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On June
29th, 2006, author and adventurer Richard Fleck
read excerpts from his recent book, Breaking Through the
Clouds, to an engaged audience at the Thoreau Institute.
In this
compilation of climbing essays, Fleck described excursions into
the Maine woods and commented on the parallels between his own
trip and Thoreau’s account of the same journey. He continued to
read about the exceptional and unique view from atop the La Sal
Mountains, a vision of snow-capped mountain peaks contrasting
the barren desert stretching beneath them. Particularly moving
was Fleck’s reading and consequent discussion of the importance
of the sacred Black Hills to the Lakota Tribe. Fleck engaged
the crowd with a story about Black Elk, a holy man of the Oglala
clan, and the spiritual significance of Harney Peak and the
Black Hills. Fleck explained that to the Lakota Tribe, this
area was considered to be the center of the universe. With
Black Elk’s story in mind,
 Fleck
detailed his personal voyage to the summit of the same mountain
and his discovery of a Lakota prayer bundle on the trek up
Harney Peak. Fleck reflected personally and politically on the
presence of the prayer bundle, a collection of six cloth flags,
each a different color with specific spiritual meanings.
***
A limited number of signed copies of Richard Fleck’s Breaking
Through the Clouds are available from the Walden Woods
Project. To order please call (781) 259-4731 or (800) 554-3569
x731 (out of state).*** |
