Great Plains Studies, Center for
Date of this Version
1995
Abstract
"Weare still very far from being aware of the dimensions and ramifications of our ethnocentric illusions." Although more than forty years have passed since Joseph Epes Brown penned these words in preface to The Sacred Pipe: Black Elk's Account of the Seven Rites of the Oglala Sioux, Americans still struggle to find a national identity that transcends our European heritage and its Judeo-Greco-Roman foundations. If one doubts just how pervasive (and sometimes counterproductive) the Eurocentric illusion could be, a reading of the Woodhouse Journals and a bit of introspection should suffice to convince. Woodhouse wrote a century before Brown. The surprisingly homely style, haphazard spelling, lack of punctuation, and charming period photography make his journals seem like something one would find among a deceased uncle's attic effects. Compare them to Lorenzo Sawyer's Way Sketches (also 1850, but describing incidents encountered on the way from St. Joseph to California) and you will be struck by the lack of polish of the former and the smooth and pleasant style of the latter. To appreciate the Woodhouse volume one must look beyond first appearances.
Comments
Published in Great Plains Quarterly 15:1 (Winter 1995). Copyright © 1995 Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska-Lincoln.