The movie viewed on Thursday was about Wounded Knee. The movie was not as bloody or violent as I thought it would be. I think a part of this is because it is the Wounded Knee in 1973 instead of the one in 1890. I had no idea there were two Wounded Knee incidences. This may be because the Watergate Scandal was also unfolding.
In the 1973, the tribe Oglala, known as the Sioux, inhabitants of the Pine Ridge reservation, stood up to the government with the help of American Indian Movement (AIM) to impeach their tribal chairman Wilson. Wilson was unfair and neglected the people and favored others and himself. The Oglala were tired of it, and the government did not do anything about it so they took over the area in hopes of an agreement. Other Native Americans from all over came to support them also. At the end, they did not win and the impeachment failed. This event was really significant even though they did not come to the agreement they wanted because this started the Indian movement of preserving their culture and identity. Because of this event, today, we have the Native American Department in many or all colleges and etc.
There seem to be history in everything but we're just not aware of it. Because of this movie, I know the history behind the Native American Department. It took sacrifices and lives lost to make a statement. And in this case, the succeeded.
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Many things were sacrificed for this cause and the word did get out. But looking at the what demands of the Natives were actually gained, I don't believe it was a success. None of the demands were met, and it resulted in the death of many after the event. Although there was publicity, much of it was shadowed by Watergate.
ReplyDeleteI think class this past Thursday after the movie ended on a powerful note. People have sacrificed to get us where we are today and is a notion that we lose for days, months, years, when we're complaining about what we don't have. A larger scope, humans are interesting in that most of us strive for global equality but it one or two traits are responsible for not acheiving such equality: Selfishness and fear.
ReplyDeleteI think the issues y'all bring up here are significant. How do we know when a movement is a success? What if the immediate goals aren't met? What if none of the goals are met? How long before we know if something has actually changed? And, as Kevin alludes to -- what changes do we start to take for granted?
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