This paper discusses teaching "Black Elk Speaks" in the college classroom and examines how symbolic language is generated in our own experience. An activity is described in which students' dreams were performed in order that the students might better see how the dream functions in "Black Elk Speaks." The activity resulted in a discussion of the differences between shared symbolic language, produced in reenacting a dream statement, and the private, solipsistic language often associated with the term "symbolism." This activity also led to a discussion on problem-solving thought processes as compared with intuitional, or metaphor-making processes. (TS)