
audiobook
WHEN THE TREE FLOWERED
WHEN THE TREE FLOWERED
I “I Used to Be Her Horse”
II When the Hundred Died
III The New Medicine Power
IV Wandering to Mourn
V Was the Great Voice Angry?
VI Chased by a Cow
VII Going on Vision Quest
VIII “Hold Fast; There Is More!”
In a cold February night, an aging Sioux elder invites a young listener into his modest cabin, promising to share the stories that keep his people alive. The elder’s voice, warm with tobacco smoke and humor, begins with a startling confession: he once “was a horse” for a little girl, a metaphor that opens a window onto a world of sweeping plains, bison herds, and the rhythms of tribal life before the reservation’s confines. As the fire crackles, the listener is drawn into the oral tradition that has carried these memories across generations.
The tale weaves together the hardships of winter, the thrill of the hunt, and the spiritual visions that guided the community. Listeners will hear the clash of joy and sorrow, the reverence for the land, and the resilient spirit that still echoes in the Sioux’s songs. This intimate storytelling invites you to experience a slice of an ancient culture, its values, and its enduring connection to the earth.
Language
en
Duration
~10 hours (602K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Original publisher
United States: The Macmillan Company, 1951.
Credits
Tim Lindell, Krista Zaleski and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from images made available by the HathiTrust Digital Library.)
Release date
2023-07-21
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1881–1973
Best known for Black Elk Speaks, this Nebraska poet and storyteller spent decades turning the history and myth of the American West into sweeping verse and prose. His work helped bring Plains history and Black Elk’s life story to generations of readers.
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