John Gneisenau Neihardt was an American writer, poet, amateur historian, and ethnographer. Born on January 8, 1881, Neihardt lived during the end of the American settlement of the Plains. He developed a keen interest in the lives of those involved in the European-American migration and the Indigenous peoples they displaced.

His most renowned work is Black Elk Speaks (1932), presented as an extended narration of the visions of Black Elk, a Lakota medicine man. The book, translated into German as Ich rufe mein Volk (I Call My People) (1953), was reprinted in the United States in 1961, coinciding with growing non-Native interest in Native American cultures. Its popularity led to four additional editions. In 2008, the State University of New York published a premier, annotated edition. Despite its acclaim, the book's accuracy remains a subject of controversy.