Poet Layli Long Soldier explains the term Očhéthi Šakówiŋ. It’s what the native peoples of the Lakota, Dakota and Nakota states have called themselves for generations. For 150 years their language, culture and very existence have been under attack. Lakota Nation vs. United States It is a reckoning for systemic genocide and the struggle for sacred territory. This is an important history lesson that is never taught in schools. Told in three riveting episodes, the new warriors are determined to reclaim their ancestral rights – South Dakota’s Black Hills.
An abhorrent classic cartoon about how European colonists came to America and encountered savage Indians.Traditional Hollywood Westerns, especially John Ford’s famous films searcherDepicting heroic soldiers hunting down a ferocious enemy without mercy. They are uncivilized savages standing in the way of glorious colonization. Activists Nick Estes and Mary Kathleen Nagel correct this demonization of racism with the ugly truth. Exterminating Native Americans was always land grabbing. You start by exterminating a race, dehumanizing them.
wipe out
Milo Yellowfur explains why Montenegro is “the cradle of their civilization”. A treaty between the tribe and the United States protects the land. The Dakotas and Nebraska were legally ceded in the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie. The Long Soldier uses excerpts of her poetry to narrate the film, concretizing the letter “X” as sealing their doom by deceit. Tribal leaders cannot read, write, or understand the language of the treaty. They signed the “X” and believed in the honest promises of government negotiators. Legal jargon will lead to their undoing. More than 400 new treaties continue to weaken previous agreements. The great red cloud has a thought-provoking saying: “The white man deceived me, and I was not difficult to deceive.”
Once gold is found in the Black Hills, the paperwork is meaningless. The Bozeman Trail brought treasure hunters and pioneers to the Dakotas. Union soldiers who fought in the Civil War and conquered the South turned American military power to the West. The conflict took its staggering toll, but it wasn’t all a failure. The film delves into the haughty General George Custer and the Battle of the Bighorn Jr. Known as an Indian warrior against women and children, he was killed in a bloody massacre.
assimilation
next chapter Lakota Nation vs. United States Especially distressing. The United States has expropriated more than 90 million acres of land. But the ongoing conflict has not achieved the goal of outright surrender. The Dawes Act of 1887 broke up reservations into separate appropriations. The surplus, like the Homestake gold mine, was given to white settlers and traders. Native American cultures have no concept of property ownership. Horses and weapons were taken. Buffalo are their source of income, but they are slaughtered in large numbers. Hunger compelled us to carry out a truly insidious and terrible plan.
Aboriginal children were taken from their parents and sent to boarding schools. They were given haircuts, new clothes, and Christian indoctrination. Any attempt to use their language or practice their religion has brutal repercussions. Beatings, sexual abuse and death are common. Survival means full adherence to the ideology of the oppressor. It’s a “kill from within” that aims to fundamentally change formative thinking. The effects of this re-education had devastating, long-lasting consequences. Phyllis Young and Henry Red Cloud talk about losing their identities. Reservations become hopeless and impoverished. Young people flee in search of better opportunities, but encounter discrimination and conquest wherever they go. A proud nation has been effectively wiped out and wiped out.
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compensation
The final section focuses on court challenges and new outbreaks of armed resistance. Native Americans educated in boarding schools gained an understanding of the legal system. They fought for nearly 60 years to no avail over their claims to the Black Hills. Leaders such as the American Indian Movement and Russell Means sparked a rediscovery of heritage. The 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre saw hundreds of Lakotas massacred by soldiers. In 1973, Aboriginal activists took over the town by force. The ensuing siege shocked America and awakened widespread awareness of injustice. That led to a big but troubling Supreme Court victory for Arthur Lazarus Jr.
Nick Tilsen’s speaking style is unmistakable. The Lakota nation cannot be bought. Montenegro belonged to them, it was stolen, and they wanted it back. This is the “Mecca” of their culture, not a source of economic gain. He and current activists have adopted the slogan “Back to the Land.” Illegal, forcibly taken items must be returned. This land should not be exploited as a natural resource.
symbol of white supremacy
Filmmakers Jesse Short Bull and Laura Tomaselli also have excellent editing skills, targeting a symbol of white supremacy against Indigenous people. Mount Rushmore, carved into the Black Hills with the president’s head inscribed against Aboriginal people, has drawn particular outrage. The long soldier noted that Lincoln hanged 38 Sioux the same week he signed the Emancipation Proclamation. Scenes of protesters clashing with red, white and blue Trump supporters during Trump’s July 4 visit illustrate the crux of the problem. A monument that inspires patriotism and pride in the American public is a testament to the tyranny of the Lakotas.
Yellowhair wept as he recounted the unbelievable pain, but he also hoped that a new day had come. Candi Brings Plenty, Alex Romero-Frederick, and Krystal Two Bulls believe equality for all means a return to Lakota values and Montenegro territory. The realization of the American Dream cannot abandon or forget them. A perfect bond means acknowledging injustice and working together to right past wrongs.
Lakota Nation vs. United States A production of Cinetic Media, Salmira Productions and XTR. The film will be released in theaters by IFC Films on July 14.
