Black Elk´s Great Grandson

Clifton DeSerca, a Sioux, lives and works in the modern world but has strong ties to the last days of the free-roaming horseback Native American of the plains. His great-grandfather was Black Elk, a Sioux holy man whose autobiography is considered one of the most important pieces of Native American literature. As a young man, Black Elk participated in the battle of the Little Bighorn. In his older years, he told his story to John G. Neihardt who translated it into the classic "Black Elk Speaks." DeSerca serves his people by being involved in a reservation outreach program working with alcoholics. He is portrayed here wearing a Sioux headdress and a historic shirt from the trading-post period.