A shining classic amid 150 outstanding books

For the past twelve years, the Nebraska Center for the Book has selected one book for the year as its pick for book clubs, schools, and casual reading across Nebraska. The One Book One Nebraska reading program encourages Nebraskans across the state to read and discuss one book, chosen from books written by Nebraska authors or that have a Nebraska theme or setting.

This year—Nebraska’s 150th anniversary—the committee picked the book, Black Elk Speaks, from the Nebraska Literary Heritage Association’s Nebraska 150 Reading Challenge. Today the proclamation ceremony took place in Lincoln, Nebraska with Governor Ricketts at the Capitol.

Black Elk Speaks: The Complete Edition by John G. Neihardt crosses genres and generations to recount the story of the Oglala Lakota visionary and healer Nicholas Black Elk (1863–1950) as told to Nebraska’s first poet laureate. Whether appreciated as the poignant tale of a Lakota life, as a history of a Native nation, or as an enduring spiritual testament, Black Elk Speaks is unforgettable.

“Black Elk Speaks is an extraordinarily human document—and beyond that the record of a profoundly spiritual journey, the pilgrimage of a people toward their historical fulfillment and culmination, toward the accomplishment of a worthy destiny,” said N. Scott Momaday.

Visit your local library, bookstore, or UNP’s website to get your copy of Black Elk Speaks.