1 00:01:45,757 --> 00:01:47,368 The struggle for the Black Hills 2 00:01:47,455 --> 00:01:49,805 has been a generational struggle. 3 00:01:51,807 --> 00:01:54,940 I was raised up with that ideology. 4 00:01:59,467 --> 00:02:02,818 We entered into treaties with the United States government 5 00:02:02,905 --> 00:02:05,647 that were made at a time of war. 6 00:02:07,910 --> 00:02:11,609 And, so, that made them peace treaties. 7 00:02:11,696 --> 00:02:13,655 Nation to nation. 8 00:02:16,005 --> 00:02:18,703 The great Lakota Nation was an equal 9 00:02:18,790 --> 00:02:20,792 to the United States government. 10 00:02:24,231 --> 00:02:26,711 The treaties themselves were violated 11 00:02:26,798 --> 00:02:28,887 as soon as they were created. 12 00:02:37,200 --> 00:02:41,683 When they illegally took the land from our people, 13 00:02:41,770 --> 00:02:46,166 it wasn't just the land itself that was taken. 14 00:02:47,906 --> 00:02:52,346 It was a part of a process to assume control over us. 15 00:02:54,391 --> 00:02:59,440 It was part of a process to colonize our people. 16 00:02:59,527 --> 00:03:03,792 It was a part of a process to strip our identities from us. 17 00:03:06,708 --> 00:03:11,887 And, so, as soon as these treaties were made, 18 00:03:11,974 --> 00:03:13,845 they were violated. 19 00:03:18,067 --> 00:03:20,025 At the time that they were violated, 20 00:03:20,112 --> 00:03:23,072 it meant that the peace part of it was over. 21 00:03:24,943 --> 00:03:27,250 That's why we're still at war today. 22 00:03:42,700 --> 00:03:44,746 About 25 or 30 Indians 23 00:03:44,833 --> 00:03:47,009 demanding that the Black Hills of South Dakota 24 00:03:47,096 --> 00:03:51,405 be returned to the Sioux Tribe have climbed Mount Rushmore. 25 00:03:51,492 --> 00:03:53,798 American Indians began gathering today 26 00:03:53,885 --> 00:03:56,932 at Pine Ridge, South Dakota, for a weeklong protest 27 00:03:57,019 --> 00:03:58,890 against what they call anti-Indian racism 28 00:03:58,977 --> 00:04:00,849 and brutality. 29 00:04:00,936 --> 00:04:03,330 In Wounded Knee, South Dakota, today, there was an exchange 30 00:04:03,417 --> 00:04:06,246 of gunfire between federal officers and militant Indians 31 00:04:06,333 --> 00:04:08,944 who seized control of the historic settlement 32 00:04:09,031 --> 00:04:11,512 on the Pine Ridge Sioux Reservation last night. 33 00:04:11,599 --> 00:04:14,515 These demonstrations reflect a new sense of ethnic pride 34 00:04:14,602 --> 00:04:17,125 and self-confidence in the American Indian community. 35 00:04:17,213 --> 00:04:19,171 The Indians said, through a spokesman, 36 00:04:19,259 --> 00:04:21,522 that they are willing to die, if necessary, to bring about 37 00:04:21,608 --> 00:04:25,265 federal action on their grievances. 38 00:04:25,352 --> 00:04:27,963 This is a fundamental issue that has to be understood. 39 00:04:28,050 --> 00:04:29,834 They are within the United States of America. 40 00:04:29,921 --> 00:04:32,446 There's only one sovereign. 41 00:04:32,533 --> 00:04:35,013 For the moment, both sides remain stalemated. 42 00:04:49,724 --> 00:04:53,902 You may like to know I do not consider this a, quote, 43 00:04:53,989 --> 00:04:55,991 "creative piece." 44 00:05:02,519 --> 00:05:07,655 I do not regard this as a poem of great imagination 45 00:05:07,742 --> 00:05:10,092 or a work of fiction. 46 00:05:12,355 --> 00:05:18,666 Also, historical events will not be dramatized for a, quote, 47 00:05:18,753 --> 00:05:20,798 "interesting read." 48 00:05:23,061 --> 00:05:26,369 Therefore, I feel most responsible 49 00:05:26,456 --> 00:05:32,419 to the orderly sentence, conveyor of thought. 50 00:05:32,506 --> 00:05:35,552 That said, I will begin. 51 00:05:46,737 --> 00:05:51,655 Keep in mind, I am not a historian, 52 00:05:51,742 --> 00:05:58,880 so I will recount facts as best as I can given limited resources 53 00:05:58,967 --> 00:06:02,405 and understanding. 54 00:06:02,492 --> 00:06:04,233 500 years ago, 55 00:06:04,320 --> 00:06:07,192 there were people on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, 56 00:06:07,279 --> 00:06:09,586 but neither knew about the other. 57 00:06:09,673 --> 00:06:13,242 On the eastern side, in Europe, the people were white-skinned. 58 00:06:13,329 --> 00:06:16,506 They had learned how to build houses and large sailing ships, 59 00:06:16,593 --> 00:06:19,683 but they still didn't know much about the rest of the world. 60 00:06:19,770 --> 00:06:23,644 In fact, most of them believed the Earth was flat. 61 00:06:28,213 --> 00:06:32,000 I want to tell you about the Sioux Uprising... 62 00:06:33,957 --> 00:06:37,397 ...but I don't know where to begin. 63 00:06:39,355 --> 00:06:41,749 I may jump around and details 64 00:06:41,836 --> 00:06:45,883 will not unfold in chronological order. 65 00:06:48,886 --> 00:06:52,281 The United States' history, as it tells itself, 66 00:06:52,368 --> 00:06:55,589 is that of Indian people being in the past, 67 00:06:55,676 --> 00:06:57,765 that we are a phase, right? 68 00:06:57,852 --> 00:07:04,336 We are a branch of the larger US or American history. 69 00:07:04,424 --> 00:07:06,730 The United States has a history of making agreements 70 00:07:06,817 --> 00:07:11,518 or treaties with the Indians, which dates back 137 years. 71 00:07:11,605 --> 00:07:16,174 Fred Briggs has a report on how well they've been kept. 72 00:07:16,261 --> 00:07:19,743 I begin the history, when I tell it, of Lakota people 73 00:07:19,830 --> 00:07:23,747 with the arrival of the United States. 74 00:07:23,834 --> 00:07:27,185 When an Indian prays, he gives thanks to the land. 75 00:07:27,272 --> 00:07:29,144 Land is quite sacred to Indians, 76 00:07:29,231 --> 00:07:32,060 literally Mother Earth in their religion. 77 00:07:32,147 --> 00:07:33,844 At one time, of course, the entire country 78 00:07:33,931 --> 00:07:36,891 belonged to Indians. Then the colonization began, 79 00:07:36,978 --> 00:07:40,284 and with it, the retreat westward. 80 00:07:40,372 --> 00:07:43,158 Treaties are the reason the United States exists today. 81 00:07:43,245 --> 00:07:45,159 If not for the treaties that the United States 82 00:07:45,247 --> 00:07:46,553 signed with tribal nations, 83 00:07:46,640 --> 00:07:49,164 the world would not have legitimized 84 00:07:49,251 --> 00:07:50,992 the sovereignty of the United States. 85 00:07:51,079 --> 00:07:52,776 Because President George Washington knew 86 00:07:52,863 --> 00:07:57,172 that one of the ways to tell France, Spain, England, 87 00:07:57,259 --> 00:07:59,261 all these countries that, hey, the United States 88 00:07:59,348 --> 00:08:01,393 is a legitimate country just like you are. 89 00:08:01,481 --> 00:08:03,483 You're signing treaties with these tribal nations, 90 00:08:03,570 --> 00:08:05,310 and so are we. 91 00:08:05,397 --> 00:08:08,009 The first large-scale treaty reorganizing Indian land 92 00:08:08,096 --> 00:08:09,924 wasn't really a treaty at all. 93 00:08:10,011 --> 00:08:12,143 It was the Commerce Act of 1836, 94 00:08:12,230 --> 00:08:14,102 which more or less gave the Indians 95 00:08:14,189 --> 00:08:16,452 all the land west of the Mississippi. 96 00:08:16,539 --> 00:08:19,803 But each treaty made after this, nearly 400 of them, 97 00:08:19,890 --> 00:08:24,591 amounted to a whittling away of Indian real estate. 98 00:08:24,678 --> 00:08:29,683 During the 1800s, when the US expanded territory, 99 00:08:29,770 --> 00:08:35,558 they, quote, "purchased" land from the Dakota people 100 00:08:35,645 --> 00:08:38,386 as well as the other tribes. 101 00:08:38,474 --> 00:08:43,087 But another way to understand that sort of, quote, "purchase" 102 00:08:43,174 --> 00:08:48,745 is Dakota leaders ceded land to the US government 103 00:08:48,832 --> 00:08:51,792 in exchange for money or goods. 104 00:08:51,879 --> 00:08:57,406 But most importantly, the safety of their people. 105 00:08:57,493 --> 00:09:01,845 Some say that Dakota people did not understand 106 00:09:01,932 --> 00:09:07,721 the terms they were entering or they never would have agreed. 107 00:09:07,808 --> 00:09:13,465 Even others call the entire negotiation trickery. 108 00:09:13,553 --> 00:09:17,687 But to make whatever it was official and binding, 109 00:09:17,774 --> 00:09:21,561 the US government drew up an initial treaty. 110 00:09:21,648 --> 00:09:24,041 In 1851, the Sioux Tribes were given 111 00:09:24,128 --> 00:09:27,349 most of the western Dakotas and northwestern Nebraska. 112 00:09:27,436 --> 00:09:29,481 This treaty was later replaced 113 00:09:29,569 --> 00:09:32,876 by another more convenient treaty. 114 00:09:32,963 --> 00:09:34,661 A treaty in 1868 115 00:09:34,748 --> 00:09:37,098 said the land would belong to the Sioux forever, 116 00:09:37,185 --> 00:09:38,882 but the treaty was broken nine years later 117 00:09:38,969 --> 00:09:40,362 when gold was discovered. 118 00:09:40,449 --> 00:09:42,103 And then another. 119 00:09:42,190 --> 00:09:45,323 By 1889, the Indian lands were greatly reduced 120 00:09:45,410 --> 00:09:49,632 through a series of schemes and illegal actions. 121 00:09:49,719 --> 00:09:51,591 I've had difficulty 122 00:09:51,678 --> 00:09:54,681 unraveling the terms of these treaties, 123 00:09:54,768 --> 00:09:58,685 given the legal speak and congressional language. 124 00:09:58,772 --> 00:10:03,428 As treaties were abrogated, broken, and new treaties 125 00:10:03,515 --> 00:10:06,475 were drafted one after another, 126 00:10:06,562 --> 00:10:11,088 the new treaties often referenced old defunct treaties 127 00:10:11,175 --> 00:10:15,005 and it is a muddy switchback trail to follow. 128 00:10:15,092 --> 00:10:20,097 This week, the Supreme Court ordered a sum of $122.5 million 129 00:10:20,184 --> 00:10:22,317 be paid to the Sioux Indian Nation, 130 00:10:22,404 --> 00:10:24,885 the largest settlement to Indians in American history. 131 00:10:24,972 --> 00:10:29,063 But the Sioux don't want it. They want their sacred land. 132 00:10:30,847 --> 00:10:34,285 Although I often feel lost on this trail, 133 00:10:34,372 --> 00:10:36,897 I know I am not alone. 134 00:10:42,772 --> 00:10:45,079 When you look at histories of peoples 135 00:10:45,165 --> 00:10:47,516 from different parts of the world, 136 00:10:47,603 --> 00:10:49,474 they all like to talk about something 137 00:10:49,561 --> 00:10:53,696 called a cradle of civilization. 138 00:10:53,783 --> 00:10:55,611 In Judeo-Christian history, 139 00:10:55,698 --> 00:11:00,007 we look at the birth of Jesus Christ 140 00:11:00,094 --> 00:11:02,357 as the place when time began. 141 00:11:04,315 --> 00:11:06,274 Hesapa. 142 00:11:06,361 --> 00:11:09,799 Hesapais kind of the Lakota word 143 00:11:09,886 --> 00:11:13,281 for the Black Hills. 144 00:11:13,368 --> 00:11:16,980 It is our cradle of civilization, 145 00:11:17,067 --> 00:11:19,853 the heart of everything that is. 146 00:11:19,940 --> 00:11:23,421 It's a love of this land born out of thousands 147 00:11:23,508 --> 00:11:28,992 and thousands of years of living on and near the Black Hills. 148 00:11:32,430 --> 00:11:35,564 In Lakota, we say, wi cho ni. 149 00:11:35,651 --> 00:11:39,437 "Wi" is a sun. 150 00:11:39,524 --> 00:11:42,266 "Cho" means beautiful. 151 00:11:42,353 --> 00:11:44,660 "Ni" is to live. 152 00:11:44,747 --> 00:11:47,663 So when you say, "Miye wi cho ni," 153 00:11:47,750 --> 00:11:53,713 that means, "I live in the beauty of this creation." 154 00:11:53,800 --> 00:11:56,759 A lot of people just don't understand. 155 00:11:56,846 --> 00:12:01,416 Because some people see the Black Hills as commodity, 156 00:12:01,503 --> 00:12:03,200 a place to make a dollar bill. 157 00:12:32,839 --> 00:12:37,321 US history is a branch of a larger tree of history 158 00:12:37,408 --> 00:12:40,194 in the way that we understand it. 159 00:12:40,281 --> 00:12:43,327 Not the other way around. 160 00:12:43,414 --> 00:12:46,853 But it's that covetous branch that thinks it's the tree. 161 00:13:03,565 --> 00:13:05,436 All right. 162 00:13:05,523 --> 00:13:08,396 War... 163 00:13:08,483 --> 00:13:10,833 is never any good. 164 00:13:10,920 --> 00:13:14,358 But we go to war... 165 00:13:14,445 --> 00:13:16,491 for peace. 166 00:13:16,578 --> 00:13:20,321 Peace is through death. 167 00:13:28,198 --> 00:13:31,027 Much of what we've learned about the battle for the plains 168 00:13:31,114 --> 00:13:34,509 comes from what we've seen in Hollywood movies. 169 00:13:36,859 --> 00:13:40,863 When we saw the Indian defending his land, 170 00:13:40,950 --> 00:13:44,736 we cheered for the White man's soldiers. 171 00:13:44,824 --> 00:13:49,829 The best way to kill people is to dehumanize them, 172 00:13:49,915 --> 00:13:52,744 right, to make them into caricatures. 173 00:13:52,832 --> 00:13:54,442 Whether it's Peter Pan, 174 00:13:54,529 --> 00:13:56,792 whether it's John Ford's "The Searchers," 175 00:13:56,879 --> 00:14:01,318 which is considered not just the archetype of Western movies, 176 00:14:01,405 --> 00:14:05,540 but one of the great American films. 177 00:14:05,627 --> 00:14:08,195 And this is a classic Hollywood trope... 178 00:14:11,633 --> 00:14:15,028 ...that makes invasion look like self-defense. 179 00:14:17,769 --> 00:14:20,685 You know, we weren't obsessed with the United States 180 00:14:20,772 --> 00:14:23,384 the way that the United States was obsessed with us. 181 00:14:31,392 --> 00:14:34,395 And, so, if we reimagine our history 182 00:14:34,482 --> 00:14:37,833 from the perspective of Lakota people... 183 00:14:39,966 --> 00:14:41,663 ...we get a different set of questions 184 00:14:41,750 --> 00:14:44,753 and a different set of answers. 185 00:14:44,840 --> 00:14:48,017 - Good evening. - Our focus tonight is on a story 186 00:14:48,104 --> 00:14:51,542 that has been with this country since its very beginnings. 187 00:14:51,629 --> 00:14:54,415 It deals with a continuing struggle over land 188 00:14:54,502 --> 00:14:56,939 between the White man and the Indian. 189 00:14:57,026 --> 00:14:59,724 If it was ever easy to delineate the good guys 190 00:14:59,811 --> 00:15:02,553 and the bad, it isn't anymore. 191 00:15:04,991 --> 00:15:06,862 I mean, I think 192 00:15:06,949 --> 00:15:10,474 resistance is always defined as being militant 193 00:15:10,561 --> 00:15:12,563 or it's always looked at 194 00:15:12,650 --> 00:15:14,914 as something that's very aggressive. 195 00:15:15,001 --> 00:15:20,354 But for me, resistance, I'm just trying to exist in this world 196 00:15:20,441 --> 00:15:22,530 as who I am as an indigenous person, 197 00:15:22,617 --> 00:15:24,749 as someone who comes from this land 198 00:15:24,836 --> 00:15:27,448 and who came out of this land. 199 00:15:29,145 --> 00:15:32,888 For me, the sanctity and the sacredness of the Black Hills 200 00:15:32,975 --> 00:15:37,153 isn't just that it's a sacred site, 201 00:15:37,240 --> 00:15:43,507 but I think it's the fact that the land itself is life-giving. 202 00:15:43,594 --> 00:15:47,250 That's what makes it sacred. 203 00:15:47,337 --> 00:15:49,731 That's what the Black Hills represents to me. 204 00:15:49,818 --> 00:15:53,691 And honestly, that's what all land represents to me. 205 00:15:53,778 --> 00:15:55,693 Is life. 206 00:16:14,103 --> 00:16:17,063 It is one of the oldest places on the Earth, 207 00:16:17,150 --> 00:16:19,848 over 5 billion years old. 208 00:16:19,935 --> 00:16:22,807 So we say we came from the Black Hills. 209 00:16:22,894 --> 00:16:26,246 And the Wind Cave is that place, 210 00:16:26,333 --> 00:16:29,684 that opening on this Mother Earth that breathes. 211 00:16:31,381 --> 00:16:36,343 And we followed the buffalo out to see this place. 212 00:16:36,430 --> 00:16:38,693 This is why we say we are pte oyate. 213 00:16:38,780 --> 00:16:42,044 We are "buffalo people." 214 00:16:42,131 --> 00:16:44,699 For Lakota people, specifically, 215 00:16:44,786 --> 00:16:48,181 the Black Hills is a place of emergence. 216 00:16:48,268 --> 00:16:51,793 Not just the physical creation of life itself, 217 00:16:51,880 --> 00:16:56,406 but the emergence of ourselves as a nation. 218 00:16:56,493 --> 00:17:00,106 Especially in relation to the United States government. 219 00:17:05,067 --> 00:17:09,028 The Black Hills represents our Mecca. 220 00:17:09,115 --> 00:17:12,204 This is the most sacred place in the world. 221 00:17:14,816 --> 00:17:17,123 How do you say it? I can't even express it. 222 00:17:17,210 --> 00:17:19,560 I can believe it, think it, feel it. 223 00:17:19,646 --> 00:17:22,127 It's in my spirit. 224 00:17:22,214 --> 00:17:25,782 But how do you put that even into English? 225 00:17:30,745 --> 00:17:34,662 The land and the people... 226 00:17:34,749 --> 00:17:38,274 Oyate... 227 00:17:38,361 --> 00:17:41,582 Are inextricably connected. 228 00:17:43,453 --> 00:17:47,414 Not only is it central to our creation stories, 229 00:17:47,501 --> 00:17:51,505 it's central to our understanding of ourselves 230 00:17:51,592 --> 00:17:54,203 as a nation, as people. 231 00:17:54,290 --> 00:17:57,337 And we are nothing without the Black Hills. 232 00:17:57,424 --> 00:17:59,817 That's why the Black Hills are not for sale. 233 00:17:59,904 --> 00:18:02,733 Because we are not for sale. 234 00:18:02,820 --> 00:18:04,779 How can you sell your very identity 235 00:18:04,866 --> 00:18:08,087 of what makes you an indigenous person? 236 00:18:10,872 --> 00:18:15,746 And remember, Lakotas, we have no ending. 237 00:18:15,833 --> 00:18:17,922 That's the beauty of our culture. 238 00:18:18,009 --> 00:18:21,926 That's why we're survivors. 239 00:18:22,013 --> 00:18:27,628 We have a beautiful, innate, inherent right of life. 240 00:18:43,383 --> 00:18:46,125 Deep in the Black Hills of South Dakota 241 00:18:46,212 --> 00:18:48,910 stands one of the biggest and unlikeliest monuments 242 00:18:48,997 --> 00:18:52,043 on the face of the Earth. 243 00:18:52,131 --> 00:18:55,221 A feat of modern engineering. 244 00:18:55,308 --> 00:18:57,658 Its size, its remote location, 245 00:18:57,745 --> 00:19:01,052 its compelling oddness begs the question, 246 00:19:01,140 --> 00:19:02,967 how did it get there? 247 00:19:20,071 --> 00:19:21,812 Mount Rushmore represents 248 00:19:21,899 --> 00:19:26,948 and is, like, the ultimate shrine to White supremacy. 249 00:19:27,035 --> 00:19:30,212 Our sacred mountain, the Six Grandfathers, 250 00:19:30,299 --> 00:19:34,042 of course they carved four racist White men 251 00:19:34,129 --> 00:19:37,741 into our sacred mountain, who believed in slavery, 252 00:19:37,828 --> 00:19:40,091 who actually removed us from our lands. 253 00:20:02,897 --> 00:20:05,247 No matter how long the faces are there... 254 00:20:05,334 --> 00:20:07,858 And it could be a quarter of a million years... 255 00:20:07,945 --> 00:20:09,904 To the American Indian, they will represent 256 00:20:09,991 --> 00:20:14,038 our government's deceit and dishonor. 257 00:20:14,125 --> 00:20:16,127 After the murder of George Floyd, 258 00:20:16,215 --> 00:20:19,392 there was a series of tearing down of colonial statues 259 00:20:19,479 --> 00:20:21,176 all across the so-called US, 260 00:20:21,263 --> 00:20:24,440 and the calling of White supremacy of what it is. 261 00:20:24,527 --> 00:20:27,443 We are watching statues being toppled, 262 00:20:27,530 --> 00:20:31,099 symbols of White supremacy being toppled. 263 00:20:31,186 --> 00:20:35,886 For us, there's no flag you can take down. 264 00:20:35,973 --> 00:20:39,412 There's no statue that you can topple. 265 00:20:43,067 --> 00:20:45,635 President Trump kicks off the 4th of July weekend 266 00:20:45,722 --> 00:20:47,985 a little later today with a trip out to Mount Rushmore. 267 00:20:48,072 --> 00:20:50,017 And all of a sudden, the president wanted to come 268 00:20:50,074 --> 00:20:52,076 in the middle of a pandemic 269 00:20:52,163 --> 00:20:55,384 to the heart of the Black Hills, to the hesapa. 270 00:20:55,471 --> 00:20:57,299 The Lakota Sioux still believe 271 00:20:57,386 --> 00:21:00,171 that it belongs to them and they want it back. 272 00:21:00,259 --> 00:21:03,000 And come to Mount Rushmore and put on a big show. 273 00:21:03,087 --> 00:21:06,265 My message is, is that this is no longer about equality. 274 00:21:06,352 --> 00:21:08,528 This is a radical rewriting of our history, 275 00:21:08,615 --> 00:21:11,531 and in South Dakota, we won't stand for it. 276 00:21:11,618 --> 00:21:13,359 Now, for the first time in history, 277 00:21:13,446 --> 00:21:16,187 Homeland Security is using rapid deployment teams 278 00:21:16,275 --> 00:21:18,668 to protect national monuments across the nation. 279 00:21:18,755 --> 00:21:21,932 We've seen this lawlessness over the past four weeks. 280 00:21:22,019 --> 00:21:23,978 This is an aggressive response 281 00:21:24,065 --> 00:21:26,241 - by the Trump administration. - The key, I think, 282 00:21:26,328 --> 00:21:28,504 is what you just said. It's federal property. 283 00:21:28,591 --> 00:21:29,940 That's absolutely right. 284 00:21:30,027 --> 00:21:31,725 We have people prepared, trained, 285 00:21:31,812 --> 00:21:35,032 ready to go with the air assets to get them there quickly. 286 00:21:35,119 --> 00:21:39,385 We can't think of anything better than to celebrate 287 00:21:39,472 --> 00:21:42,126 and have a little fun on July 3rd 288 00:21:42,213 --> 00:21:44,781 with a fireworks celebration at Mount Rushmore. 289 00:21:49,743 --> 00:21:53,181 That's where we were like, "This is an opportunity." 290 00:21:53,268 --> 00:21:56,010 This is an opportunity for us to connect 291 00:21:56,097 --> 00:21:59,187 this moment of racial uprising 292 00:21:59,274 --> 00:22:01,929 and reckoning of the very heart of this country 293 00:22:02,016 --> 00:22:04,584 to the struggle of indigenous people's land 294 00:22:04,671 --> 00:22:07,630 and to the struggle right here in the Black Hills 295 00:22:07,717 --> 00:22:11,373 that is one of the longest places of resistance 296 00:22:11,460 --> 00:22:12,983 in this nation. 297 00:22:18,989 --> 00:22:21,035 About 25 or 30 Indians 298 00:22:21,122 --> 00:22:23,298 demanding that the Black Hills of South Dakota 299 00:22:23,385 --> 00:22:27,128 be returned to the Sioux Tribe have climbed Mount Rushmore 300 00:22:27,215 --> 00:22:28,738 and camped a few hundred yards 301 00:22:28,825 --> 00:22:31,567 from the gigantic carved likenesses of George Washington, 302 00:22:31,654 --> 00:22:33,439 Theodore Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln, 303 00:22:33,526 --> 00:22:34,875 and Thomas Jefferson. 304 00:22:34,962 --> 00:22:36,746 They say they have a right to the land. 305 00:22:36,833 --> 00:22:39,532 Do you think maybe that's why you're letting them stay there? 306 00:22:39,619 --> 00:22:42,317 You know, there's a 50% chance they're right. 307 00:22:42,404 --> 00:22:45,320 - Testing, testing, one, two. - Can you guys hear me out there? 308 00:22:45,407 --> 00:22:47,104 We're in Keystone, South Dakota, 309 00:22:47,191 --> 00:22:49,716 at so-called Mount Rushmore. 310 00:22:49,803 --> 00:22:51,805 It was an opportunity for us 311 00:22:51,892 --> 00:22:55,722 to reignite the fight for the Black Hills. 312 00:22:55,809 --> 00:22:59,073 And reignite the fight to return these lands in the Black Hills 313 00:22:59,160 --> 00:23:00,640 back to our people. 314 00:23:00,727 --> 00:23:02,816 It's a beautiful day on hesapa. 315 00:23:05,471 --> 00:23:07,603 - Whose land?! - Our land! 316 00:23:07,690 --> 00:23:09,649 - Whose land?! - Our land! 317 00:23:09,736 --> 00:23:13,043 - Whose land?! - This is totally fucked up. 318 00:23:13,130 --> 00:23:16,525 ...assembly. Please vacate the premises immediately. 319 00:23:33,673 --> 00:23:35,414 Get ready! 320 00:23:40,331 --> 00:23:44,031 - Think about it. - This is our sacred Black Hills. 321 00:23:44,118 --> 00:23:46,250 This is the land of [speaks Lakota]. 322 00:23:48,557 --> 00:23:50,733 And we're prepared to stand our ground. 323 00:24:12,102 --> 00:24:15,018 Members of the Lakota Sioux Tribe have been protesting. 324 00:24:15,105 --> 00:24:16,411 They say that this land 325 00:24:16,498 --> 00:24:18,761 is theirs and should be returned. 326 00:24:18,848 --> 00:24:21,372 NDN Collective, an indigenous nonprofit, 327 00:24:21,460 --> 00:24:24,201 staged a protest on the road leading out of Keystone. 328 00:24:24,288 --> 00:24:26,726 More than a dozen people were taken into custody Friday, 329 00:24:26,813 --> 00:24:28,510 many of them held for the weekend. 330 00:24:28,597 --> 00:24:31,774 Including organizer and NDN CEO Nick Tilsen. 331 00:24:31,861 --> 00:24:34,124 Cal, you spoke with Tilsen before Trump's rally. 332 00:24:34,211 --> 00:24:36,300 What did he tell you? 333 00:24:36,387 --> 00:24:37,911 When you're dealing with places 334 00:24:37,998 --> 00:24:39,652 of extreme pockets of poverty 335 00:24:39,739 --> 00:24:43,264 and big struggle, it's hard to find a unifier. 336 00:24:43,351 --> 00:24:45,440 Because what happens with poverty, 337 00:24:45,527 --> 00:24:47,660 what happens with struggles, it separates the people. 338 00:24:47,747 --> 00:24:50,140 It creates further distance between us. 339 00:24:50,227 --> 00:24:53,622 But when you talk about the Black Hills to a Lakota, 340 00:24:53,709 --> 00:24:57,408 when you talk about landback in the Black Hills to a Lakota, 341 00:24:57,496 --> 00:25:00,194 there's not anybody you're going to find 342 00:25:00,281 --> 00:25:02,196 that's going to be against that. 343 00:25:02,283 --> 00:25:04,851 The bigger picture is, what was the trespassing 344 00:25:04,938 --> 00:25:06,722 that these folks were doing? 345 00:25:06,809 --> 00:25:08,526 The Black Hills is supposed to be Native American land. 346 00:25:08,550 --> 00:25:13,773 That was decided as recently as 1980 by the Supreme Court. 347 00:25:13,860 --> 00:25:18,212 I've been asked a lot about what brought me to organizing, 348 00:25:18,299 --> 00:25:20,040 what brought me to activism, actually. 349 00:25:20,127 --> 00:25:23,217 And I always say, like, it was never a choice. 350 00:25:23,304 --> 00:25:25,219 I was born into it simply 351 00:25:25,306 --> 00:25:28,570 because of who I am as a native person, 352 00:25:28,657 --> 00:25:31,442 - as a native woman. - You stole this land! 353 00:25:31,530 --> 00:25:35,185 - I'm just trying to exist. - You stole this land! 354 00:25:35,272 --> 00:25:37,492 I always say that I wouldn't recommend this 355 00:25:37,579 --> 00:25:40,887 and I wouldn't choose this life if I had a choice. 356 00:25:40,974 --> 00:25:44,238 My preference would be literally just being at home, 357 00:25:44,325 --> 00:25:46,762 drinking the clean water that still comes out of springs 358 00:25:46,849 --> 00:25:48,590 in my lands. 359 00:25:48,677 --> 00:25:50,679 But it's because I was called to do this work, 360 00:25:50,766 --> 00:25:54,204 because I can't do that work without people coming in 361 00:25:54,291 --> 00:25:55,728 and telling me that it's not okay 362 00:25:55,815 --> 00:25:58,513 to be who I am, without education systems 363 00:25:58,600 --> 00:26:01,864 saying that my history doesn't exist. 364 00:26:01,951 --> 00:26:03,779 Every single day, 365 00:26:03,866 --> 00:26:08,436 every piece of our life is impacted by White supremacy. 366 00:26:08,523 --> 00:26:12,222 And because of that, I can't just be home. 367 00:26:15,051 --> 00:26:17,576 And, so, for me, that's what resistance is. 368 00:26:30,023 --> 00:26:32,895 Don't it thrill you just to look at them hills? 369 00:26:32,982 --> 00:26:34,462 Sure does. 370 00:26:34,549 --> 00:26:36,377 No wonder the Injuns fight so fierce 371 00:26:36,464 --> 00:26:38,771 - to hang on to this country. - Hmm. 372 00:26:47,170 --> 00:26:51,261 ♪ Take me back to the Black Hills ♪ 373 00:26:51,348 --> 00:26:54,830 ♪ The Black hills of Dakota 374 00:26:54,917 --> 00:26:58,617 ♪ To the beautiful Indian country ♪ 375 00:26:58,704 --> 00:27:03,665 ♪ That I love 376 00:27:03,752 --> 00:27:07,756 ♪ Lost my heart in the Black Hills ♪ 377 00:27:07,843 --> 00:27:11,455 ♪ The Black Hills of Dakota 378 00:27:16,417 --> 00:27:19,899 X marks an agreement. 379 00:27:19,986 --> 00:27:24,991 Whatever name one uses to refer to the Black Hills, 380 00:27:25,078 --> 00:27:31,171 it is unquestionably the place of our beginning. 381 00:27:31,258 --> 00:27:36,089 And another X marks this land as ours, 382 00:27:36,176 --> 00:27:39,832 unquestionably, by treaty. 383 00:27:43,400 --> 00:27:45,054 The federal government non-natives 384 00:27:45,141 --> 00:27:47,970 always call us the wild people. 385 00:27:48,057 --> 00:27:50,016 They always call us that. 386 00:27:50,103 --> 00:27:52,496 What do they say? We're wild. They say, "Be careful. 387 00:27:52,583 --> 00:27:54,760 They're going to cut your heart out 388 00:27:54,847 --> 00:27:57,240 and show it to you before you pass away, 389 00:27:57,327 --> 00:27:58,720 and they'll even eat it." 390 00:27:58,807 --> 00:28:02,376 So they made stories up. Stories. Stories. 391 00:28:02,463 --> 00:28:05,335 But, actually, we're the good-hearted people. 392 00:28:08,295 --> 00:28:10,732 Most of the 500-plus tribes, 393 00:28:10,819 --> 00:28:13,256 federally recognized tribes, have treaties 394 00:28:13,343 --> 00:28:15,302 with the federal government. 395 00:28:15,389 --> 00:28:19,045 And they're all under the War Department. 396 00:28:19,132 --> 00:28:21,395 In 1851, the Sioux Tribes 397 00:28:21,482 --> 00:28:23,527 were given most of the western Dakotas 398 00:28:23,614 --> 00:28:26,530 and northwestern Nebraska. 399 00:28:26,617 --> 00:28:29,316 That was ceded as Indian territory. 400 00:28:29,403 --> 00:28:33,712 No non-Indian could set foot within the boundaries. 401 00:28:33,799 --> 00:28:37,454 Within that is the sacred Black Hills. 402 00:28:37,541 --> 00:28:41,241 Hesapa. The Black Hills. 403 00:28:43,460 --> 00:28:45,332 Brave men came from the north, 404 00:28:45,419 --> 00:28:48,988 the east, the south, the west by the tens, 405 00:28:49,075 --> 00:28:54,036 the hundreds, the thousands in their wild quest for gold. 406 00:28:54,123 --> 00:28:57,561 Somebody gave news reports back on the East Coast 407 00:28:57,648 --> 00:28:59,955 that up and down the West Coast, 408 00:29:00,042 --> 00:29:04,438 there was nuggets of gold just sitting everywhere in the sand. 409 00:29:07,267 --> 00:29:09,443 The pioneers keep coming. 410 00:29:09,530 --> 00:29:12,446 Men and women of many faiths and many countries 411 00:29:12,533 --> 00:29:17,538 are joined in a common adventure for freedom and security. 412 00:29:17,625 --> 00:29:21,716 The continent that lies before them will forge a character, 413 00:29:21,803 --> 00:29:26,547 the character of a new people, the character of a new country 414 00:29:26,634 --> 00:29:29,768 they are making in the wilderness. 415 00:29:38,646 --> 00:29:42,606 There was expeditions, you know, sent out. 416 00:29:42,693 --> 00:29:45,305 And it'd start bringing non-natives 417 00:29:45,392 --> 00:29:48,569 across into Indian country. 418 00:29:48,656 --> 00:29:51,659 The Greater Sioux Nation, abiding by the treaty, 419 00:29:51,746 --> 00:29:55,794 they warned people that you can't travel through here. 420 00:29:58,753 --> 00:30:01,625 Wagons at that time on the open prairie 421 00:30:01,712 --> 00:30:04,063 just went destroyed the earth. 422 00:30:06,761 --> 00:30:09,503 People by the thousands were just coming through, 423 00:30:09,590 --> 00:30:12,811 devastating the land, not really caring about the earth, 424 00:30:12,898 --> 00:30:16,727 destroying everything along the way. 425 00:30:16,815 --> 00:30:19,339 But one thing on their mind was this yellow rock 426 00:30:19,426 --> 00:30:22,342 that made them crazy. 427 00:30:22,429 --> 00:30:25,171 For centuries uncounted, men have sought, 428 00:30:25,258 --> 00:30:29,218 fought, and died for gold. 429 00:30:29,305 --> 00:30:30,611 The federal government knew 430 00:30:30,698 --> 00:30:33,570 that they were breaking the 1851 treaty, 431 00:30:33,657 --> 00:30:35,877 and they built three forts along the Bozeman Trail. 432 00:30:35,964 --> 00:30:37,836 They called it the Bozeman Trail. 433 00:30:37,923 --> 00:30:39,838 It was a superhighway. 434 00:30:46,757 --> 00:30:49,108 The grandfathers told each other at that time, 435 00:30:49,195 --> 00:30:50,979 they said, "If we don't stop these people, 436 00:30:51,066 --> 00:30:54,113 our way of life is going to come to an end." 437 00:30:56,550 --> 00:31:00,336 You may or may not have heard about the Dakota 38. 438 00:31:03,774 --> 00:31:06,734 If this is the first time you've heard of it, 439 00:31:06,821 --> 00:31:10,651 you might wonder, what is the Dakota 38? 440 00:31:12,566 --> 00:31:17,701 The Dakota 38 refers to 38 Dakota men 441 00:31:17,788 --> 00:31:21,183 who were executed by hanging under orders 442 00:31:21,270 --> 00:31:25,361 from President Abraham Lincoln. 443 00:31:25,448 --> 00:31:28,712 To date, this is the largest, quote, 444 00:31:28,799 --> 00:31:34,936 "legal mass execution" in US history. 445 00:31:35,023 --> 00:31:40,550 The hanging took place on December 26th, 1862, 446 00:31:40,637 --> 00:31:44,728 the day after Christmas. 447 00:31:44,815 --> 00:31:48,863 This was the same week that President Lincoln 448 00:31:48,950 --> 00:31:52,171 signed the Emancipation Proclamation. 449 00:31:54,825 --> 00:31:57,089 In the preceding sentence, 450 00:31:57,176 --> 00:32:02,181 I italicize, quote, "same week" for emphasis. 451 00:32:04,313 --> 00:32:06,837 There was a movie titled "Lincoln"... 452 00:32:06,925 --> 00:32:08,361 Buzzard's guts, man. 453 00:32:08,448 --> 00:32:10,798 ...about the presidency of Abraham Lincoln. 454 00:32:10,885 --> 00:32:15,803 I am the President of the United States of America, 455 00:32:15,890 --> 00:32:19,633 clothed in immense power! 456 00:32:19,720 --> 00:32:22,723 The signing of the Emancipation Proclamation 457 00:32:22,810 --> 00:32:26,596 was included in the film "Lincoln." 458 00:32:26,683 --> 00:32:30,818 The hanging of the Dakota 38 was not. 459 00:32:32,951 --> 00:32:35,954 In any case, you might be asking, 460 00:32:36,041 --> 00:32:40,219 why were 38 Dakota men hung? 461 00:32:42,395 --> 00:32:47,052 They were hanged for the Sioux Uprising. 462 00:32:47,139 --> 00:32:48,836 After the Civil War, 463 00:32:48,923 --> 00:32:51,099 the Federal Army was occupying the South 464 00:32:51,186 --> 00:32:54,494 to ensure the gains of Reconstruction, 465 00:32:54,581 --> 00:32:57,801 to ensure equality. 466 00:32:57,888 --> 00:33:00,239 They began to withdraw those troops. 467 00:33:00,326 --> 00:33:03,807 They didn't just disappear. They were sent west 468 00:33:03,894 --> 00:33:07,811 to finish the westward expansion of the United States. 469 00:33:07,898 --> 00:33:10,814 The war on the plains is being created 470 00:33:10,901 --> 00:33:12,903 and carried out at the same time 471 00:33:12,991 --> 00:33:15,645 that the United States is saying, "No more slavery." 472 00:33:15,732 --> 00:33:18,474 So we've got these moments of progress 473 00:33:18,561 --> 00:33:21,042 in one way in United States history 474 00:33:21,129 --> 00:33:24,393 and almost a stepping backwards in another way. 475 00:33:36,275 --> 00:33:39,452 From 1851 to 1868, 476 00:33:39,539 --> 00:33:43,630 there was major wars throughout the Northern Plains here. 477 00:33:46,328 --> 00:33:49,114 One of the upcoming young warriors at that time 478 00:33:49,201 --> 00:33:54,075 was Thasúnke Witkó, meaning Crazy Horse. 479 00:33:54,162 --> 00:33:55,729 My grandfather, 480 00:33:55,816 --> 00:34:00,429 he took up arms in the spring of 1866. 481 00:34:00,516 --> 00:34:02,779 Started with bows and arrows 482 00:34:02,866 --> 00:34:07,001 and start, you know, defending the earth. 483 00:34:07,088 --> 00:34:09,221 The United States military forces 484 00:34:09,308 --> 00:34:10,699 tried everything in their power. 485 00:34:10,786 --> 00:34:13,051 They had all the weaponry and that, 486 00:34:13,138 --> 00:34:16,184 but the federal government was getting whooped. 487 00:34:16,271 --> 00:34:20,145 The spring of 1868, the federal government, 488 00:34:20,232 --> 00:34:24,540 they decided that, okay, we got to have, you know, peace. 489 00:34:24,627 --> 00:34:26,150 And grandfather, at that time, 490 00:34:26,237 --> 00:34:28,456 he said, "I don't want to talk peace. 491 00:34:28,543 --> 00:34:30,110 I don't want to talk treaty. 492 00:34:30,197 --> 00:34:32,766 I don't want to talk peace treaty at all. 493 00:34:32,853 --> 00:34:36,161 Until the superhighway shut down 494 00:34:36,248 --> 00:34:38,772 and the forts are burnt to the ground. 495 00:34:38,859 --> 00:34:42,167 Myself and my people are going to have charcoal 496 00:34:42,254 --> 00:34:43,820 on the soles of our feet 497 00:34:43,907 --> 00:34:46,909 before we even think about coming to Fort Laramie." 498 00:34:52,916 --> 00:34:55,223 Memorials help focus our memory 499 00:34:55,310 --> 00:34:59,749 on particular people or events. 500 00:34:59,836 --> 00:35:03,840 Often, memorials come in the forms of plaques, 501 00:35:03,927 --> 00:35:07,931 statues, or gravestones. 502 00:35:08,018 --> 00:35:12,936 The first signatories came in on April 29th of 1868. 503 00:35:15,243 --> 00:35:16,853 Other bands, headsmen, you know, 504 00:35:16,940 --> 00:35:20,074 chiefs, bonnet wearers came in with their people, 505 00:35:20,161 --> 00:35:25,384 basically put an X there in support of their peace treaty. 506 00:35:27,951 --> 00:35:30,911 X marks the heart of our treaty, 507 00:35:30,998 --> 00:35:35,045 which we generally agree upon as land. 508 00:35:41,704 --> 00:35:45,839 X marks the strange ways of time. 509 00:35:45,926 --> 00:35:50,887 How a century ago can feel like yesterday. 510 00:35:50,974 --> 00:35:57,677 And, quote, "from this day forward" feels like never. 511 00:35:57,764 --> 00:36:01,898 Nonetheless, we have contractually agreed 512 00:36:01,985 --> 00:36:04,945 from this day forward. 513 00:36:05,032 --> 00:36:09,689 Okay. Article one of the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty. 514 00:36:09,776 --> 00:36:11,995 "From this day forward, all war between 515 00:36:12,082 --> 00:36:15,521 the parties to this agreement shall forever cease." 516 00:36:15,608 --> 00:36:18,828 "The government of the United States desires peace, 517 00:36:18,915 --> 00:36:21,744 and its honor is hereby pledged to keep it." 518 00:36:21,831 --> 00:36:23,442 "The Indians desire peace, 519 00:36:23,529 --> 00:36:26,706 and now they pledge their honor to maintain it." 520 00:36:29,187 --> 00:36:32,538 X marks this contract in which the United States 521 00:36:32,625 --> 00:36:34,496 solemnly agrees that 522 00:36:34,583 --> 00:36:39,849 "no persons, except those herein designated, 523 00:36:39,936 --> 00:36:42,852 shall ever be permitted to pass over, 524 00:36:42,939 --> 00:36:46,943 settle upon, or reside in the territory 525 00:36:47,030 --> 00:36:50,295 described in this article." 526 00:36:50,382 --> 00:36:53,559 "The United States hereby agrees and stipulates 527 00:36:53,646 --> 00:36:56,431 that the country north of the North Platte River"... 528 00:36:56,518 --> 00:36:58,955 ..."and east of the summits of the Bighorn Mountains 529 00:36:59,042 --> 00:37:00,783 shall be held and considered"... 530 00:37:00,870 --> 00:37:03,743 ..."to be unceded Indian territory." 531 00:37:07,964 --> 00:37:13,361 X marks the verbose legal language used to distract 532 00:37:13,448 --> 00:37:16,930 or dull the senses. 533 00:37:17,017 --> 00:37:24,154 To this, beware. A poet is especially alert. 534 00:37:24,242 --> 00:37:29,725 It says, "The United States will pledge its honor. 535 00:37:29,812 --> 00:37:33,947 The parties to this agreement will lay down their weapons 536 00:37:34,034 --> 00:37:35,775 and live in peace." 537 00:37:35,862 --> 00:37:38,734 But the Black Hills question is also that. 538 00:37:38,821 --> 00:37:40,954 It's a question of honor. 539 00:37:41,041 --> 00:37:45,567 And whose honor are we talking about? 540 00:37:45,654 --> 00:37:50,659 X X X X X 541 00:37:50,746 --> 00:37:56,709 X X X marks eight months, 542 00:37:56,796 --> 00:38:01,583 April to November, to assemble our leaders 543 00:38:01,670 --> 00:38:04,934 to travel to various locations, 544 00:38:05,021 --> 00:38:08,198 to translate the terms of the treaty, 545 00:38:08,286 --> 00:38:14,683 and to collect or coerce 135 Xes. 546 00:38:18,687 --> 00:38:22,343 X marks a reminder I offer students 547 00:38:22,430 --> 00:38:25,825 about our beloved leader, Red Cloud, 548 00:38:25,912 --> 00:38:28,915 who refrained from signing the treaty 549 00:38:29,002 --> 00:38:33,267 until the final month, November. 550 00:38:33,354 --> 00:38:36,923 Red Cloud, who is quoted as saying, 551 00:38:37,010 --> 00:38:41,231 "The Whites, who are educated and civilized, 552 00:38:41,319 --> 00:38:45,845 swindle me, and I am not hard to swindle 553 00:38:45,932 --> 00:38:50,763 because I do not know how to read and write." 554 00:38:52,982 --> 00:38:56,725 X marks the swindling made possible 555 00:38:56,812 --> 00:39:02,992 only because of a language they could not read or write. 556 00:39:03,079 --> 00:39:05,517 Grandpa, he was the very last one to come in. 557 00:39:05,604 --> 00:39:09,956 He came in November 6th of 1868, and sure enough, 558 00:39:10,043 --> 00:39:14,003 their moccasins, their hampas were all charcoal black. 559 00:39:14,090 --> 00:39:16,266 They went through and made sure 560 00:39:16,354 --> 00:39:19,269 that all of these forts were burnt to the ground. 561 00:39:24,013 --> 00:39:26,102 I think he was a good man. 562 00:39:26,189 --> 00:39:30,237 From what I know of Custer, he was a unique individual. 563 00:39:30,324 --> 00:39:33,501 One that probably was given to eccentricities. 564 00:39:33,588 --> 00:39:37,157 Custer was rough and tough, and he was a man. 565 00:39:37,244 --> 00:39:39,681 I think he was a very crazy man. 566 00:39:39,768 --> 00:39:43,206 - He was a military man. - And he was the best. 567 00:39:43,293 --> 00:39:44,991 As far as I can see, I think Custer 568 00:39:45,078 --> 00:39:46,471 was a psychopathic killer. 569 00:39:46,558 --> 00:39:48,386 Clinically, I had the kind of a feeling 570 00:39:48,473 --> 00:39:52,564 he was a paranoid schizophrenic with delusions of grandeur. 571 00:39:52,651 --> 00:39:54,522 He believed that 20 White men 572 00:39:54,609 --> 00:39:56,742 could kill a thousand Indians any day. 573 00:39:56,829 --> 00:39:58,439 They tried. 574 00:39:58,526 --> 00:40:02,182 You know, he really was kind of unrealistic. 575 00:40:02,269 --> 00:40:03,879 It's... 576 00:40:03,966 --> 00:40:07,405 It amazes me that someone so stupid went so far. 577 00:40:10,886 --> 00:40:13,062 You must have something I'm right for. 578 00:40:13,149 --> 00:40:16,196 - Well, what do you want? - I want action. 579 00:40:18,459 --> 00:40:20,983 That brings us back to the Indians. 580 00:40:21,070 --> 00:40:22,420 There on the land and we want it. 581 00:40:22,507 --> 00:40:25,161 Plain robbery. You won't be able to tell yourself 582 00:40:25,248 --> 00:40:26,989 you're fighting for a noble cause. 583 00:40:27,076 --> 00:40:29,688 You'll be fighting against the best light cavalry in the world. 584 00:40:29,775 --> 00:40:31,472 And you'll have to chase those devils 585 00:40:31,559 --> 00:40:33,343 over the roughest country in the world. 586 00:40:33,431 --> 00:40:35,737 Deserts, mountains, prairies. 587 00:40:35,824 --> 00:40:40,829 You know, Custer, you could become a living legend. 588 00:40:40,916 --> 00:40:44,137 Or get yourself killed. 589 00:40:44,224 --> 00:40:46,792 Dead men make better legends. 590 00:41:01,894 --> 00:41:05,637 So, Custer was sent to a place 591 00:41:05,724 --> 00:41:09,336 called Fort Abraham Lincoln. 592 00:41:09,423 --> 00:41:11,793 It's also important to remember that Custer, you know, himself 593 00:41:11,817 --> 00:41:13,862 was a seasoned Indian fighter. 594 00:41:13,949 --> 00:41:16,648 The tactic that he had kind of pioneered and mastered 595 00:41:16,735 --> 00:41:18,606 was to essentially attack noncombatants 596 00:41:18,693 --> 00:41:21,174 to force the surrender of enemy combatants. 597 00:41:21,261 --> 00:41:24,960 So, on the field of battle, against indigenous people, 598 00:41:25,047 --> 00:41:28,877 Custer wasn't really a proven, you know, man-to-man fighter 599 00:41:28,964 --> 00:41:33,186 because he pretty much attacked women and children. 600 00:41:33,273 --> 00:41:37,886 Custer is the villain in the mythology of Lakota people. 601 00:41:44,284 --> 00:41:46,025 For the past eight years, 602 00:41:46,112 --> 00:41:48,984 the Battle of Little Bighorn has been reenacted 603 00:41:49,071 --> 00:41:51,421 on a site near the original battlefield, 604 00:41:51,509 --> 00:41:54,816 which today is a national monument. 605 00:41:54,903 --> 00:41:57,819 The Sioux and Cheyenne, who won the battle, 606 00:41:57,906 --> 00:41:59,995 take no part in this reenactment. 607 00:42:00,082 --> 00:42:04,260 It is staged by the Crow Tribe, who fought alongside Custer, 608 00:42:04,347 --> 00:42:07,046 together with White farmers in the area. 609 00:42:09,265 --> 00:42:12,573 Is this reenactment just a commercial enterprise, 610 00:42:12,660 --> 00:42:14,706 or does it lead to a deeper understanding 611 00:42:14,793 --> 00:42:16,708 between the races? 612 00:42:19,885 --> 00:42:22,931 - We're not all one people. - We don't all get along. 613 00:42:23,018 --> 00:42:26,195 But I think the fact that we're not getting along 614 00:42:26,282 --> 00:42:30,199 is keeping us from being conquered. 615 00:42:30,286 --> 00:42:33,289 ♪ O say does that 616 00:42:33,376 --> 00:42:41,376 ♪ Star-spangled banner yet wave ♪ 617 00:42:42,298 --> 00:42:50,298 ♪ O'er the land of the free 618 00:42:50,611 --> 00:42:58,611 ♪ And the home of the brave 619 00:43:06,714 --> 00:43:09,282 There was an expedition to the Black Hills 620 00:43:09,369 --> 00:43:11,327 to look for gold. 621 00:43:11,414 --> 00:43:16,289 Fort Laramie Treaty or no Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868, 622 00:43:16,376 --> 00:43:20,206 the light-eyed people still entered Indian territory. 623 00:43:22,512 --> 00:43:25,211 There was gold in them thar hills. 624 00:43:25,298 --> 00:43:27,082 - Oh? - Gold?! 625 00:43:27,169 --> 00:43:29,432 - Gold?! - Gold?! 626 00:43:29,519 --> 00:43:31,434 Gold on the mountains, in the rivers, 627 00:43:31,521 --> 00:43:36,657 and in the dark depths far below the surface of the Earth. 628 00:43:36,744 --> 00:43:38,659 Custer led a military expedition 629 00:43:38,746 --> 00:43:41,880 into the Black Hills in 1874 630 00:43:41,967 --> 00:43:48,408 and "discovered" gold near a town that now bears his name, 631 00:43:48,495 --> 00:43:52,064 which led to the impetus to seize the Black Hills 632 00:43:52,151 --> 00:43:57,112 from the Lakota to essentially develop it as a gold mine. 633 00:43:59,288 --> 00:44:01,769 In 1876, Washington directed the Army 634 00:44:01,856 --> 00:44:04,380 to round up the Sioux and Cheyenne Tribes 635 00:44:04,467 --> 00:44:07,514 and bring them onto reservations. 636 00:44:07,601 --> 00:44:11,257 The 7th Cavalry, led by General George Armstrong Custer, 637 00:44:11,344 --> 00:44:12,867 joined this expedition. 638 00:44:16,828 --> 00:44:20,353 Prior to the Battle at Greasy Grass, 639 00:44:20,440 --> 00:44:25,140 Sitting Bull had a vision. 640 00:44:25,227 --> 00:44:29,014 Of hundreds of mila haske, 641 00:44:29,101 --> 00:44:33,279 the "long knives," falling into a camp. 642 00:44:33,366 --> 00:44:36,282 The stage is now set for disaster, 643 00:44:36,369 --> 00:44:39,764 for there is bloodshed on the move. 644 00:44:42,462 --> 00:44:44,638 This was June 26th. 645 00:44:44,725 --> 00:44:47,249 The United States was preparing to celebrate 646 00:44:47,336 --> 00:44:52,690 its century of existence on July 4th. 647 00:44:52,777 --> 00:44:54,169 The Greater Sioux Nation, 648 00:44:54,256 --> 00:44:58,086 the Ochéthi Sakówin, they were unified. 649 00:44:58,173 --> 00:44:59,784 And they were powerful. 650 00:45:03,309 --> 00:45:05,833 Custer, in his arrogance, 651 00:45:05,920 --> 00:45:08,096 believed that, if he charged down the hill 652 00:45:08,183 --> 00:45:09,663 and took the center of the camp, 653 00:45:09,750 --> 00:45:11,796 where he believed women and children were, 654 00:45:11,883 --> 00:45:15,060 that he could give a present to the United States 655 00:45:15,147 --> 00:45:19,151 by this historic defeat of Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull. 656 00:45:21,240 --> 00:45:22,807 But what happened instead 657 00:45:22,894 --> 00:45:25,548 is that this historic alliance of indigenous people 658 00:45:25,635 --> 00:45:29,422 blew out the birthday candles for the United States. 659 00:45:33,426 --> 00:45:35,167 Custer attacked with his regiment 660 00:45:35,254 --> 00:45:36,777 split into three columns. 661 00:45:39,127 --> 00:45:42,174 At the Little Bighorn River, the Indians wiped out 662 00:45:42,261 --> 00:45:45,743 Custer's entire column of 225 men. 663 00:45:47,614 --> 00:45:52,575 The reason for the defeat is still a controversial subject. 664 00:45:52,662 --> 00:45:54,403 Military historians rate the battle 665 00:45:54,490 --> 00:45:59,017 as the greatest single defeat of the American Army. 666 00:45:59,104 --> 00:46:03,369 It was an inglorious defeat of a modern military 667 00:46:03,456 --> 00:46:07,068 by so-called savages and primitives. 668 00:46:07,155 --> 00:46:10,115 The US has never really forgotten. 669 00:46:13,640 --> 00:46:15,773 My grandfather was in a battle. 670 00:46:15,860 --> 00:46:17,905 Wooden knife. 671 00:46:17,992 --> 00:46:20,473 He was 18 years old when he fought. 672 00:46:22,388 --> 00:46:26,827 He took two scalps, one here and one up, 673 00:46:26,914 --> 00:46:29,221 and he took a gun and spurs and money. 674 00:46:29,308 --> 00:46:33,181 And we fight back once, just once. 675 00:46:33,268 --> 00:46:34,835 That one. 676 00:46:34,922 --> 00:46:37,751 We lost all the rest of the wars and everything. 677 00:46:37,838 --> 00:46:41,102 But that one, we... we fought back. 678 00:46:51,199 --> 00:46:56,726 ♪ For the lies that were spoken ♪ 679 00:46:56,814 --> 00:47:01,906 ♪ For the blood that we have spilled ♪ 680 00:47:01,993 --> 00:47:07,476 ♪ For the treaties that were broken ♪ 681 00:47:07,563 --> 00:47:13,004 ♪ For the leaders you have stilled ♪ 682 00:47:16,224 --> 00:47:21,751 ♪ Custer died for your sins 683 00:47:21,839 --> 00:47:26,452 ♪ Custer died for your sins ♪ 684 00:47:26,539 --> 00:47:31,674 ♪ Now a new day must begin 685 00:47:31,761 --> 00:47:37,028 ♪ Custer died for your sins 686 00:47:59,920 --> 00:48:04,403 Everything is in the language we use. 687 00:48:06,318 --> 00:48:11,714 For example, a treaty is essentially a contract 688 00:48:11,801 --> 00:48:14,543 between two sovereign nations. 689 00:48:16,806 --> 00:48:20,288 The US treaties with the Dakota Nation 690 00:48:20,375 --> 00:48:23,378 were legal contracts that promised money. 691 00:48:27,165 --> 00:48:31,082 It could be said this money was payment 692 00:48:31,169 --> 00:48:35,738 for the land the Dakota ceded, 693 00:48:35,825 --> 00:48:41,353 for living within assigned boundaries, a reservation, 694 00:48:41,440 --> 00:48:48,099 and for relinquishing rights to their vast hunting territory. 695 00:48:48,186 --> 00:48:52,277 Which, in turn, made Dakota people dependent 696 00:48:52,364 --> 00:48:54,888 on other means to survive. 697 00:48:57,021 --> 00:48:58,761 Money. 698 00:49:00,633 --> 00:49:04,550 The previous sentence is circular. 699 00:49:04,637 --> 00:49:07,596 Akin to so many aspects of history. 700 00:49:59,518 --> 00:50:01,520 At the center of all the treaties 701 00:50:01,607 --> 00:50:04,566 the Lakota have signed with the United States government 702 00:50:04,653 --> 00:50:06,742 is the Black Hills. 703 00:50:06,829 --> 00:50:09,441 The supreme law of the land forbade the United States 704 00:50:09,528 --> 00:50:10,920 from taking it. 705 00:50:11,008 --> 00:50:12,618 And when the tribal nation said, 706 00:50:12,705 --> 00:50:15,055 "No, we're not giving you this land. 707 00:50:15,142 --> 00:50:18,841 We're not exchanging it. We do not agree to that," 708 00:50:18,928 --> 00:50:23,368 they simply passed a law that just took the land. 709 00:50:23,455 --> 00:50:26,849 Custer's historic defeat impelled Congress 710 00:50:26,936 --> 00:50:31,419 to pass the Black Hills Act to crush Lakota resistance once 711 00:50:31,506 --> 00:50:35,336 and for all in terms of protecting the Black Hills. 712 00:50:35,423 --> 00:50:40,907 The 1877 Act was the taking of all of the hunting territory, 713 00:50:40,994 --> 00:50:45,477 all of the unceded territory, and some of the western 714 00:50:45,564 --> 00:50:48,828 and northern portions of the reservation. 715 00:50:48,915 --> 00:50:51,222 The Black Hills Act of 1877, 716 00:50:51,309 --> 00:50:53,876 which "ceded," formally ceded the Black Hills 717 00:50:53,963 --> 00:50:55,835 to the United States government, 718 00:50:55,922 --> 00:50:57,837 didn't match the necessary numbers 719 00:50:57,924 --> 00:51:01,101 required by treaty for consent. 720 00:51:01,188 --> 00:51:04,278 It said it had to be three quarters of the adult males. 721 00:51:04,365 --> 00:51:08,021 The United States got nowhere near that number. 722 00:51:08,108 --> 00:51:13,809 I mean, we can use that act as a... as a pin to mark 723 00:51:13,896 --> 00:51:15,942 when that land was legally taken. 724 00:51:16,029 --> 00:51:19,424 But the duress the people were under was pervasive. 725 00:51:19,511 --> 00:51:23,036 And it was in all these other aspects of culture. 726 00:51:25,343 --> 00:51:29,825 There was no actual intention to honor those treaties 727 00:51:29,912 --> 00:51:35,831 because, meanwhile, they were murdering off the buffalo, 728 00:51:35,918 --> 00:51:37,426 and they were murdering off the buffalo 729 00:51:37,485 --> 00:51:41,054 because it was the main part of the economy. 730 00:51:41,141 --> 00:51:43,404 If you can make the people suffer 731 00:51:43,491 --> 00:51:46,886 by destroying their economic system 732 00:51:46,973 --> 00:51:49,932 and their societies and their culture 733 00:51:50,019 --> 00:51:53,719 and their languages and their spirituality, 734 00:51:53,806 --> 00:51:56,287 then you can try to conquer a people. 735 00:51:58,332 --> 00:52:03,424 The United States forced Lakotans into dependency 736 00:52:03,511 --> 00:52:05,774 on the United States for everything. 737 00:52:05,861 --> 00:52:10,649 It seems that, at that moment, in 1877, 738 00:52:10,736 --> 00:52:16,263 is when this dependency was implemented. 739 00:52:16,350 --> 00:52:19,136 They tried every way they could to subjugate these Lakotas 740 00:52:19,223 --> 00:52:20,920 and could not. 741 00:52:21,007 --> 00:52:24,184 They tried everything and they could not do it. 742 00:52:24,271 --> 00:52:27,231 So they made Lakotans dependent upon them. 743 00:52:27,318 --> 00:52:30,016 And then we have all of the social ills 744 00:52:30,103 --> 00:52:33,672 that we have today that are tied to dependency. 745 00:52:35,978 --> 00:52:37,980 What the United States did was took away 746 00:52:38,067 --> 00:52:40,113 their weapons and their horses. 747 00:52:40,200 --> 00:52:43,203 Now, that was critical. They took them away 748 00:52:43,290 --> 00:52:47,294 so that the Lakotans could not feed themselves. 749 00:52:49,253 --> 00:52:52,212 As you may have guessed by now, 750 00:52:52,299 --> 00:52:56,042 the money promised in the turbid treaties 751 00:52:56,129 --> 00:53:01,482 did not make it into the hands of Dakota people. 752 00:53:01,569 --> 00:53:05,182 In addition, local government traders would not offer credit 753 00:53:05,269 --> 00:53:09,708 to Indians to purchase food or goods. 754 00:53:11,927 --> 00:53:15,148 Without money, store credit, or rights 755 00:53:15,235 --> 00:53:19,544 to hunt beyond their tract of land, 756 00:53:19,631 --> 00:53:23,243 Dakota people began to starve. 757 00:53:23,330 --> 00:53:25,506 And you were told to get off your horse, 758 00:53:25,593 --> 00:53:29,075 and they'd take your horse and they shoot it. 759 00:53:29,162 --> 00:53:33,210 And they handed you a shovel and say, "Go be a farmer." 760 00:53:35,037 --> 00:53:39,216 The Dakota people were starving. 761 00:53:39,303 --> 00:53:43,002 This is the region where people resisted the longest. 762 00:53:43,089 --> 00:53:45,787 And because we resisted the longest, 763 00:53:45,874 --> 00:53:49,748 some of us got treated the worst. 764 00:53:49,835 --> 00:53:52,751 The Dakota people starved. 765 00:53:55,841 --> 00:53:57,582 In the preceding sentence, 766 00:53:57,669 --> 00:54:03,240 the word "starved" does not need italics for emphasis. 767 00:54:03,327 --> 00:54:07,113 One should read "the Dakota people starved" 768 00:54:07,200 --> 00:54:11,335 as a straightforward and plainly stated fact. 769 00:54:48,459 --> 00:54:49,982 White settlers had gained 770 00:54:50,069 --> 00:54:51,612 a lot of territory in the United States. 771 00:54:51,636 --> 00:54:55,292 However, tribal nations still, communally, 772 00:54:55,379 --> 00:54:57,598 through their traditional forms of governance, 773 00:54:57,685 --> 00:54:59,165 had their reservations, 774 00:54:59,252 --> 00:55:02,516 and they controlled millions of acres of land. 775 00:55:02,603 --> 00:55:04,779 The United States all of a sudden kind of sat back 776 00:55:04,866 --> 00:55:07,782 and said, "Huh?" 777 00:55:07,869 --> 00:55:10,132 The Dawes Act was passed in the 1880s, 778 00:55:10,219 --> 00:55:12,067 and they didn't want to just call it a land grab, 779 00:55:12,091 --> 00:55:13,614 even though that was the goal. 780 00:55:13,701 --> 00:55:17,052 So, in order to make it a little bit more palatable 781 00:55:17,139 --> 00:55:18,837 for even Americans at that time, 782 00:55:18,924 --> 00:55:21,318 they said, "We're going to do this to civilize the Indians." 783 00:55:26,323 --> 00:55:30,414 So let's examine the structure of American capitalism. 784 00:55:34,243 --> 00:55:36,681 There are three great pillars. 785 00:55:36,768 --> 00:55:40,075 The first and foremost of these is... 786 00:55:40,162 --> 00:55:41,860 Who can tell us? 787 00:55:41,947 --> 00:55:45,864 Isn't it the principle of private ownership of property? 788 00:55:45,951 --> 00:55:47,387 Yes, it is. 789 00:55:47,474 --> 00:55:49,998 This principle of private ownership 790 00:55:50,085 --> 00:55:52,827 is undoubtedly the most fundamental element 791 00:55:52,914 --> 00:55:55,787 in the structure of American capitalism. 792 00:55:55,874 --> 00:55:57,354 Allotment policy was created 793 00:55:57,441 --> 00:56:00,269 to essentially assimilate native people 794 00:56:00,357 --> 00:56:05,057 into the values of Anglo-Saxon property ownership. 795 00:56:05,144 --> 00:56:06,885 Under this act of Congress, 796 00:56:06,972 --> 00:56:12,107 this tribal nation will no longer actually own its land. 797 00:56:12,194 --> 00:56:13,848 That land will now be broken up. 798 00:56:13,935 --> 00:56:19,071 And they just took out a map and carved out little squares. 799 00:56:19,158 --> 00:56:21,639 - They surveyed the land. - They have a census. 800 00:56:21,726 --> 00:56:23,249 Then they allot the land. 801 00:56:23,336 --> 00:56:26,426 By giving each Indian his own 160 acres, 802 00:56:26,513 --> 00:56:29,516 that individual ownership, that will civilize those heathens. 803 00:56:29,603 --> 00:56:32,345 The "surplus" land, quote-unquote surplus, 804 00:56:32,432 --> 00:56:34,956 then was open to settlement, and settlement 805 00:56:35,043 --> 00:56:37,219 by almost always non-Indians. 806 00:56:37,306 --> 00:56:41,180 All of the pretenses were really just clever excuses 807 00:56:41,267 --> 00:56:45,184 to justify another land grab. 808 00:56:45,271 --> 00:56:47,534 And it was wildly successful. 809 00:56:47,621 --> 00:56:52,191 In 45 years, they got 90 million acres of American Indian land 810 00:56:52,278 --> 00:56:54,062 across the United States. 811 00:57:01,287 --> 00:57:07,815 ♪ Home, home on the range 812 00:57:07,902 --> 00:57:14,866 ♪ Where the deer and the antelope play ♪ 813 00:57:14,953 --> 00:57:18,783 ♪ Where seldom is heard 814 00:57:18,870 --> 00:57:22,439 ♪ A discouraging word 815 00:57:22,526 --> 00:57:29,228 ♪ And the skies are not cloudy all day ♪ 816 00:57:29,315 --> 00:57:37,105 ♪ The red man was pressed from this part of the West ♪ 817 00:57:37,192 --> 00:57:44,417 ♪ 'Tis unlikely he'll ever return ♪ 818 00:57:44,504 --> 00:57:48,203 ♪ Turn to the banks of Red River ♪ 819 00:57:48,290 --> 00:57:51,729 ♪ Where seldom, if ever 820 00:57:51,816 --> 00:57:59,563 ♪ Their flickering campfires burn ♪ 821 00:57:59,650 --> 00:58:05,351 ♪ Home, home on the range 822 00:58:06,395 --> 00:58:08,310 Yea, though I walk through the valley 823 00:58:08,397 --> 00:58:11,749 of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. 824 00:58:11,836 --> 00:58:15,317 For thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff, 825 00:58:15,404 --> 00:58:16,884 they comfort me. 826 00:58:16,971 --> 00:58:18,930 Thou preparest a table before me. 827 00:58:19,017 --> 00:58:21,410 In 1882, 828 00:58:21,498 --> 00:58:24,326 in the administration of Chester Arthur, 829 00:58:24,413 --> 00:58:27,329 there was a proclamation that Indian religion was outlawed. 830 00:58:27,416 --> 00:58:29,201 There was a notion in America 831 00:58:29,288 --> 00:58:33,379 that all civilized people are Christian, 832 00:58:33,466 --> 00:58:36,643 and Indians need it to become civilized, 833 00:58:36,730 --> 00:58:39,603 and therefore, they should be Christianized. 834 00:58:42,606 --> 00:58:46,044 X marks English words that function 835 00:58:46,131 --> 00:58:48,916 as both nouns and verbs. 836 00:58:49,003 --> 00:58:50,788 As in, 837 00:58:50,875 --> 00:58:54,705 X marks the noun civilization, 838 00:58:54,792 --> 00:58:59,710 an established and vibrant culture or society. 839 00:59:01,015 --> 00:59:03,017 They outlawed our language. 840 00:59:03,104 --> 00:59:05,585 They made our ceremonies illegal. 841 00:59:05,672 --> 00:59:10,764 They criminalized us for living our way of life. 842 00:59:10,851 --> 00:59:16,117 X marks the government's order to ensure the civilization 843 00:59:16,204 --> 00:59:19,904 of the Indians entering into this treaty. 844 00:59:19,991 --> 00:59:26,650 Thus, the necessity of colonizer education is admitted. 845 00:59:30,262 --> 00:59:33,091 X marks the mandate to pledge themselves, 846 00:59:33,178 --> 00:59:39,271 the, quote, "Indians," to compel their children, male and female, 847 00:59:39,358 --> 00:59:45,494 between the ages of six and 16 years, to attend school. 848 00:59:45,582 --> 00:59:49,890 From as long as I can remember, I had something. 849 00:59:49,977 --> 00:59:51,588 You know, I'd ask my great grandpa. 850 00:59:51,675 --> 00:59:55,548 I said, "Teach me Lakota. I want to know the language." 851 00:59:55,635 --> 00:59:57,594 Him being a product of residential schools, 852 00:59:57,681 --> 00:59:59,770 he would say, "No, that's not good for you. 853 00:59:59,857 --> 01:00:02,686 You're never going to make it in this world 854 01:00:02,773 --> 01:00:04,818 if I teach you how to be this way." 855 01:00:36,894 --> 01:00:40,288 I often ask my parents why we weren't raised 856 01:00:40,375 --> 01:00:43,335 with Lakota being our first language. 857 01:00:43,422 --> 01:00:45,337 But it always goes back to that trauma 858 01:00:45,424 --> 01:00:47,121 that they endured with the boarding school. 859 01:00:58,263 --> 01:01:00,918 Both of my parents 860 01:01:01,005 --> 01:01:03,921 are survivors of the boarding school era. 861 01:01:05,705 --> 01:01:08,316 Upon entering the boarding school, 862 01:01:08,403 --> 01:01:11,842 everything that you had with you was taken from you. 863 01:01:13,495 --> 01:01:18,239 They cut your hair, which was a symbol of loss and grief. 864 01:01:18,326 --> 01:01:19,850 You were scrubbed down, 865 01:01:19,937 --> 01:01:23,462 sprayed with chemicals to kill any bugs on you. 866 01:01:23,549 --> 01:01:25,986 You were given White man's clothes 867 01:01:26,073 --> 01:01:28,554 and an English name. 868 01:01:28,641 --> 01:01:30,425 Punishment was given down to you 869 01:01:30,512 --> 01:01:33,733 whenever you were heard speaking your own language. 870 01:01:33,820 --> 01:01:37,519 They were beaten and they were traumatized 871 01:01:37,606 --> 01:01:39,260 in all of the ways... 872 01:01:39,347 --> 01:01:42,220 Mentally, physically, sexually... 873 01:01:42,307 --> 01:01:45,266 For holding on to their unshakable faith 874 01:01:45,353 --> 01:01:48,574 and our Lakota spirituality. 875 01:01:48,661 --> 01:01:50,576 By the year 1900, thousands of children 876 01:01:50,663 --> 01:01:52,796 were attending close to 150 boarding schools 877 01:01:52,883 --> 01:01:54,536 throughout the United States. 878 01:01:54,623 --> 01:01:56,669 "Kill the Indian and Save the Man" 879 01:01:56,756 --> 01:01:58,497 became a model for a new government policy 880 01:01:58,584 --> 01:02:00,586 of assimilation through education. 881 01:02:00,673 --> 01:02:03,589 And when you look at Richard Henry Pratt, 882 01:02:03,676 --> 01:02:07,898 a general in the US military, who opened and designed 883 01:02:07,985 --> 01:02:10,596 and administered Carlisle, the boarding school 884 01:02:10,683 --> 01:02:13,338 that all the other boarding schools are modeled after, 885 01:02:13,425 --> 01:02:15,775 who did he pick to bring into that school? 886 01:02:15,862 --> 01:02:22,173 He targeted the tribes that were still fighting the US military. 887 01:02:22,260 --> 01:02:25,480 And took those students against the will of those nations 888 01:02:25,567 --> 01:02:28,701 and their families who fought the removal of their kids. 889 01:02:28,788 --> 01:02:31,573 It was nothing other than kidnapping. 890 01:02:33,401 --> 01:02:35,708 But the goal was very clear. 891 01:02:35,795 --> 01:02:38,058 Richard Henry Pratt told Congress, 892 01:02:38,145 --> 01:02:42,889 "This will be a more effective means of taking those lands 893 01:02:42,976 --> 01:02:46,458 than continuing to fight on the battlefield." 894 01:02:46,545 --> 01:02:51,289 At that time, you had about 80% of the children 895 01:02:51,376 --> 01:02:55,423 taken from their families and put into boarding schools. 896 01:02:59,079 --> 01:03:04,781 Hoping to ease hunger and to reunite with their children, 897 01:03:04,868 --> 01:03:08,219 Lakota leaders began signing agreements 898 01:03:08,306 --> 01:03:11,570 such as the Great Sioux Agreement in 1889, 899 01:03:11,657 --> 01:03:14,791 which opened up about 9 million acres for White settlement 900 01:03:14,878 --> 01:03:17,619 and created the six modern Sioux reservations 901 01:03:17,706 --> 01:03:19,926 of Pine Ridge, Rosebud, Cheyenne River, 902 01:03:20,013 --> 01:03:24,409 Standing Rock, Lower Brule, and Crow Creek. 903 01:03:24,496 --> 01:03:26,759 There is even this exchange back and forth 904 01:03:26,846 --> 01:03:29,936 during the allotment negotiations where the headmen 905 01:03:30,023 --> 01:03:33,548 were petitioning the Indian agents to stop off at Carlisle 906 01:03:33,635 --> 01:03:35,899 so they could see their children. 907 01:03:35,986 --> 01:03:38,553 And what they saw when they arrived there disgusted them. 908 01:03:38,640 --> 01:03:41,382 They said, "This isn't a school, this is a boot camp." 909 01:03:44,646 --> 01:03:46,997 X marks the history of these schools 910 01:03:47,084 --> 01:03:51,653 to, quote, "educate," said, quote, "Indians." 911 01:03:55,440 --> 01:03:59,487 The Christian churches charged with this duty, 912 01:03:59,574 --> 01:04:03,709 the thousands of children removed from homes, 913 01:04:03,796 --> 01:04:08,845 an intentional killing from the inside out. 914 01:04:13,023 --> 01:04:20,813 This X completes a formula with a dependable result. 915 01:04:20,900 --> 01:04:25,035 The people with the yellow index cards marked with an X, 916 01:04:25,122 --> 01:04:26,863 please step off the blanket. 917 01:04:26,950 --> 01:04:29,517 You represent one of the thousands of children 918 01:04:29,604 --> 01:04:33,478 who died at the schools. 919 01:04:33,565 --> 01:04:35,610 Everyone else with yellow cards, 920 01:04:35,697 --> 01:04:37,569 you represent those whose connection 921 01:04:37,656 --> 01:04:39,397 to your family and community 922 01:04:39,484 --> 01:04:42,400 was completely broken by your experience in boarding school 923 01:04:42,487 --> 01:04:45,098 and you never made it home. 924 01:04:48,841 --> 01:04:51,975 X marks my bodily reaction... 925 01:04:52,062 --> 01:04:56,283 High blood pressure, fever, nausea... 926 01:04:56,370 --> 01:04:58,807 When I researched this history, 927 01:04:58,895 --> 01:05:03,943 the sordid brutality, then attempt to summarize genocide 928 01:05:04,030 --> 01:05:06,206 for a reader. 929 01:05:06,293 --> 01:05:12,125 Though I feel a responsibility to share facts, 930 01:05:12,212 --> 01:05:18,958 my exposure to colonizer sickness boils me into illness. 931 01:05:26,226 --> 01:05:31,928 Those who survived absolutely left the boarding schools 932 01:05:32,015 --> 01:05:34,887 with a mentality that was not their own, 933 01:05:34,974 --> 01:05:37,585 and it was "Kill the Indian, Save the Man." 934 01:05:44,505 --> 01:05:46,464 As far as I can remember, 935 01:05:46,551 --> 01:05:50,816 my parents continued to talk to me about living in both worlds. 936 01:05:52,731 --> 01:05:56,387 My mom and dad had thought the best thing 937 01:05:56,474 --> 01:05:58,650 they could offer me is an education. 938 01:05:58,737 --> 01:06:00,826 And so I grew up on the west side of Rapid City, 939 01:06:00,913 --> 01:06:04,482 where they felt the best schools were. 940 01:06:04,569 --> 01:06:07,441 It took me a while to forgive my parents 941 01:06:07,528 --> 01:06:09,748 for not knowing how to be parents 942 01:06:09,835 --> 01:06:13,012 because they thought they were doing the best thing for me. 943 01:06:13,099 --> 01:06:15,710 They provided a home and there was food 944 01:06:15,797 --> 01:06:20,150 and there was no abuse and there was no alcoholism. 945 01:06:20,237 --> 01:06:26,939 And I think they didn't see that there was... 946 01:06:28,854 --> 01:06:32,162 ...that they were putting me through hardship 947 01:06:32,249 --> 01:06:35,643 that they didn't even comprehend at the time. 948 01:06:35,730 --> 01:06:39,778 ♪ Look in the sky 949 01:06:39,865 --> 01:06:47,865 ♪ Look at the stars shining down on us tonight ♪ 950 01:06:49,222 --> 01:06:52,182 Going through that school district with the igluwasicu, 951 01:06:52,269 --> 01:06:54,880 the White man education, 952 01:06:54,967 --> 01:06:56,751 and every day, I knew that there had to be 953 01:06:56,838 --> 01:07:00,190 something more than just me being, 954 01:07:00,277 --> 01:07:04,716 you know, from the res, not going to make it anywhere. 955 01:07:04,803 --> 01:07:08,937 And I never really, you know. 956 01:07:09,025 --> 01:07:11,897 Grew up knowing any different, 957 01:07:11,984 --> 01:07:13,725 but other than I was Lakota 958 01:07:13,812 --> 01:07:15,944 and this is who I was going to be my whole life, 959 01:07:16,032 --> 01:07:19,600 looking at my arms and seeing how brown they were 960 01:07:19,687 --> 01:07:23,256 and just being so happy that I was born this way. 961 01:07:23,343 --> 01:07:29,175 I knew the one way that I could empower myself, 962 01:07:29,262 --> 01:07:34,528 the one way that I could beat these racist parents 963 01:07:34,615 --> 01:07:36,748 who were calling me names 964 01:07:36,835 --> 01:07:40,230 and who would tell their children to spit on me, 965 01:07:40,317 --> 01:07:45,974 I knew that I could beat them with my voice. 966 01:07:46,062 --> 01:07:48,325 And, so, I'm still doing that today. 967 01:07:57,769 --> 01:08:00,163 So, from a Western perspective, 968 01:08:00,250 --> 01:08:04,428 land is seen as a bountiful object 969 01:08:04,515 --> 01:08:09,128 that you can extract resources from to your benefit. 970 01:08:09,215 --> 01:08:13,785 From a Lakota perspective, this is not an inanimate object. 971 01:08:13,872 --> 01:08:16,353 It's a living entity. 972 01:08:16,439 --> 01:08:21,401 And this living entity doesn't belong to any one person 973 01:08:21,488 --> 01:08:25,274 or even any one nation. 974 01:08:25,362 --> 01:08:29,453 While the Indians are barely surviving, 975 01:08:29,540 --> 01:08:31,759 because the 7 million acres of the Black Hills 976 01:08:31,845 --> 01:08:33,500 have been taken away, 977 01:08:33,587 --> 01:08:35,372 the Whites in the Black Hill region 978 01:08:35,459 --> 01:08:39,158 are getting fabulously wealthy off the gold deposits there. 979 01:08:41,160 --> 01:08:43,902 That wasn't just any gold strike. 980 01:08:43,988 --> 01:08:45,511 That was as rich a gold strike 981 01:08:45,599 --> 01:08:49,908 as probably there's been in the history of humankind. 982 01:08:49,995 --> 01:08:52,040 Water trickling down from the Black Hills 983 01:08:52,127 --> 01:08:55,305 is piped over the mountains, through miles of tunnels, 984 01:08:55,392 --> 01:08:57,785 to drop nearly 700 feet below 985 01:08:57,872 --> 01:09:00,919 into one of Homestake's hydroelectric plants. 986 01:09:03,008 --> 01:09:05,096 It became the home to the Homestake Mine, 987 01:09:05,184 --> 01:09:07,055 which yielded many, many hundreds 988 01:09:07,143 --> 01:09:09,536 of millions of dollars of gold over time 989 01:09:09,622 --> 01:09:13,627 and became the foundation of the Hearst family fortune. 990 01:09:13,714 --> 01:09:16,804 The Hearst family, being one of the most powerful families 991 01:09:16,890 --> 01:09:18,893 in the history of the United States. 992 01:09:18,979 --> 01:09:22,332 The original site of the Homestake Mine has disappeared, 993 01:09:22,419 --> 01:09:24,986 and in its place has risen a thriving industry 994 01:09:25,073 --> 01:09:27,772 geared to modern progress. 995 01:09:27,859 --> 01:09:32,124 Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink. 996 01:09:32,211 --> 01:09:34,953 There go thousands of tons of coal, 997 01:09:35,040 --> 01:09:38,130 one of nature's greatest servants. 998 01:09:38,216 --> 01:09:41,046 Timber. 999 01:09:41,133 --> 01:09:44,658 From the grizzled prospector of yesteryear 1000 01:09:44,745 --> 01:09:47,573 to the great Homestake organization of today, 1001 01:09:47,661 --> 01:09:52,231 yes, men are the most important thing at Homestake. 1002 01:09:52,318 --> 01:09:55,626 Men seeking life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness 1003 01:09:55,713 --> 01:09:58,019 under our flag and Constitution. 1004 01:10:03,373 --> 01:10:06,680 The Black Hills claim was the longest running litigation 1005 01:10:06,767 --> 01:10:08,005 in the history of the United States. 1006 01:10:08,029 --> 01:10:10,075 It went on in court for 57 years 1007 01:10:10,162 --> 01:10:14,166 and is still, in many ways, unresolved. 1008 01:10:14,253 --> 01:10:19,171 As early as 1890, the leadership on the various reservations, 1009 01:10:19,258 --> 01:10:22,696 they begin to meet and agitate over what had happened to them. 1010 01:10:22,783 --> 01:10:24,698 Members of the tribes who have gone 1011 01:10:24,785 --> 01:10:26,526 to these Indian boarding schools, 1012 01:10:26,613 --> 01:10:28,006 like the Carlisle School, 1013 01:10:28,093 --> 01:10:30,922 develop an understanding of the US government 1014 01:10:31,009 --> 01:10:33,272 and the possibility of trying to do something. 1015 01:10:33,359 --> 01:10:35,013 Now you should have a good idea 1016 01:10:35,100 --> 01:10:37,015 of how the Constitution sets up 1017 01:10:37,102 --> 01:10:39,713 the three main branches of our government. 1018 01:10:42,760 --> 01:10:47,025 Ralph Case files 24 cases on behalf of the tribe in 1923 1019 01:10:47,112 --> 01:10:50,115 under the 1920 Jurisdictional Act. 1020 01:10:50,202 --> 01:10:52,552 He thought, in his heart of hearts, that, at some point, 1021 01:10:52,639 --> 01:10:57,165 in some way, the government would do right by his clients. 1022 01:11:04,042 --> 01:11:08,394 Ralph Case was an enormously well-intentioned person, 1023 01:11:08,481 --> 01:11:12,180 but the complexities of the Black Hills claim 1024 01:11:12,268 --> 01:11:15,314 outstripped his abilities as a lawyer. 1025 01:11:15,401 --> 01:11:17,011 He didn't just lose the Black Hills claim 1026 01:11:17,098 --> 01:11:18,665 in the court of claims. 1027 01:11:18,752 --> 01:11:22,060 He lost all 24 of the cases that he filed there. 1028 01:11:22,147 --> 01:11:24,192 His appeal to the Supreme Court is not accepted. 1029 01:11:24,280 --> 01:11:29,154 And in 1942, the tribe finds itself out of court. 1030 01:11:40,557 --> 01:11:45,953 Today we set the home of the Oglala Lakota. 1031 01:11:46,040 --> 01:11:49,305 The people of Red Cloud and Crazy Horse today 1032 01:11:49,392 --> 01:11:55,789 were known as 344 Concentration Camp. 1033 01:11:55,876 --> 01:11:59,924 CC Camp 344. 1034 01:12:00,011 --> 01:12:02,796 The whole reservation system, right, 1035 01:12:02,883 --> 01:12:07,279 was designed to move tribes out of the way. 1036 01:12:07,366 --> 01:12:10,195 It's a long history of dispossession 1037 01:12:10,282 --> 01:12:14,417 based on the notion of keeping the races apart. 1038 01:12:14,504 --> 01:12:18,682 The attitude in places like Rapid City was one 1039 01:12:18,769 --> 01:12:23,034 to keep native people out of sight and out of mind. 1040 01:12:23,121 --> 01:12:28,518 Our Indian young people want, just like anybody else, 1041 01:12:28,605 --> 01:12:32,739 a chance to have a choice to do what they want, a chance, 1042 01:12:32,826 --> 01:12:38,266 an opportunity to be educated, to be professionals, 1043 01:12:38,354 --> 01:12:41,357 to be whatever they choose to be. 1044 01:12:42,836 --> 01:12:44,534 The reason why I left here 1045 01:12:44,621 --> 01:12:47,058 was there was no economic opportunities. 1046 01:12:47,145 --> 01:12:50,714 There was no jobs here. I couldn't go to work. 1047 01:12:50,801 --> 01:12:52,977 I had to leave to provide. 1048 01:12:53,064 --> 01:12:54,805 So I was up and down the East Coast, 1049 01:12:54,892 --> 01:12:57,851 West Coast, cities in between. 1050 01:12:57,938 --> 01:13:00,506 My profession was structural steel. 1051 01:13:00,593 --> 01:13:04,641 I helped build many of the manmade wonders, 1052 01:13:04,728 --> 01:13:08,514 and I spent many years out there on the construction field. 1053 01:13:10,647 --> 01:13:14,041 Sitting up on on high rises, looking down, 1054 01:13:14,128 --> 01:13:17,784 people just moving about quickly as possible. 1055 01:13:17,871 --> 01:13:23,616 Wherever I was, I would gaze on over in the direction of home, 1056 01:13:23,703 --> 01:13:28,099 thinking about home, thinking of how the people were doing, 1057 01:13:28,186 --> 01:13:30,406 how my relatives were doing. 1058 01:13:35,454 --> 01:13:40,328 I come from a family of generations of military. 1059 01:13:40,416 --> 01:13:43,375 My grandfather was a code talker. 1060 01:13:43,462 --> 01:13:46,334 47 code talkers from World War I. 1061 01:13:46,422 --> 01:13:49,599 17 code talkers from World War II. 1062 01:13:49,686 --> 01:13:53,298 So we're very much military background. 1063 01:13:55,126 --> 01:14:00,000 As a young person, and as a woman, 1064 01:14:00,087 --> 01:14:03,656 I went to work for the United States government. 1065 01:14:03,743 --> 01:14:06,137 I was part of a training. 1066 01:14:06,224 --> 01:14:11,229 And there were three native men who did the in-service training. 1067 01:14:11,316 --> 01:14:13,100 One was a Mohawk. 1068 01:14:13,187 --> 01:14:18,410 One was an Omaha and the third one was Russell Means. 1069 01:14:18,497 --> 01:14:23,067 - Hello, my relatives. - I am an Oglala Lakota, 1070 01:14:23,154 --> 01:14:29,421 and I come from a very sacred holy land, the Black Hills. 1071 01:14:29,508 --> 01:14:32,772 American Indians are human beings. 1072 01:14:32,859 --> 01:14:37,298 We are supposed to be citizens of the United States of America. 1073 01:14:37,385 --> 01:14:39,953 So I left the State Department. 1074 01:14:40,040 --> 01:14:42,565 And I went to work for Russell Means. 1075 01:14:44,523 --> 01:14:49,528 I was part of Cleveland American Indian Movement we call CLAIM, 1076 01:14:49,615 --> 01:14:54,359 and we were the most active AIM chapter in the country. 1077 01:14:54,446 --> 01:14:57,057 For 500 years, we have had to fight and resist. 1078 01:14:57,144 --> 01:15:00,539 They called us Indians and said that we didn't have any rights. 1079 01:15:00,626 --> 01:15:03,499 They called us Indians and said that we were no longer people. 1080 01:15:03,586 --> 01:15:05,370 They called us Indians and they used 1081 01:15:05,457 --> 01:15:07,590 their manifest destiny mentality 1082 01:15:07,677 --> 01:15:12,029 to justify their genocide against us. 1083 01:15:12,116 --> 01:15:15,989 The beauty of our people is the survival of our people. 1084 01:15:16,076 --> 01:15:19,471 We have survived incredible odds. 1085 01:15:19,558 --> 01:15:21,691 This is a country where all men are created equal 1086 01:15:21,778 --> 01:15:24,171 and it's the land of the free and the home of truth 1087 01:15:24,258 --> 01:15:26,870 and justice and liberty for all. 1088 01:15:26,957 --> 01:15:30,787 Well, we want to know why that doesn't apply to us. 1089 01:15:30,874 --> 01:15:36,488 Hopefully, we created a footprint with our activism, 1090 01:15:36,575 --> 01:15:40,971 protesting, demonstrating, marching, 1091 01:15:41,058 --> 01:15:43,713 by any means necessary. 1092 01:15:45,715 --> 01:15:52,286 We did it all in our lifetime to make the change. 1093 01:15:52,373 --> 01:15:54,506 You have to understand 1094 01:15:54,593 --> 01:15:57,988 that people were sick and tired of living 1095 01:15:58,075 --> 01:16:03,384 the way they were, just sick and tired of everybody else 1096 01:16:03,471 --> 01:16:06,170 enjoying the so-called American dream. 1097 01:16:06,257 --> 01:16:10,435 And they themselves have nothing. 1098 01:16:10,522 --> 01:16:12,916 They're still the most poverty stricken people 1099 01:16:13,003 --> 01:16:14,787 in this whole country. 1100 01:16:14,874 --> 01:16:17,442 They're still the most sickest of all the people 1101 01:16:17,529 --> 01:16:18,878 in this country. 1102 01:16:18,965 --> 01:16:20,967 People were getting routinely killed. 1103 01:16:21,054 --> 01:16:23,317 Women were routinely being raped. 1104 01:16:23,404 --> 01:16:28,061 People were routinely being belittled, 1105 01:16:28,148 --> 01:16:31,935 made to feel like less of a human being. 1106 01:16:32,022 --> 01:16:38,376 It was not very pretty pre-1973, let's put it that way. 1107 01:16:38,463 --> 01:16:43,599 That atmosphere needed to be pierced 1108 01:16:43,686 --> 01:16:47,385 and done away with, or at least recognize it. 1109 01:16:51,694 --> 01:16:53,870 In Wounded Knee, South Dakota, today, 1110 01:16:53,957 --> 01:16:55,306 there was an exchange of gunfire 1111 01:16:55,393 --> 01:16:57,569 between federal officers and militant Indians 1112 01:16:57,656 --> 01:16:59,963 who seized control of the historic settlement 1113 01:17:00,050 --> 01:17:02,879 on the Pine Ridge Sioux Reservation last night. 1114 01:17:02,966 --> 01:17:05,664 The village has at least symbolic importance today 1115 01:17:05,751 --> 01:17:08,232 to the militant American Indian movement. 1116 01:17:08,319 --> 01:17:11,148 Indians call it their My Lai. 1117 01:17:11,235 --> 01:17:15,369 This was a very sore spot where they massacred 300 men, 1118 01:17:15,456 --> 01:17:19,809 women and children, unarmed and in the middle of winter. 1119 01:17:21,767 --> 01:17:24,770 So that's why Wounded Knee happened in 1973. 1120 01:17:24,857 --> 01:17:29,122 - We have declared... - Wounded Knee 1121 01:17:29,209 --> 01:17:31,734 an independent country. 1122 01:17:31,821 --> 01:17:37,391 By returning to Wounded Knee to fight for tribal rights, 1123 01:17:37,478 --> 01:17:39,480 it was like with a bullhorn. 1124 01:17:39,567 --> 01:17:43,267 The majority of the American citizens agreed with us, 1125 01:17:43,354 --> 01:17:44,921 that the government was in the wrong 1126 01:17:45,008 --> 01:17:46,923 in its dealings and treatment of native peoples. 1127 01:17:47,010 --> 01:17:50,317 It resonated, and you can read and hear them talk 1128 01:17:50,404 --> 01:17:53,669 about the idea of the ancestors being there. 1129 01:17:56,062 --> 01:17:58,804 The energy that was used to create Wounded Knee 1130 01:17:58,891 --> 01:18:01,241 had an equal energy that pushed back. 1131 01:18:01,328 --> 01:18:03,635 It was bolstered by the FBI. 1132 01:18:03,722 --> 01:18:06,943 It was bolstered by the National Guard system 1133 01:18:07,030 --> 01:18:10,773 to quell the Indians because they're unhappy again. 1134 01:18:10,860 --> 01:18:14,472 Webster Poor Bear got shot clean through the left hand. 1135 01:18:14,559 --> 01:18:16,213 What were they doing when they got shot? 1136 01:18:16,300 --> 01:18:18,041 What were they doing when they got shot? 1137 01:18:18,128 --> 01:18:20,454 They were laying on their belly because we were being shot at. 1138 01:18:20,478 --> 01:18:23,220 The standoff continues at Wounded Knee, South Dakota. 1139 01:18:23,307 --> 01:18:25,570 200 Indians still occupy that small community 1140 01:18:25,657 --> 01:18:28,529 and federal marshals still surround them. 1141 01:18:28,616 --> 01:18:32,490 In other words, they have complete total power 1142 01:18:32,577 --> 01:18:36,059 or in their interpretation of it, over us. 1143 01:18:36,146 --> 01:18:37,538 This is how they look at it. 1144 01:18:37,625 --> 01:18:40,498 Now, they have never been challenged. 1145 01:18:40,585 --> 01:18:42,979 One danger I do see for Indians... 1146 01:18:43,066 --> 01:18:45,938 That's getting legalistic and relying on the courts. 1147 01:18:46,025 --> 01:18:50,682 But let me assure you, these courts are so adroit 1148 01:18:50,769 --> 01:18:53,250 that the last thing I would expect 1149 01:18:53,337 --> 01:18:56,383 is that you would be able to get into any court 1150 01:18:56,470 --> 01:18:59,604 on any basic issue. 1151 01:19:02,520 --> 01:19:04,087 My father, Arthur Lazarus, 1152 01:19:04,174 --> 01:19:07,525 was a specialist in the field of federal Indian law. 1153 01:19:07,612 --> 01:19:11,137 He was convinced beyond a shadow of any doubt 1154 01:19:11,224 --> 01:19:16,099 that the Sioux tribes had a righteous argument on the law. 1155 01:19:16,186 --> 01:19:21,060 He was hired to take on the Black Hills claim in 1956. 1156 01:19:22,496 --> 01:19:24,063 That Black Hills case... 1157 01:19:24,150 --> 01:19:28,981 it stayed laying there dormant for almost 70 years. 1158 01:19:29,068 --> 01:19:31,636 When he took the case over together with his partner, 1159 01:19:31,723 --> 01:19:34,291 Marvin Sonosky, they come to two conclusions. 1160 01:19:34,378 --> 01:19:38,121 One is that there's a lot of potential merit to the case, 1161 01:19:38,208 --> 01:19:41,951 and the other is that they're in a desperately bad position 1162 01:19:42,038 --> 01:19:46,085 because the case has been lost in 1942, lost in 1954 1163 01:19:46,172 --> 01:19:48,653 and lost in 1956. 1164 01:19:48,740 --> 01:19:50,786 Through a series of almost legal miracles, 1165 01:19:50,873 --> 01:19:54,790 they were able to resuscitate that claim and take it to court. 1166 01:19:54,877 --> 01:19:57,183 The land originally belonged to the Sioux Indians. 1167 01:19:57,270 --> 01:20:02,014 In fact, an 1868 treaty decreed the land to the Sioux forever. 1168 01:20:02,101 --> 01:20:06,540 They decided that the best theory was to claim 1169 01:20:06,627 --> 01:20:10,327 that the taking of the Black Hills by the 1877 Act 1170 01:20:10,414 --> 01:20:12,416 was a violation of the Fifth Amendment 1171 01:20:12,503 --> 01:20:14,200 of the United States Constitution, 1172 01:20:14,287 --> 01:20:16,724 which says that government cannot take private property 1173 01:20:16,812 --> 01:20:20,511 without paying just compensation. 1174 01:20:20,598 --> 01:20:23,514 At the Court of Claims, the tribes finally win, 1175 01:20:23,601 --> 01:20:25,908 and that's in 1978. 1176 01:20:25,995 --> 01:20:27,735 The government, they can only appeal 1177 01:20:27,823 --> 01:20:28,954 to the U.S. Supreme Court. 1178 01:20:29,041 --> 01:20:30,782 That's all that's left. 1179 01:20:30,869 --> 01:20:33,437 The court only reviews a small percentage of all the cases, 1180 01:20:33,524 --> 01:20:37,223 but decides that it is going to review the case. 1181 01:20:37,310 --> 01:20:40,096 My father was sitting there nervous about the fact 1182 01:20:40,183 --> 01:20:41,464 that they had even taken the case. 1183 01:20:41,488 --> 01:20:42,881 They could have let 1184 01:20:42,968 --> 01:20:44,337 the Court of Claims' positive ruling stand, 1185 01:20:44,361 --> 01:20:45,817 and that would have been the end of it. 1186 01:20:45,841 --> 01:20:48,452 We'll hear arguments next in United States 1187 01:20:48,539 --> 01:20:51,020 against the Sioux nation of Indians. 1188 01:20:51,107 --> 01:20:55,851 I was in college at the time, so I sat anxiously by the phone. 1189 01:21:34,193 --> 01:21:37,283 Custer lost to the Sioux in South Dakota's Black Hills 1190 01:21:37,370 --> 01:21:38,850 more than 100 years ago. 1191 01:21:38,937 --> 01:21:41,679 Today in a case growing out of that campaign, 1192 01:21:41,766 --> 01:21:44,203 the U.S. government also lost to the Sioux. 1193 01:21:44,290 --> 01:21:46,727 Today, the Supreme Court ruled 8 to 1 1194 01:21:46,814 --> 01:21:48,773 that the land really belonged to the Indians. 1195 01:21:48,860 --> 01:21:50,470 The order means that the Sioux Nation 1196 01:21:50,557 --> 01:21:53,386 will now get over $100 million. 1197 01:21:53,473 --> 01:21:56,955 The largest court settlement ever won by any Indian tribe. 1198 01:21:57,042 --> 01:21:59,088 "It is," wrote Mr. Justice Blackmun, 1199 01:21:59,175 --> 01:22:02,874 "an obligation that must now at last be paid." 1200 01:22:06,834 --> 01:22:09,968 Back in the day, we were very... 1201 01:22:10,055 --> 01:22:13,929 unsettled with that. 1202 01:22:14,016 --> 01:22:15,974 On Sioux reservations in the Dakotas, 1203 01:22:16,061 --> 01:22:18,803 Indians are debating a recent court-proposed settlement. 1204 01:22:18,890 --> 01:22:21,632 The U.S. government is offering $105 million 1205 01:22:21,719 --> 01:22:23,373 for the Black Hills. 1206 01:22:23,460 --> 01:22:26,376 It's not justice to say I'm gonna steal your car 1207 01:22:26,463 --> 01:22:28,465 and then I'm gonna give you 10 cents on the dollar 1208 01:22:28,552 --> 01:22:30,119 and keep the car. 1209 01:22:30,206 --> 01:22:35,951 In 1934, the gold alone was $80 million alone. 1210 01:22:36,038 --> 01:22:40,085 When that decision came down, it came out to maybe a dollar 1211 01:22:40,172 --> 01:22:44,307 an acre, $2 an acre, no compound interest, 1212 01:22:44,394 --> 01:22:47,440 no kind of inflationary costs, 1213 01:22:47,527 --> 01:22:50,922 nothing based on the finance picture 1214 01:22:51,009 --> 01:22:52,706 of the richest country in the world, 1215 01:22:52,793 --> 01:22:54,970 the United States of America. 1216 01:22:55,057 --> 01:22:57,189 Old-timers like Chief Charles Red Cloud 1217 01:22:57,276 --> 01:23:00,801 and Bill Horn Cloud say the land should not be sold. 1218 01:23:02,934 --> 01:23:07,678 The Hill was held sacred by the Indian people, 1219 01:23:07,765 --> 01:23:13,771 and it means a lot to them in a spiritual way. 1220 01:23:13,858 --> 01:23:15,991 It's not just a monetary question. 1221 01:23:16,078 --> 01:23:20,038 It's not a land question. It's none of these. 1222 01:23:20,125 --> 01:23:23,346 We are fighting for the integrity of our people 1223 01:23:23,433 --> 01:23:26,827 and we are fighting for the honor of our people. 1224 01:23:26,914 --> 01:23:31,180 And we are waiting for the White man to do the same. 1225 01:23:32,790 --> 01:23:35,706 So we said, "We don't want the money." 1226 01:23:35,793 --> 01:23:37,577 The Supreme Court of the United States 1227 01:23:37,664 --> 01:23:40,537 has already ruled that they should be awarded the money, 1228 01:23:40,624 --> 01:23:42,060 but the Sioux don't want it. 1229 01:23:42,147 --> 01:23:45,629 They want their sacred land. 1230 01:23:45,716 --> 01:23:50,590 I've been here for the past 27 years now, 1231 01:23:50,677 --> 01:23:52,288 been home. 1232 01:23:52,375 --> 01:23:57,293 And when I hear people talking about the Black Hills, 1233 01:23:57,380 --> 01:24:00,687 they still stand their ground. 1234 01:24:00,774 --> 01:24:04,517 The Black Hills are never for sale. 1235 01:24:06,345 --> 01:24:07,781 It's intermission. 1236 01:24:07,868 --> 01:24:09,696 Rise and stretch time. 1237 01:24:09,783 --> 01:24:12,438 Time to refresh yourself and visit our snack bar. 1238 01:24:12,525 --> 01:24:14,701 Showtime will be announced loud and clear 1239 01:24:14,788 --> 01:24:17,356 to get you back to your car in time. 1240 01:24:19,576 --> 01:24:22,405 Hey. You guys must be Arapaho. 1241 01:24:22,492 --> 01:24:24,885 How did you know? 1242 01:24:24,972 --> 01:24:26,713 The way you walk. 1243 01:24:29,064 --> 01:24:30,848 Mosey. 1244 01:24:35,070 --> 01:24:36,636 Hey, you guys look like hostiles! 1245 01:24:36,723 --> 01:24:38,682 Where you from?! 1246 01:24:41,554 --> 01:24:45,776 On Saturday, December 19, 2009, 1247 01:24:45,863 --> 01:24:48,561 U.S. President Barack Obama 1248 01:24:48,648 --> 01:24:51,869 signed the congressional resolution of apology 1249 01:24:51,956 --> 01:24:55,916 to Native peoples of the United States. 1250 01:24:56,003 --> 01:25:00,617 No tribal leaders or official representatives 1251 01:25:00,704 --> 01:25:04,664 were invited to witness and receive the apology 1252 01:25:04,751 --> 01:25:08,581 on behalf of tribal nations. 1253 01:25:08,668 --> 01:25:12,368 The apology was folded into a larger, 1254 01:25:12,455 --> 01:25:15,849 unrelated piece of legislation 1255 01:25:15,936 --> 01:25:20,941 called the 2010 Department of Defense Appropriations Act. 1256 01:25:22,943 --> 01:25:27,861 I am a citizen of the United States 1257 01:25:27,948 --> 01:25:32,257 and an enrolled member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, 1258 01:25:32,344 --> 01:25:37,262 meaning I am a citizen of the Oglala Lakota Nation, 1259 01:25:37,349 --> 01:25:42,615 and in this dual citizenship, I must work, 1260 01:25:42,702 --> 01:25:44,835 I must eat, 1261 01:25:44,922 --> 01:25:48,230 I must mother... 1262 01:25:50,580 --> 01:25:52,582 ...I must listen... 1263 01:25:54,758 --> 01:25:56,847 ...I must observe. 1264 01:25:59,328 --> 01:26:03,158 Constantly I must live. 1265 01:26:08,250 --> 01:26:12,689 I didn't grow up having the freedom to worship. 1266 01:26:12,776 --> 01:26:16,040 In 1978 was the first legal Sun Dance. 1267 01:26:16,127 --> 01:26:18,260 After 60 years, 1268 01:26:18,347 --> 01:26:21,176 after three generations of people, 1269 01:26:21,263 --> 01:26:26,006 we were allowed to be the only people in the country 1270 01:26:26,093 --> 01:26:30,185 that needed an act of Congress to grant us freedom of religion. 1271 01:26:34,101 --> 01:26:38,628 I lived on the river all my life. 1272 01:26:38,715 --> 01:26:44,111 Before and after they removed me. 1273 01:26:44,199 --> 01:26:49,378 So you go back and as long as we have the collective memory 1274 01:26:49,465 --> 01:26:51,467 of that connection, 1275 01:26:51,554 --> 01:26:53,773 we'll go back 1276 01:26:53,860 --> 01:26:58,082 and we'll understand what's there for us. 1277 01:27:01,172 --> 01:27:05,611 I was at a crossroads within my life. 1278 01:27:05,698 --> 01:27:11,965 I ended up on this long journey and then returning home in 1995. 1279 01:27:12,052 --> 01:27:16,709 And I had a calling for the land within myself. 1280 01:27:21,323 --> 01:27:22,628 I went up on a hill. 1281 01:27:22,715 --> 01:27:26,850 I took a mini vision quest of one night. 1282 01:27:26,937 --> 01:27:32,290 I'll watch the sunset and all the beautiful stars. 1283 01:27:32,377 --> 01:27:34,510 So much stars. 1284 01:27:34,597 --> 01:27:35,859 Once you're out in the country 1285 01:27:35,946 --> 01:27:37,643 where there's no light pollution, 1286 01:27:37,730 --> 01:27:41,734 man, that's magical. 1287 01:27:41,821 --> 01:27:44,824 Oh, I was up all night sitting there 1288 01:27:44,911 --> 01:27:47,610 thinking in the bed of my truck, 1289 01:27:47,697 --> 01:27:50,090 hearing the different animals throughout the night. 1290 01:27:50,177 --> 01:27:53,485 And then I saw the... the sun was... 1291 01:27:53,572 --> 01:27:55,879 It was headed towards morning. 1292 01:27:58,229 --> 01:28:01,624 The first star of the day was the Morning Star. 1293 01:28:01,711 --> 01:28:04,714 Oh, that was beautiful. Just beaming. 1294 01:28:04,801 --> 01:28:07,107 Just beautiful. 1295 01:28:07,194 --> 01:28:11,460 Never saw anything so beautiful in such a long time. 1296 01:28:11,547 --> 01:28:13,810 I sat there and watched it. 1297 01:28:13,897 --> 01:28:18,815 I saw the life-giving force coming up over the horizon. 1298 01:28:18,902 --> 01:28:20,773 I reached out with my arms. 1299 01:28:22,906 --> 01:28:26,518 I reached out to Anpetu Wi 1300 01:28:26,605 --> 01:28:29,304 and offered a song. 1301 01:28:30,827 --> 01:28:34,352 The song goes something like this. 1302 01:29:04,469 --> 01:29:06,993 Solar is our way of life. 1303 01:29:07,080 --> 01:29:08,647 It's our ceremony. 1304 01:29:08,734 --> 01:29:13,130 It's our song, our dance, our annual Sun Dances. 1305 01:29:13,217 --> 01:29:16,960 We send our prayer to Anpetu Wi [indistinct] Waka, 1306 01:29:17,047 --> 01:29:20,529 the life-giving force of the sun. 1307 01:29:20,616 --> 01:29:24,228 I said, "This is what we ought to be doing. 1308 01:29:24,315 --> 01:29:27,753 Taking this new way and honoring the old way 1309 01:29:27,840 --> 01:29:30,321 and then becoming sustainable." 1310 01:29:30,408 --> 01:29:32,976 Some of us, we put our hand to the earth. 1311 01:29:33,063 --> 01:29:37,241 We put our hand there, and we don't feel anything. 1312 01:29:37,328 --> 01:29:39,722 But some of us, we put our hand on the earth, 1313 01:29:39,809 --> 01:29:42,855 and we can feel something pushing back. 1314 01:29:56,521 --> 01:30:00,525 I was born in the middle of winter in January, 1315 01:30:00,612 --> 01:30:04,355 and the day before I was born, my mom was out riding horse. 1316 01:30:04,442 --> 01:30:08,490 So she tells everybody that I was almost born on a horse. 1317 01:30:10,709 --> 01:30:11,928 Thank you, Alex. 1318 01:30:12,015 --> 01:30:14,452 I think the first time I saw you 1319 01:30:14,539 --> 01:30:17,324 after, like I said, years had passed, 1320 01:30:17,412 --> 01:30:21,807 it was on horseback at Standing Rock. 1321 01:30:21,894 --> 01:30:23,461 And what I witnessed that day 1322 01:30:23,548 --> 01:30:26,595 will probably always live with me 1323 01:30:26,682 --> 01:30:28,379 the rest of my life. 1324 01:30:31,426 --> 01:30:34,037 I think you might know the day I'm talking about. 1325 01:30:34,124 --> 01:30:38,128 There was some sheriffs guarding the road. 1326 01:30:43,612 --> 01:30:45,701 Well, when they put the call out, 1327 01:30:45,788 --> 01:30:47,920 we were watching online. 1328 01:30:48,007 --> 01:30:50,053 They put a call out for horses. 1329 01:30:50,140 --> 01:30:51,576 And then right then I knew, "Okay, 1330 01:30:51,663 --> 01:30:55,406 well, we're gonna... We're gonna do this." 1331 01:30:55,493 --> 01:30:57,060 I took a horse. 1332 01:30:57,147 --> 01:31:01,020 She was given to me, and I kind of always kept her. 1333 01:31:01,107 --> 01:31:03,458 But I never really did anything with her 1334 01:31:03,545 --> 01:31:05,634 as much as just riding on the ranch. 1335 01:31:05,721 --> 01:31:07,810 So this was her first real trip, 1336 01:31:07,897 --> 01:31:12,031 and I didn't know what was gonna happen. 1337 01:31:12,118 --> 01:31:14,947 We're 250 miles south of Standing Rock. 1338 01:31:15,034 --> 01:31:17,733 We left our house at 4:00 in the morning. 1339 01:31:17,820 --> 01:31:19,865 And all the way up, I was like, "What am I doing? 1340 01:31:19,952 --> 01:31:23,652 This is crazy because this horse hasn't been off the ranch 1341 01:31:23,739 --> 01:31:28,526 maybe a handful of times and never 250 miles." 1342 01:31:32,095 --> 01:31:34,793 And when they called us, we were riding up. 1343 01:31:34,880 --> 01:31:37,404 She seen the cars and she stopped. 1344 01:31:37,492 --> 01:31:39,600 And I had my daughter with me. And I was thinking, "Okay, 1345 01:31:39,624 --> 01:31:43,149 if my horse doesn't go, her horse probably wouldn't go." 1346 01:31:43,236 --> 01:31:47,502 But they brought the elders over with Johnny Eagle, 1347 01:31:47,589 --> 01:31:51,331 and he came and he azilyad... smudged. 1348 01:31:51,418 --> 01:31:54,378 And when he did, my horse dropped her head. 1349 01:31:54,465 --> 01:31:58,121 And when they prayed, she just sat there. 1350 01:31:58,208 --> 01:32:01,254 And then she took over. 1351 01:32:01,341 --> 01:32:03,561 When we were coming, she was walking by the cops 1352 01:32:03,648 --> 01:32:08,479 and I said, "I'm sorry, but you guys might have to move." 1353 01:32:08,566 --> 01:32:12,570 That first akicita, she took off and she ran a circle. 1354 01:32:12,657 --> 01:32:14,354 She ran around again. 1355 01:32:14,441 --> 01:32:16,574 Third time she came around, 1356 01:32:16,661 --> 01:32:18,358 I just took her back around in a circle 1357 01:32:18,445 --> 01:32:21,710 because I said, "Maybe she's gonna get wild." 1358 01:32:21,797 --> 01:32:24,060 When we were coming around that fourth time, 1359 01:32:24,147 --> 01:32:26,366 I stopped her in front of the barricades 1360 01:32:26,453 --> 01:32:30,153 and I lifted my arm and I leled. 1361 01:32:32,372 --> 01:32:34,679 And then she took off. 1362 01:32:34,766 --> 01:32:36,420 I thought she was gonna kill a cop. 1363 01:32:36,507 --> 01:32:39,641 I honestly did, because she wasn't gonna stop. 1364 01:32:39,728 --> 01:32:42,382 And she picked out the one that was saying 1365 01:32:42,469 --> 01:32:44,994 some pretty awful things to us while we were riding up. 1366 01:32:46,517 --> 01:32:49,694 And she stopped right in front of him. 1367 01:32:49,781 --> 01:32:52,218 And that's when they turned and ran. 1368 01:32:52,305 --> 01:32:54,699 And the people went over the barricade. 1369 01:32:57,180 --> 01:33:00,662 Her doing that, never being off the ranch, 1370 01:33:00,749 --> 01:33:02,359 never really in a crowd, 1371 01:33:02,446 --> 01:33:04,317 she knew what she's gonna do. 1372 01:33:04,404 --> 01:33:06,363 She was a warrior horse that day. 1373 01:33:06,450 --> 01:33:07,973 She knew. She had it picked out. 1374 01:33:08,060 --> 01:33:09,801 And I was just a passenger. 1375 01:33:18,462 --> 01:33:22,422 But when they moved and when the people followed us back 1376 01:33:22,509 --> 01:33:24,599 over the barricade, right there, 1377 01:33:24,686 --> 01:33:28,559 that's when the movement shifted for me. 1378 01:33:28,646 --> 01:33:30,866 Because then and there, 1379 01:33:30,953 --> 01:33:32,955 for the first time in over 150 years, 1380 01:33:33,042 --> 01:33:36,088 the Oceti Sakowin came together. 1381 01:33:36,175 --> 01:33:37,873 And not only the Oceti Sakowin, 1382 01:33:37,960 --> 01:33:41,746 but indigenous nations from across the world came. 1383 01:33:41,833 --> 01:33:46,664 And at that moment in time, that day, we were one, 1384 01:33:46,751 --> 01:33:48,448 and it was perfect. 1385 01:33:55,238 --> 01:33:59,111 When the peace treaty was made of 1868, 1386 01:33:59,198 --> 01:34:02,811 the grandfathers put their pipes together 1387 01:34:02,898 --> 01:34:06,336 and said a prayer. 1388 01:34:06,423 --> 01:34:10,166 Their prayer was upon seven generations, 1389 01:34:10,253 --> 01:34:14,170 everything will be back to normal and harmony. 1390 01:34:14,257 --> 01:34:16,868 Before they even thought about 1391 01:34:16,955 --> 01:34:18,696 putting an X on a piece of paper, 1392 01:34:18,783 --> 01:34:22,482 they were sending their prayers forward. 1393 01:34:22,569 --> 01:34:26,878 You know, today I'm the fifth generation from that era, 1394 01:34:26,965 --> 01:34:29,707 the fifth direct descendant. 1395 01:34:29,794 --> 01:34:32,318 So, "Oh, my God." I said... 1396 01:34:32,405 --> 01:34:35,321 Hi. Hey, baby. 1397 01:34:35,408 --> 01:34:39,499 Hey, hey. Hi. I'm your Gaga. 1398 01:34:39,586 --> 01:34:42,720 I'm the grandfather of that sacred seven that they... 1399 01:34:42,807 --> 01:34:46,898 That they put their pipes together and said the prayer. 1400 01:34:46,985 --> 01:34:50,249 So we're just living within that prayer structure 1401 01:34:50,336 --> 01:34:52,251 that they made at that time. 1402 01:34:52,338 --> 01:34:53,862 You can jump, too, huh? 1403 01:34:53,949 --> 01:34:55,211 Yeah, you can. 1404 01:34:55,298 --> 01:34:58,780 Jump, yeah. 1405 01:34:58,867 --> 01:35:01,521 You're trying to smile. 1406 01:35:01,608 --> 01:35:04,176 Are you smiling at Grandpa? 1407 01:35:09,965 --> 01:35:14,099 The last time indigenous people got together 1408 01:35:14,186 --> 01:35:16,362 was to repel White invasion 1409 01:35:16,449 --> 01:35:19,148 and we won at the Battle of Greasy Grass. 1410 01:35:19,235 --> 01:35:23,587 We are now gathered together to prevent another invasion, 1411 01:35:23,674 --> 01:35:26,808 this time in the form of oil and gas development, 1412 01:35:26,895 --> 01:35:28,548 this time in the form of a pipeline, 1413 01:35:28,635 --> 01:35:31,638 this time in form of the black snake. 1414 01:35:31,726 --> 01:35:35,120 But instead, at that time, when nobody cared about Indians, 1415 01:35:35,207 --> 01:35:36,687 we have non-Indians with us. 1416 01:35:36,774 --> 01:35:39,995 And that's the biggest difference. 1417 01:35:40,082 --> 01:35:43,433 In those first days when the people were coming, 1418 01:35:43,520 --> 01:35:45,522 we told them our stories. 1419 01:35:45,609 --> 01:35:48,090 We need to protect Mother Earth. 1420 01:35:48,177 --> 01:35:49,831 We are her keepers. 1421 01:35:49,918 --> 01:35:52,529 We have suffered. We have given. 1422 01:35:52,616 --> 01:35:54,487 We have paid the price. 1423 01:35:54,574 --> 01:35:56,272 No more. 1424 01:35:56,359 --> 01:35:59,841 There will be no black snake going through our homeland. 1425 01:36:02,147 --> 01:36:05,498 We are Lakota, Dakota and Nakota. 1426 01:36:05,585 --> 01:36:08,371 That word means "ally." 1427 01:36:08,458 --> 01:36:11,766 Doesn't mean frozen tundra or Fargo. 1428 01:36:11,853 --> 01:36:14,377 It's ally. 1429 01:36:14,464 --> 01:36:16,292 People were just flooding in. 1430 01:36:16,379 --> 01:36:19,861 Every single day, the camp was growing. 1431 01:36:19,948 --> 01:36:21,645 I'm a veteran, right? 1432 01:36:21,732 --> 01:36:24,561 And so, you know, I went to work doing the thing 1433 01:36:24,648 --> 01:36:26,041 that I was trained to do. 1434 01:36:26,128 --> 01:36:30,915 And that's, like, logistics, to run a camp. 1435 01:36:31,002 --> 01:36:34,484 I've been going down that route ever since. 1436 01:36:34,571 --> 01:36:36,791 That's what set the foundation for now 1437 01:36:36,878 --> 01:36:39,794 for the work that I do now with the landback campaign. 1438 01:36:42,579 --> 01:36:45,800 When you walked through the gates of Standing Rock, 1439 01:36:45,887 --> 01:36:48,019 it didn't matter if you were indigenous, 1440 01:36:48,106 --> 01:36:52,328 non-Indigenous, whatever, you became a water protector. 1441 01:36:54,199 --> 01:36:58,900 We are building the world that we want to live in. 1442 01:36:58,987 --> 01:37:00,815 The future already exists. 1443 01:37:07,996 --> 01:37:12,435 When I say things like, "Me, ma Lakota," 1444 01:37:12,522 --> 01:37:15,220 "Me, I am a Lakota." 1445 01:37:21,661 --> 01:37:25,622 Someday your people are going to depend on you. 1446 01:37:28,886 --> 01:37:30,714 One of the old men told me one time, 1447 01:37:30,801 --> 01:37:33,804 he said, "Hoksila," he said. 1448 01:37:33,891 --> 01:37:37,460 "Hoksila" means boy, you know, a young man. 1449 01:37:37,547 --> 01:37:39,027 Telling me that, you know, 1450 01:37:39,114 --> 01:37:43,118 maybe I need... I'm going to learn more, know more. 1451 01:37:43,205 --> 01:37:48,384 He said, "Hoksila... [speaks Lakota] 1452 01:37:48,471 --> 01:37:52,518 This road that you're on." 1453 01:37:52,605 --> 01:37:57,959 He says, "Even a dead... 1454 01:37:58,046 --> 01:38:02,833 a dead dog deserves your respect." 1455 01:38:08,795 --> 01:38:11,886 To be a common man in [speaks Lakota] 1456 01:38:11,973 --> 01:38:14,540 is probably one of the hardest things you can do 1457 01:38:14,627 --> 01:38:18,762 because you have to put the needs 1458 01:38:18,849 --> 01:38:21,765 of other people before yours. 1459 01:38:24,246 --> 01:38:28,424 When somebody is sick, you try to heal them. 1460 01:38:28,511 --> 01:38:31,949 When somebody is crying... 1461 01:38:32,036 --> 01:38:35,561 you wipe their eyes. 1462 01:38:35,648 --> 01:38:38,782 When somebody is hungry, you feed them. 1463 01:38:38,869 --> 01:38:42,917 When a child is crying, you comfort them. 1464 01:38:45,180 --> 01:38:47,443 First in battle... 1465 01:38:47,530 --> 01:38:50,881 the last to eat. 1466 01:38:50,968 --> 01:38:52,883 All these things. 1467 01:38:54,667 --> 01:38:58,628 So...[speaking Lakota] 1468 01:39:20,345 --> 01:39:22,869 The people will learn to depend on you 1469 01:39:22,957 --> 01:39:26,047 because you stood up for the rights of the people. 1470 01:39:34,664 --> 01:39:36,579 Yeah. Thank you, Milo. 1471 01:39:40,061 --> 01:39:41,758 Thank you so much. 1472 01:39:43,978 --> 01:39:47,459 Ladies and gentlemen, I want to welcome all of you here 1473 01:39:47,546 --> 01:39:52,029 on this very special occasion, and particularly our guests 1474 01:39:52,116 --> 01:39:54,466 from all of the western part of the United States 1475 01:39:54,553 --> 01:39:57,687 who have come a long way to be with us. 1476 01:39:57,774 --> 01:40:00,603 If you look at the 1980 Black Hills case, 1477 01:40:00,690 --> 01:40:02,474 it only allowed for monetary awards. 1478 01:40:02,561 --> 01:40:06,957 So it was essentially trying to settle these outstanding claims. 1479 01:40:07,044 --> 01:40:10,569 However, there is precedent with executive orders 1480 01:40:10,656 --> 01:40:12,267 and executive actions, as we know, 1481 01:40:12,354 --> 01:40:16,880 with the return of Blue Lake to the Taos Pueblo by Nixon. 1482 01:40:16,967 --> 01:40:22,059 I trust that this will mark one of those periods 1483 01:40:22,146 --> 01:40:23,843 in American history 1484 01:40:23,930 --> 01:40:27,891 where after a very, very long time, 1485 01:40:27,978 --> 01:40:33,462 and at times a very sad history of injustice, 1486 01:40:33,549 --> 01:40:36,247 that we start it on a new road. 1487 01:40:36,334 --> 01:40:39,424 But the return of Blue Lake to the Taos Pueblo 1488 01:40:39,511 --> 01:40:43,385 happened in the context of mass uprisings of indigenous people 1489 01:40:43,472 --> 01:40:45,169 during the red power movement. 1490 01:40:45,256 --> 01:40:49,913 So the policy change was happening alongside 1491 01:40:50,000 --> 01:40:53,612 the insurmountable pressure put on two administrations 1492 01:40:53,699 --> 01:40:55,875 to essentially cave to demands for land return. 1493 01:40:55,962 --> 01:40:57,399 Right? 1494 01:40:57,486 --> 01:41:01,707 We are in an era of mass indigenous protests. 1495 01:41:07,148 --> 01:41:11,413 "'X' marks a line I once wrote. 1496 01:41:11,500 --> 01:41:17,027 Everything is in the language we use, 1497 01:41:17,114 --> 01:41:21,727 and 'X' marks my humble correction. 1498 01:41:21,814 --> 01:41:23,729 At critical moments, 1499 01:41:23,816 --> 01:41:29,474 everything is in the language we do not understand." 1500 01:41:35,219 --> 01:41:39,963 "'X' marks the question I ask my students. 1501 01:41:40,050 --> 01:41:43,097 What does it mean when someone 1502 01:41:43,184 --> 01:41:45,969 signs a document with an 'X'?" 1503 01:41:48,014 --> 01:41:51,192 "'X' marks the silence in our classroom 1504 01:41:51,279 --> 01:41:53,324 when I ask this question." 1505 01:41:57,589 --> 01:42:01,506 "'X' marks the reason for silence, 1506 01:42:01,593 --> 01:42:04,640 a pause before answering, 1507 01:42:04,727 --> 01:42:10,036 the deep breath before an immense psychological, 1508 01:42:10,124 --> 01:42:16,913 emotional and spiritual lineage rolls out before us. 1509 01:42:17,000 --> 01:42:21,439 The responsibility to rectify." 1510 01:42:25,443 --> 01:42:28,403 The organizing principle of any settler society 1511 01:42:28,490 --> 01:42:29,926 is elimination of the native. 1512 01:42:32,233 --> 01:42:34,974 They don't hate us because of our language, 1513 01:42:35,061 --> 01:42:39,327 because of our culture, because of our spirituality. 1514 01:42:39,414 --> 01:42:43,548 The intent of treaties, the intent of removal, 1515 01:42:43,635 --> 01:42:45,985 the intent of boarding schools 1516 01:42:46,072 --> 01:42:48,379 has always been the elimination of native people 1517 01:42:48,466 --> 01:42:50,816 to gain access to the land. 1518 01:42:50,903 --> 01:42:52,340 It may seem reductive, 1519 01:42:52,427 --> 01:42:55,865 but when you look at the arc of U.S. history, 1520 01:42:55,952 --> 01:42:58,563 that is fundamentally the intent of the United States 1521 01:42:58,650 --> 01:43:01,175 is to gain access to native land. 1522 01:43:03,351 --> 01:43:08,486 We know for a fact that when indigenous peoples are back 1523 01:43:08,573 --> 01:43:10,140 in relationship with our lands 1524 01:43:10,227 --> 01:43:13,404 and back into managing our own lands, 1525 01:43:13,491 --> 01:43:15,754 that it benefits all peoples. 1526 01:43:15,841 --> 01:43:17,539 So us fighting for clean water 1527 01:43:17,626 --> 01:43:21,020 is not just so we have clean water on the reservation, 1528 01:43:21,107 --> 01:43:24,023 it's so that there's clean water all downstream 1529 01:43:24,110 --> 01:43:26,809 and for all living beings. 1530 01:43:29,377 --> 01:43:31,074 When a lot of people here landback, 1531 01:43:31,161 --> 01:43:33,729 their immediate response is, "All of it?" 1532 01:43:33,816 --> 01:43:37,167 You know, when you say landback, right away, 1533 01:43:37,254 --> 01:43:39,865 people's White fragility goes into effect. 1534 01:43:39,952 --> 01:43:41,302 "Landback." 1535 01:43:41,389 --> 01:43:43,173 "Oh, shit. They're coming for my house." 1536 01:43:43,260 --> 01:43:44,740 I would say the first argument 1537 01:43:44,827 --> 01:43:47,177 that's always put against native people 1538 01:43:47,264 --> 01:43:52,487 is that you're going to do to us what our ancestors did to you. 1539 01:43:52,574 --> 01:43:55,098 We have to move beyond the realm of representation 1540 01:43:55,185 --> 01:43:56,578 and recognition. 1541 01:43:56,665 --> 01:43:59,407 You can recognize that you did harm in this way, 1542 01:43:59,494 --> 01:44:03,454 but does that make Flint's water clean and drinkable? 1543 01:44:03,541 --> 01:44:06,675 No. Like, you actually have to have material transformation. 1544 01:44:08,285 --> 01:44:10,156 Landback is a reparations framework, 1545 01:44:10,244 --> 01:44:12,420 and it's about repair. 1546 01:44:12,507 --> 01:44:15,118 Like, at the heart of reparations is repair. 1547 01:44:15,205 --> 01:44:18,817 We want everybody beyond indigenous spaces, 1548 01:44:18,904 --> 01:44:20,906 beyond just organizing movement spaces, 1549 01:44:20,993 --> 01:44:24,083 but general public to be talking about landback 1550 01:44:24,170 --> 01:44:25,496 and to be talking about it in a way 1551 01:44:25,520 --> 01:44:27,565 where there is no fear attached to it. 1552 01:44:27,652 --> 01:44:30,046 But there's a sense of justice. 1553 01:44:30,133 --> 01:44:34,616 Your voice is power, your body is power. 1554 01:44:34,703 --> 01:44:37,096 Be proud to be Lakota. 1555 01:44:37,183 --> 01:44:38,881 Be proud of where you come from. 1556 01:44:38,968 --> 01:44:42,188 This country has only gotten better 1557 01:44:42,276 --> 01:44:45,975 when people resisted the powers that be. 1558 01:44:46,062 --> 01:44:49,544 Our work here is about not just reclaiming land, 1559 01:44:49,631 --> 01:44:51,328 but reclaiming power. 1560 01:44:51,415 --> 01:44:55,593 I'm fighting for prosperity. 1561 01:44:55,680 --> 01:44:58,727 Our goal is not to just go back and live in teepees. 1562 01:44:58,814 --> 01:45:00,946 I grew up listening to Tupac. 1563 01:45:02,600 --> 01:45:05,516 It's about building a future 1564 01:45:05,603 --> 01:45:09,085 that this next generation can see themselves in. 1565 01:45:11,217 --> 01:45:14,090 I think the best days of my people are in front of me. 1566 01:45:14,177 --> 01:45:15,961 I think the best days of the Lakota 1567 01:45:16,048 --> 01:45:18,486 are in front of us and not behind us. 1568 01:45:20,836 --> 01:45:24,187 When I hear landback, I think of the... 1569 01:45:26,320 --> 01:45:31,803 ...just return of what was taken from American Indians. 1570 01:45:41,726 --> 01:45:43,119 Want to welcome everyone 1571 01:45:43,206 --> 01:45:46,470 to this press conference this morning. 1572 01:45:46,557 --> 01:45:52,302 We're here to talk about peace and mutual respect. 1573 01:45:54,304 --> 01:45:55,958 Thanks, Karen, and thanks, everybody, 1574 01:45:56,045 --> 01:45:57,568 for speaking here today. 1575 01:45:57,655 --> 01:46:02,312 The mid 1800s... we really lacked the sophistication 1576 01:46:02,399 --> 01:46:05,968 and the technology and the education 1577 01:46:06,055 --> 01:46:09,841 to have in place systems of conflict resolution 1578 01:46:09,928 --> 01:46:11,234 that we do today. 1579 01:46:11,321 --> 01:46:13,845 Sometimes in those days, we would have a duel 1580 01:46:13,932 --> 01:46:16,413 or a lynching or something of that. 1581 01:46:16,500 --> 01:46:19,329 You know, our... our times have changed. 1582 01:46:21,462 --> 01:46:25,030 When we think of the past as just being in the past, 1583 01:46:25,117 --> 01:46:27,119 we actually do harm today 1584 01:46:27,206 --> 01:46:29,905 because until we address what happened in the past, 1585 01:46:29,992 --> 01:46:32,473 understand it and seek to create remedies 1586 01:46:32,560 --> 01:46:36,346 and redress it, we're doomed to repeat it. 1587 01:46:38,653 --> 01:46:40,611 I want Rapid City to know 1588 01:46:40,698 --> 01:46:44,267 that we're not gonna take their racism anymore, 1589 01:46:44,354 --> 01:46:46,443 their criticism. 1590 01:46:46,530 --> 01:46:48,619 I lived here about my whole life. 1591 01:46:48,706 --> 01:46:51,883 My children were born here. 1592 01:46:51,970 --> 01:46:53,537 My oldest daughter, 1593 01:46:53,624 --> 01:46:56,018 she would get spit on every day 1594 01:46:56,105 --> 01:46:59,064 and there would be White kids driving by, barking at her, 1595 01:46:59,151 --> 01:47:02,111 throwing things at her every day. 1596 01:47:03,982 --> 01:47:07,595 I just want to see a little change, you know? 1597 01:47:07,682 --> 01:47:10,249 We just want people to see us. 1598 01:47:10,336 --> 01:47:12,687 We're people. We're humans. 1599 01:47:12,774 --> 01:47:14,645 I am tired of the heartache. 1600 01:47:14,732 --> 01:47:19,563 I'm ready to hold my heart out and to be strong. 1601 01:47:21,652 --> 01:47:24,133 And so that's what I'm showing my daughters 1602 01:47:24,220 --> 01:47:27,266 when I'm standing out there, 1603 01:47:27,353 --> 01:47:29,094 when I'm standing on those front lines, 1604 01:47:29,181 --> 01:47:30,922 when I'm marching. 1605 01:47:38,974 --> 01:47:44,109 I am protecting our sacred ways of living. 1606 01:47:44,196 --> 01:47:47,983 I am empowering that intention of healing 1607 01:47:48,070 --> 01:47:50,289 from this historical trauma. 1608 01:47:52,640 --> 01:47:54,685 We're not going anywhere. 1609 01:47:54,772 --> 01:47:56,208 This is our ancestral land, 1610 01:47:56,295 --> 01:47:58,907 and we'll continue fighting for it, by all means. 1611 01:48:01,692 --> 01:48:04,478 It's not always one spectacular resistance 1612 01:48:04,565 --> 01:48:09,352 or a battle or the defeat of Custer. Right? 1613 01:48:09,439 --> 01:48:13,356 Resistance movements really bring together spaces for us 1614 01:48:13,443 --> 01:48:16,098 to remake ourselves and for us to be Lakota, 1615 01:48:16,185 --> 01:48:17,665 for us to be Dakota. 1616 01:48:22,713 --> 01:48:25,977 None of us achieve liberation without each other. 1617 01:48:26,064 --> 01:48:30,547 We can work towards indigenous landback and Black reparations. 1618 01:48:30,634 --> 01:48:32,593 This is not an either/or situation 1619 01:48:32,680 --> 01:48:35,770 and we do not live in a world of scarcity. 1620 01:48:35,857 --> 01:48:38,860 To be honest, I don't want to achieve my liberation 1621 01:48:38,947 --> 01:48:40,165 and my sovereignty 1622 01:48:40,252 --> 01:48:43,560 unless I bring my relatives with me. 1623 01:48:43,647 --> 01:48:45,344 - Hey, everyone. - It's Krystal Two Bulls, 1624 01:48:45,431 --> 01:48:47,521 director of the Landback campaign. 1625 01:48:47,608 --> 01:48:50,611 Myself and a crew of four indigenous climbers 1626 01:48:50,698 --> 01:48:53,788 just now completed climbing over 100 feet 1627 01:48:53,875 --> 01:48:56,312 on the side of the Dakota Mill silo. 1628 01:48:56,399 --> 01:48:59,358 All this land is indigenous land. 1629 01:49:02,361 --> 01:49:06,148 Landback is a war cry 1630 01:49:06,235 --> 01:49:08,890 for the liberation of my people. 1631 01:49:10,935 --> 01:49:13,068 And I believe that down to my heart. 1632 01:49:13,155 --> 01:49:15,723 I pray on that. I live my life for that. 1633 01:49:15,810 --> 01:49:17,246 I sacrifice for that. 1634 01:49:18,900 --> 01:49:22,860 What I like to tell people is we're still here. 1635 01:49:22,947 --> 01:49:25,994 You know, as Oglala Lakota people, 1636 01:49:26,081 --> 01:49:28,518 we're the last of the fighters. 1637 01:49:28,605 --> 01:49:33,218 We held on so hard for so long and we continue to hold on. 1638 01:49:33,305 --> 01:49:34,916 Step out of line. 1639 01:49:35,003 --> 01:49:38,876 Don't be waiting when you know deep within your spirit, 1640 01:49:38,963 --> 01:49:41,662 that is the right direction to go. 1641 01:49:41,749 --> 01:49:44,882 What is often seen from the outside 1642 01:49:44,969 --> 01:49:46,710 is just a protest camp. 1643 01:49:46,797 --> 01:49:49,974 It forgets that, in those spaces, 1644 01:49:50,061 --> 01:49:51,628 there are also campfires. 1645 01:49:51,715 --> 01:49:54,065 And there are also families in Tiospaye 1646 01:49:54,152 --> 01:49:57,634 who get together and tell stories. 1647 01:49:57,721 --> 01:50:01,246 Forgets all the joy, all the love 1648 01:50:01,333 --> 01:50:02,726 and all the laughter 1649 01:50:02,813 --> 01:50:06,121 that accompanies these resistance movements. 1650 01:50:08,166 --> 01:50:14,608 Those are forms of joy that we have in this beautiful struggle. 1651 01:50:14,695 --> 01:50:18,220 Because that's what it is. It's a beautiful struggle. 1652 01:50:20,918 --> 01:50:23,617 I have to own America. 1653 01:50:23,704 --> 01:50:28,186 I have to give credit where it's due 1654 01:50:28,273 --> 01:50:30,188 and give hell where it's due. 1655 01:50:36,760 --> 01:50:38,153 I started this piece 1656 01:50:38,240 --> 01:50:43,201 because I was interested in writing about grasses. 1657 01:50:43,288 --> 01:50:47,510 So there is one other event to include, 1658 01:50:47,597 --> 01:50:51,122 although it's not in chronological order, 1659 01:50:51,209 --> 01:50:53,821 and we must backtrack a little. 1660 01:50:56,519 --> 01:51:03,482 When the Dakota people were starving, as you may remember, 1661 01:51:03,569 --> 01:51:08,531 government traders would not extend store credit to Indians. 1662 01:51:10,576 --> 01:51:16,495 One trader named Andrew Myrick is famous for his refusal 1663 01:51:16,582 --> 01:51:20,499 to provide credit to Dakota people 1664 01:51:20,586 --> 01:51:25,809 by saying, "If they are hungry, let them eat grass." 1665 01:51:27,942 --> 01:51:31,380 There are variations of Myrick's words, 1666 01:51:31,467 --> 01:51:34,122 but they are all something to that effect. 1667 01:51:36,385 --> 01:51:38,213 When settlers and traders 1668 01:51:38,300 --> 01:51:40,824 were killed during the Sioux uprising, 1669 01:51:40,911 --> 01:51:46,482 one of the first to be executed was Andrew Myrick. 1670 01:51:46,569 --> 01:51:49,790 When Myrick's body was found, 1671 01:51:49,877 --> 01:51:52,967 his mouth was stuffed with grass. 1672 01:51:56,100 --> 01:52:03,542 I am inclined to call this act by the Dakota Warriors a poem. 1673 01:52:03,629 --> 01:52:06,545 There's irony in their poem. 1674 01:52:06,632 --> 01:52:09,026 There was no text. 1675 01:52:13,509 --> 01:52:16,294 But on second thought, 1676 01:52:16,381 --> 01:52:20,255 the words "Let them eat grass" 1677 01:52:20,342 --> 01:52:24,389 click the gears of the poem into place. 1678 01:52:27,610 --> 01:52:31,788 Things are circling back again. 1679 01:52:31,875 --> 01:52:37,272 Sometimes when in a circle, if I wish to exit, 1680 01:52:37,359 --> 01:52:39,709 I must sleep 1681 01:52:39,796 --> 01:52:45,802 and let the body swing from the platform 1682 01:52:45,889 --> 01:52:49,763 out to the grasses.