"This is a faithful transcription by Mr. Brown of the words of Black Elk, the last of the Sioux holy men to know his tribe's religious rites, together with their history and significance... Mr. Brown lived with Black Elk on the reservation, and the holy man, in order to preserve the Siouan rites both for the whites and for his own people, told him all he knew of the rites." -- Saturday Review. Mr. Brown brought to his task genuine respect for the vanishing culture of the Sioux and for the values of their religious system." -- Library Journal. His admiration for Black Elk and his people is obvious... He has done a fine job producing a book literature that is a valuable contribution to American Indian literature." -- San Francisco Chronicle The Sacred Pipe will be read with interest and pleasure by all those interested in the religious doctrines and associated rites of preliterate North America." -- Pacific Northwest Quarterly. Volume 36 in The Civilization of the American Indian Series. Joseph Epes Brown is a graduate of Haverford College with an M.A. in Anthropology from Stanford University and the Ph.D. in Anthropology and History of Religions from the University of Stockholm. The cover illustration of the pipe belonging to the Sioux chief Ghost Face is courtesy of the Thomas Gilcrease Institute of American History and Art, Tulsa, Oklahoma.