WE SHALL REMAIN -WOUNDED KNEE


The massacre that lead to the deaths of 300 Oglala Lakota Indians, including women and children.  The United States Army killed all people of the Native American tribe, without remorse, without any care of age or gender.   This land is now considered to be sacred land. I chose this video due to the emotion I felt while watching the documentary.  The documentary was full of specifics and facts that only those that attended the boarding schools would know.   

To hear the now adults, speak of the many tales of fear they had endured in the scattered boarding schools around the United States.  They were forcefully taught the English language and were given no other alternative but to look and speak like a white American.  They no longer were allowed to look as an Indians.  They were torn from the hands of their mothers and father.  The mental and physical torment would and could never be fixed.  One can see and feel how deep it had affected all ages of the Native American lives.  The pain has not subsided and probably never will.  I was taken back by the unspeakable abuse that they had endured in the hands of the American government.  It is truly an unforgiveable scar of pain. 

The Oglala Lakota tribe yearned for a rebirth of their dignity and self-pride.  The standoff would las t over seventy days.  The federal government was not sure what to expect from the protesters.  The protesters were a combined group that was made up of the American Indian Movement members and the Latoka Indians.  The support was grand and the purpose was to reclaim their cultural history.  They thought and felt strongly about the man who was elected tribal chairman, Dick Wilson.  The protesters demanded for his removal from the seat.  Dick Wilson was a mixed raced Indian and had used his position to employ those within his family and friends to council seats.  He had no real interest in the Indians and their rights.  He focused on his own needs.  He served no justice to the protesters during the protest. 



Work cited:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DHFjB-A5Ho&feature=youtu.be&list=PLH9rWywwjjElbYILgixKwhLKOEphSAoT7

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