townspeople remembered him as an unusual character, given to long, rambling walks and flights of imagination. After a trip to the Black Hills
, Neihardt published A Bundle of Myrrh, romantic poetry in free verse
, which was well-received by critics.
by Mona Martinsen, a young sculpture student of Auguste Rodin
. She was so moved by the poetry that she began corresponding with Neihardt. One year later, she moved to Nebraska and they married.
, to Sioux City, Iowa
—a journey of 2,000 miles. He published a travelogue as The River and I. The trip was the beginning of extensive travel and research for his large poetry project: a cycle of five epic poems to represent the time span from the arrival of the fur traders on the Plains to the end of the Ghost Dance
movement at the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre
. He completed and published the poems at various times over the next twenty-nine years. They were compiled and published as A Cycle of the West
. In researching the Cycle, Neihardt interviewed many cavalry
men and Lakota who had participated in the 1876 Battle of the Little Bighorn
; and his depiction of the battle is detailed.
In 1920, Neihardt and Mona moved their family to Branson, Missouri
. In the summer of 1930, as part of his research into the American Indian perspective on the Ghost Dance movement, Neihardt contacted an Oglala holy man named Black Elk
. At age 13, he had survived the Battle of the Little Big Horn and later as a young warrior escaped the Wounded Knee Massacre. As Neihardt recounts, Black Elk shared his life's narrative, including his sacred visions and some of the Oglala rituals he had performed. The two men developed a close friendship.
Neihardt developed the book Black Elk Speaks
from their conversations, which continued in the spring of 1931, and published it in 1932. It is now Neihardt's most well-known work. Black Elk gave Neihardt the Sioux name meaning "Flaming Rainbow," after a prominent image in one of his visions. It was translated into German in 1953. In the United States, the book was reprinted in 1961 and four additional editions. In 2008 it was published in a premier edition complete with annotations. The book was reprinted in the United States in 1961, and has received four more editions. The continuing popularity of the book since the mid-20th century shows the growth of interest in the social and ethical study of Native American tribes. In 2008 the State University of New York Press published a premier edition of the book, with annotations. Modern editions of Black Elk Speaks carry "Flaming Rainbow" as the author's name.
Over the years, Niehardt served as a professor of poetry at the University of Nebraska
, and a literary editor in St. Louis, Missouri
. He was a poet-in-residence and lecturer at the University of Missouri
in Columbia, Missouri
from 1948 on.
His wife Mona died in 1958 from injuries in an automobile accident, which Neihardt survived. In 1970 he appeared on the Dick Cavett
Show, which spurred renewed interest in Black Elk Speaks, which had been reprinted in 1961.
Neihardt died in 1973 in Columbia, Missouri
.
Great Plains
The Great Plains are a broad expanse of flat land, much of it covered in prairie, steppe and grassland, which lies west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada. This area covers parts of the U.S...
. Born at the end of the American settlement of the Plains, he became interested in the experiences of those who had been a part of the European-American migration, as well as American Indians
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
whom they had displaced. He traveled down the Missouri River
Missouri River
The Missouri River flows through the central United States, and is a tributary of the Mississippi River. It is the longest river in North America and drains the third largest area, though only the thirteenth largest by discharge. The Missouri's watershed encompasses most of the American Great...
by open boat, visited with old trappers, became familiar with leaders in a number of Indian communities, and did extensive research throughout the Plains and Rocky Mountains
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...
.
Niehardt wrote to preserve and express elements of the pioneer past in books that range across a broad variety of genres, from travelogues to epic poetry. In 1921 the Nebraska Legislature
Nebraska Legislature
The Nebraska Legislature is the supreme legislative body of the State of Nebraska, in the Great Plains region of the United States. The Legislature meets at the Nebraska State Capitol in the City of Lincoln, Lancaster County....
elected Neihardt as the state's poet laureate
Poet Laureate
A poet laureate is a poet officially appointed by a government and is often expected to compose poems for state occasions and other government events...
, a title he held for fifty-two years until his death.
His most well-known work is Black Elk Speaks
Black Elk Speaks
Black Elk Speaks is a 1932 book by John G. Neihardt, an American poet and writer, who relates the story and spirituality of Black Elk, an Oglala Sioux medicine man or shaman. It was based on conversations by Black Elk with the author and translated from Lakota into English by Black Elk's son, Ben...
(1932), an extended narration of the visions of the Lakota medicine man
Medicine man
"Medicine man" or "Medicine woman" are English terms used to describe traditional healers and spiritual leaders among Native American and other indigenous or aboriginal peoples...
Black Elk
Black Elk
Heȟáka Sápa was a famous Wičháša Wakȟáŋ of the Oglala Lakota . He was Heyoka and a second cousin of Crazy Horse.-Life:...
. It was translated into German as Ich Rufe Mein Volk (I Call My People) (1953). In the United States, the book was reprinted in 1961, at the beginning of an increase in interest in Native American culture. Its continuing popularity has supported four other editions. In 2008 it was published as a premier edition with annotations.
Biography
Neihardt was born in Sharpsburg, IllinoisSharpsburg, Illinois
Sharpsburg, or Sharpsburgh, is an unincorporated community in Christian County, Illinois.According to the [ U.S.G.S.] it is located at 39.6139358 latitude and -89.3512000 longitude.-References:...
; his family moved to Wayne
Wayne, Nebraska
Wayne is a city in Wayne County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 5,660 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Wayne County and the home of Wayne State College.-Geography:Wayne is located at ....
, Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
when he was 10. A graduate of Nebraska Normal College
Wayne State College
Wayne State College is a four-year public college in the Nebraska State College System in Wayne, Nebraska. The current enrollment is 3,571. The college opened as a State Normal School in 1910 after the State purchased the private Nebraska Normal College . The State Normal College became State...
in Wayne at the age of 16, he taught in rural schools near Hoskins
Hoskins, Nebraska
Hoskins is a village in Wayne County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 283 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Hoskins is located at ....
. Neihardt had been writing poetry since the age of 12; he published his first book, The Divine Enchantment
The Divine Enchantment
The Divine Enchantment is John Neihardt's earliest narrative poem: first published in 1900. The poem is divided into ten cantos, and uses a variety of rhyming styles.-Introduction:...
, at the age of 19. The book is based on Hindu
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
mysticism, a forerunner of many of his perspectives and much of his later work.
In 1901, Neihardt moved to Bancroft, Nebraska
Bancroft, Nebraska
Bancroft is a village in Cuming County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 520 at the 2000 census.John Neihardt, who later became Nebraska's poet laureate, lived in Bancroft for twenty years and wrote many of his works there. His study is preserved at the John G...
, on the edge of the Omaha Reservation
Omaha (tribe)
The Omaha are a federally recognized Native American nation which lives on the Omaha Reservation in northeastern Nebraska and western Iowa, United States...
. He worked with a local trader among the Indians, beginning a lifelong fascination with their culture. He also co-owned and edited the local newspaper, the Bancroft Blade. Sixty years later, townspeople remembered him as an unusual character, given to long, rambling walks and flights of imagination. After a trip to the Black Hills
Black Hills
The Black Hills are a small, isolated mountain range rising from the Great Plains of North America in western South Dakota and extending into Wyoming, USA. Set off from the main body of the Rocky Mountains, the region is something of a geological anomaly—accurately described as an "island of...
, Neihardt published A Bundle of Myrrh, romantic poetry in free verse
Free verse
Free verse is a form of poetry that refrains from consistent meter patterns, rhyme, or any other musical pattern.Poets have explained that free verse, despite its freedom, is not free. Free Verse displays some elements of form...
, which was well-received by critics.
Marriage and family
Neihardt's romantic poetry was read in ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
by Mona Martinsen, a young sculpture student of Auguste Rodin
Auguste Rodin
François-Auguste-René Rodin , known as Auguste Rodin , was a French sculptor. Although Rodin is generally considered the progenitor of modern sculpture, he did not set out to rebel against the past...
. She was so moved by the poetry that she began corresponding with Neihardt. One year later, she moved to Nebraska and they married.
Travelling the Missouri River
Neihardt traveled by open-boat down the Missouri River from Fort Benton, MontanaFort Benton, Montana
Fort Benton is a city in and the county seat of Chouteau County, Montana, United States. A portion of the city was designated as a National Historic Landmark District in 1961. Established a full generation beforethe U.S...
, to Sioux City, Iowa
Sioux City, Iowa
Sioux City is a city in Plymouth and Woodbury counties in the western part of the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 82,684 in the 2010 census, a decline from 85,013 in the 2000 census, which makes it currently the fourth largest city in the state....
—a journey of 2,000 miles. He published a travelogue as The River and I. The trip was the beginning of extensive travel and research for his large poetry project: a cycle of five epic poems to represent the time span from the arrival of the fur traders on the Plains to the end of the Ghost Dance
Ghost Dance
The Ghost Dance was a new religious movement which was incorporated into numerous Native American belief systems. The traditional ritual used in the Ghost Dance, the circle dance, has been used by many Native Americans since prehistoric times...
movement at the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre
Wounded Knee Massacre
The Wounded Knee Massacre happened on December 29, 1890, near Wounded Knee Creek on the Lakota Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, USA. On the day before, a detachment of the U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment commanded by Major Samuel M...
. He completed and published the poems at various times over the next twenty-nine years. They were compiled and published as A Cycle of the West
Cycle of the West
A Cycle of the West is a collection of five epic poems written and published over a nearly thirty-year span by John G. Neihardt...
. In researching the Cycle, Neihardt interviewed many cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
men and Lakota who had participated in the 1876 Battle of the Little Bighorn
Battle of the Little Bighorn
The Battle of the Little Bighorn, also known as Custer's Last Stand and, by the Indians involved, as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, was an armed engagement between combined forces of Lakota, Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho people against the 7th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army...
; and his depiction of the battle is detailed.
In 1920, Neihardt and Mona moved their family to Branson, Missouri
Branson, Missouri
Branson is a city in Taney County in the U.S. state of Missouri. It was named after Reuben Branson, postmaster and operator of a general store in the area in the 1880s....
. In the summer of 1930, as part of his research into the American Indian perspective on the Ghost Dance movement, Neihardt contacted an Oglala holy man named Black Elk
Black Elk
Heȟáka Sápa was a famous Wičháša Wakȟáŋ of the Oglala Lakota . He was Heyoka and a second cousin of Crazy Horse.-Life:...
. At age 13, he had survived the Battle of the Little Big Horn and later as a young warrior escaped the Wounded Knee Massacre. As Neihardt recounts, Black Elk shared his life's narrative, including his sacred visions and some of the Oglala rituals he had performed. The two men developed a close friendship.
Neihardt developed the book Black Elk Speaks
Black Elk Speaks
Black Elk Speaks is a 1932 book by John G. Neihardt, an American poet and writer, who relates the story and spirituality of Black Elk, an Oglala Sioux medicine man or shaman. It was based on conversations by Black Elk with the author and translated from Lakota into English by Black Elk's son, Ben...
from their conversations, which continued in the spring of 1931, and published it in 1932. It is now Neihardt's most well-known work. Black Elk gave Neihardt the Sioux name meaning "Flaming Rainbow," after a prominent image in one of his visions. It was translated into German in 1953. In the United States, the book was reprinted in 1961 and four additional editions. In 2008 it was published in a premier edition complete with annotations. The book was reprinted in the United States in 1961, and has received four more editions. The continuing popularity of the book since the mid-20th century shows the growth of interest in the social and ethical study of Native American tribes. In 2008 the State University of New York Press published a premier edition of the book, with annotations. Modern editions of Black Elk Speaks carry "Flaming Rainbow" as the author's name.
Over the years, Niehardt served as a professor of poetry at the University of Nebraska
University of Nebraska–Lincoln
The University of Nebraska–Lincoln is a public research university located in the city of Lincoln in the U.S. state of Nebraska...
, and a literary editor in St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
. He was a poet-in-residence and lecturer at the University of Missouri
University of Missouri
The University of Missouri System is a state university system providing centralized administration for four universities, a health care system, an extension program, five research and technology parks, and a publishing press. More than 64,000 students are currently enrolled at its four campuses...
in Columbia, Missouri
Columbia, Missouri
Columbia is the fifth-largest city in Missouri, and the largest city in Mid-Missouri. With a population of 108,500 as of the 2010 Census, it is the principal municipality of the Columbia Metropolitan Area, a region of 164,283 residents. The city serves as the county seat of Boone County and as the...
from 1948 on.
His wife Mona died in 1958 from injuries in an automobile accident, which Neihardt survived. In 1970 he appeared on the Dick Cavett
Dick Cavett
Richard Alva "Dick" Cavett is a former American television talk show host known for his conversational style and in-depth discussion of issues...
Show, which spurred renewed interest in Black Elk Speaks, which had been reprinted in 1961.
Neihardt died in 1973 in Columbia, Missouri
Columbia, Missouri
Columbia is the fifth-largest city in Missouri, and the largest city in Mid-Missouri. With a population of 108,500 as of the 2010 Census, it is the principal municipality of the Columbia Metropolitan Area, a region of 164,283 residents. The city serves as the county seat of Boone County and as the...
.
Legacy and honors
- Neihardt was inducted posthumously into the Nebraska Hall of FameNebraska Hall of FameNebraska Hall of Fame is an official list of prominent Nebraskans compiled in accordance to state law. Members include:*Grace Abbott -- social reformer and social worker....
in 1974. - His house has been preserved as the John G. Neihardt State Historic SiteJohn G. Neihardt State Historic SiteJohn G. Neihardt State Historic Site, also known as the Neihardt Center, is located in Bancroft, Nebraska and features museum exhibits about Nebraska Poet Laureate John Neihardt....
, also known as the Neihardt Center. Located in Bancroft, NebraskaBancroft, NebraskaBancroft is a village in Cuming County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 520 at the 2000 census.John Neihardt, who later became Nebraska's poet laureate, lived in Bancroft for twenty years and wrote many of his works there. His study is preserved at the John G...
, the house museum site includes the Sioux Prayer Garden, and Neihardt's study. It includes a library. - Neihardt Hall, a residence hall and one of the oldest buildings on campus at the University of Nebraska, was named for him. It houses the university's honors program. John G. Neihardt Scholars are recipients of the premier scholarship at Wayne State CollegeWayne State CollegeWayne State College is a four-year public college in the Nebraska State College System in Wayne, Nebraska. The current enrollment is 3,571. The college opened as a State Normal School in 1910 after the State purchased the private Nebraska Normal College . The State Normal College became State...
. - An elementary school in Omaha, NebraskaOmaha, NebraskaOmaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...
is named after Neihardt. - Neihardt's personal library is housed at the University of Missouri Libraries Division of Special Collections, Archives, and Rare Books. His papers are a part of the State Historical Society of MissouriState Historical Society of MissouriThe State Historical Society of Missouri, a private membership and state funded organization, is a comprehensive research facility located in Columbia, Missouri specializing in the preservation and study of Missouri's cultural heritage...
. Both repositories are housed in Ellis LibraryEllis LibraryConstructed in 1914, Ellis Library is the main library of the University of Missouri System located on the campus of the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri. It was named for former university president Elmer Ellis...
at the University of MissouriUniversity of MissouriThe University of Missouri System is a state university system providing centralized administration for four universities, a health care system, an extension program, five research and technology parks, and a publishing press. More than 64,000 students are currently enrolled at its four campuses...
.
External links
- John G. Neihardt State Historical Site
- John G. Neihardt Collection at the University of Missouri Division of Special Collections and Rare Books
- Neihardt, John G. (1881-1973), Papers, 1908-1974 (C3778) at the State Historical Society of Missouri
Further reading
- Clyde Holler, editor. Black Elk Reader, Syracuse University Press (2000).
- Hilda NeihardtHilda NeihardtHilda Neihardt was one of her father John G. Neihardt's "comrades in adventure," and at the age of 15 accompanied him as "official observer" to meetings with Black Elk, the Lakota holy man whose life stories were the basis for her father's book, Black Elk Speaks and for her own later works.She was...
, Black Elk and Flaming Rainbow: Personal Memories of the Lakota Holy Man and John Neihardt (1999) - Neihardt; R. Todd Wise, "Black Elk and John Neihardt", in Black Elk Reader, edited by Clyde Holler, Syracuse University Press (2000).
- Hilda Neihardt, The Broidered Garment: The Love Story of Mona Martinsen and John G. Neihardt (2006)