The Price of a Gift: A Lakota Healer's Story

by Gerald Mohatt, Joseph Eagle Elk

Joseph Eagle Elk (1931–91) was an effective and highly respected traditional Lakota healer. He practiced for nearly thirty years, treating serious physical and mental illnesses among the people of the Rosebud Reservation and elsewhere. In 1990 he began collaborating on his memoir with Gerald Mohatt, a close friend and cross-cultural psychologist. Eagle Elk’s story of his life, practice, and beliefs provides a uniquely introspective, demystified, and informative look at the career of a traditional Native American healer. We learn how a persistent vision and recurring visits by thunder spirits led Eagle Elk long ago to become a healer. On a more general level, we gain valuable insights into how Lakota healers practice today. Eagle Elk’s story and teachings also demonstrate the importance of community support and consensus in the development of traditional healers. Gerald Mohatt’s perspective as a cross-cultural psychologist enables him to highlight the psychological dimensions and efficacy of Eagle Elk’s healings and place them within a cross-cultural context. Eagle Elk’s life and career are presented in a way that brings together formative episodes from his life, selected teachings that emerged from those experiences, and case studies in healing. This arrangement allows readers to grasp the close relationship between the personal and cultural dimensions of traditional healing and to understand how and why this practice continues to affect and help others.

230 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2000

Reviews

[Nate · Rating 5 out of 5]

An extraordinary look at the life and work of a man from multiple perspectives. The book covers Joe's life history, his teachings, and his community and culture (both his impact on it and its impact on him). One of the strengths of this book is that it does not try to interpret Sioux spirituality in a western framework, but instead presents it through stories and illustrations.

[Zachary Keith · Rating 5 out of 5]

9/10