Summary Of Black Elk Speaks

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As I have previously written on Black Elk Speaks Journal 1, this story relates to the life I lived and experienced back in my home country, Iraq. Of course both stories are set in different time lines and different events, yet they still are similar. As soon as Chapter 9 starts, Black Elk begins talking about his come country and how the soldiers came there to kill them. There was a reason for the soldiers to go out there and attempt to eliminate an entire tribe and that was because of land, money and material goods. Growing during the war in 2003 back in Iraq was quite similar to the wars and battles the Natives had went through, fortunately my story is not as gruesome as it is to many others that did not survive the war. The Middle Eastern …show more content…
I have nothing against Americans, in fact I love being in the states and I am very fortunate to live in the U.S. Unfortunately, I feel for my parents; the war did not kill them physically but emotionally. My parents were very outgoing people, they had travelled all over Europe, Australia, and other Middle Eastern countries. Nowadays, my parents are very plain, they do not have the same amount of friends they did nor the same amount of parties and gatherings. They always think about going back to Iraq just to meet their friends, but can’t because of the terrorist attacks. Black Elk’s story is not as powerful as mine but it does relate to the attacks that occurred to his people and his country, he and his people had travel to other safe places that weren’t his home that must have made him home-sick, just like my …show more content…
Sadly, in my Armenian culture we do not have ceremonies similar to Heyokas, but we do have ceremonies that are in their own ways similar. Once a year, we remember our fallen friends and families in the Armenian Genocide that occurred in 1915 by offering food in public. Madagh “is an act of mercy, thanksgiving and alms offering. It is an ancient Armenian pious custom during which an animal is scarified to be given as offering to the poor and needy.” (St. Mary). Again, both ceremonies have their similarity’s but are different as well, the bison ceremony is used as a vision quest for the seeker and for every animal that is killed, a prayer is given to the animal’s spirit. In Madagh, a goat is used as a symbolic animal to remember the fallen ones, and a big prayer ceremony is given for the death of those peoples and the animal that is used to remember them with. The Native American culture is related to many other cultures, like Asian and European

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