Review of The Activist

Review: 'The Activist' suffers from lack of activity

By Gary GoldsteinIt's an intriguing setting—and set-up. But a lack of subtlety in the writing and much of the acting (particularly Circus-Szalewski and Ron Roggé as a pair of good cop/bad cop jailers) mitigate the power of the caged men's plights as well as the movie's intended tension. As the action unfolds almost entirely within the walls of a South Dakota sheriff's substation, the film can't escape a stagy, at times claustrophobic feel.A Story of Becoming Indigenous: A Movie Review of "The Activist" (2013)

By Eric RitskesIn sum: we have a savage Indian warrior and a (dead) Indian princess, the only two Indigenous characters (one dead)--in a film supposedly telling ‘forgotten’ Indigenous history--battling the one bad racist. I won’t spoil the end, in case you enjoy watching White settler colonial dramas masquerading as politically conscious movies, but The Activist is not a movie about Indigenous struggle; rather, it is one that uses the backdrop (and it really is little more than news reports in the background) of the Indigenous struggle at Wounded Knee to mask tired colonial narratives of disappearing Indians and settler replacement through White heroes who are down with the struggle as long as they get to become Indian.A video showing Tonantzin Carmelo as Sacheen Littlefeather.

Rob's review

The good cop and bad cop may have been clichés, but I thought they were the most interesting characters. Certainly more interesting than Marvin, the non-Native activist, and Bud, his Native bud.

As someone who's trying to make my own independent films, I can appreciate a movie set almost entirely in two rooms. But I don't think it succeeds.

In The Activist, Sacheen Littlefeather becomes Anna, who is murdered like Anna Mae Aquash, during the Wounded Knee occupation or the equivalent. This has something to do with the uranium mining also featured in Thunderheart, so the evil Nixon administration wants to declare the rez a nuclear zone or something and take it over.

The conspiracy plot is hard to follow, but the most annoying part is how the government lawyer wants to negotiate with the young white savior Marvin. Because Marvin knows Indians and is a bridge to them, or something.

Moreover, Marvin enlists a pretty blonde lawyer to do his legwork while he's in jail. Because when you're in trouble with the government, a hot babe just out of law school is your best bet.

Meanwhile, Bud (Michael Spears) can only fulminate in the next cell and get kicked around by the racist guard. Once again, Natives are supporting characters in their own story.

The Activist is passable but nothing special. Rob's rating: 7.0 of 10.

Review of 500 Years of Resistance

The 500 Years of Resistance Comic BookA powerful and historically accurate graphic portrayal of Indigenous peoples' resistance to the European colonization of the Americas, beginning with the Spanish invasion under Christopher Columbus and ending with the Six Nations land reclamation in Ontario in 2006. Gord Hill spent two years unearthing images and researching historical information to create The 500 Years of Resistance Comic Book, which presents the story of Aboriginal resistance in a far-reaching format.

Other events depicted include the 1680 Pueblo Revolt in New Mexico; the Inca insurgency in Peru from the 1500s to the 1780s; Pontiac and the 1763 Rebellion and Royal Proclamation; Geronimo and the 1860s Seminole Wars; Crazy Horse and the 1877 War on the Plains; the rise of the American Indian Movement in the 1960s; 1973's Wounded Knee; the Mohawk Oka Crisis in Quebec in 1990; and the 1995 Aazhoodena/Stoney Point resistance.

With strong, plain language and evocative illustrations, The 500 Years of Resistance Comic Book documents the fighting spirit and ongoing resistance of Indigenous peoples through five hundred years of genocide, massacres, torture, rape, displacement, and assimilation: a necessary antidote to the conventional history of the Americas. Includes an introduction by activist Ward Churchill, leader of the American Indian Movement in Colorado and a prolific writer on Indigenous resistance issues.

Gord Hill, a member of the Kwakwaka'wakw Nation in British Columbia, has been active in Indigenous resistance, anti-colonial, and anti-capitalist movements since 1990. He is also author of The 500 Years of Resistance, a pamphlet published by PM Press.

From Booklist
This slender black-and-white work is intended to inspire indigenous Americans by presenting historical evidence of their resistance to European invaders, colonizers, and “treaties.” From the fifteenth-century Taino reception of the Spanish in the Caribbean through the 1995 Ipperwash stand-down in Stoney Point, Ontario, Hill visits about a dozen events—almost all in North America—and describes in text and image how Native Peoples fought against white settlers, soldiers, and police in settlements, on open land, and even—shown here to a much lesser degree—through strikes and office raids. Hill doesn’t dig deep into any single event, and like the flat, heavily inked panels, his journalistic style tends toward minimalism in background as well as analysis. This book is a good starting point for exploring events of warrior resistance by peoples who are too often presented as weak and passive, and Ward Churchill’s introduction includes a lengthy bibliography to steer dedicated readers. In addition, teens will find this readily accessible, although the simplification of events is more inspirational than suitable for supplementing a history curriculum. --Francisca Goldsmith

Rob's review

My reaction is closer to the Booklist review than to the official blurb. In fact, I'd say Booklist understates the book's problems.

Let's start with Ward Churchill's introduction. It goes on for fourteen pages plus five pages of footnotes. Most of those pages are Churchill talking about his own adventures. Only in the last couple of pages does he mention Gord Hill's book.

Churchill claims he had to talk about his own resistance before he could talk about the book's. One could summarize his message in three words: Remember the past. Everything else in the intro is puffery designed to show how significant Churchill and his antics are.

The concept of 500 Years of Resistance is a good one. By focusing only on acts of resistance, it shows how Native took charge of their own fates. They didn't wait around for disease and warfare to conquer them; they fought back.

But the list of events covered in second paragraph (above) is misleading. Hill devotes only two pages to "The War on the Plains," which most people would say was the climax of the Indian Wars. He follows that with eight pages of "The War on the Coast"--British and other European attacks in the Pacific Northwest.

Most of the incidents are minor: a skirmish or raid here, a bit of gun or cannon fire there. Hill obviously wants to include his British Columbian history, but he doesn't make a case for spending so much space on it. The section skews the whole work; it makes you wonder about Hill's agenda.

Modern section skewed too

The same is true of the rest of the book, which covers the following subjects with the given number of pages:

Alcatraz and the Trail of Broken Treaties: 6
Wounded Knee '73: 2
Oka Crisis: 4
Zapatistas: 3
Standoff at Ts'Peten: 6
Aazhoodena: 4

I hadn't heard about Ts'Peten and don't know anything about Aazhoodena, so I question the space devoted to them. Again, Hill doesn't make a case for the significance of these events. It's clear he wanted to highlight lesser-known events in Canada, but again, it skews the book's coverage.

That's ten of 25 pages, or 40%, on recent events that few have heard of. Meanwhile, there's nothing about the tobacco battles in upstate New York, the Navajo battles against coal mining in Arizona, the Dann sisters' land battles in Nevada, or the gaming battles throughout the US. Each of these deserves one or two pages in a book about Native resistance.

Hill might've been better off focusing his book on the resistance in Canada, because that's where his heart seems to lie. Really, the book's title could be 500 Years of Resistance That's Important to Me or something like that. Few would say he included all the highlights of Native history in an evenhanded manner. Unfortunately, that makes the book less useful than it could be to the uninitiated.

Phony gun image still circulating

Because of the continuous splatter of dead bodies caused by gun nuts and their guns, people are still talking about the need for gun control. Therefore, people are still posting this image:



The problem isn't just conservatives trying to score points by falsely linking gun control to massacres. It's also liberals who aren't paying enough attention and think they're saying something about Wounded Knee.

As you may recall, I dissected this image in Phony Pro-Gun Indian Image. Now another site has chimed in with a debunking:

Was There an 1890 School Shooting Worse than Sandy Hook?Bottom Line

The Wounded Knee Massacre was a terrible tragedy in which nearly 300 mostly-unarmed Indians were killed. To categorize it as a school shooting, however, is completely without merit.To help the idiots who want to forward this false or misleading image, I created an accurate version:



Any questions?

Carter Camp dies

1973 Wounded Knee Warrior Carter Camp has Walked On

By Levi RickertAmerican Indian Movement warrior and Wounded Knee ’73 veteran Carter Camp walked on Friday, December 27, 2013 in White Eagle, Oklahoma on the Ponca Indian tribal land. He was 72.

Carter, a tribal citizen of the Ponca Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma, died of complications of cancer which he suffered from for about a year, according to his brother, Dwain, who spoke with the Native News Online on Friday night.

Camp was thirty-two years-old and a major participate during the siege of Wounded Knee in 1973.

Prior to the 1973 Wounded Knee, Camp headed the Oklahoma AIM chapter. He participated in the takeover of the Bureau of Indian Affairs building in Washington, DC in November 1972.In Memory Carter Camp, Ponca

Below:  "Carter Camp on right with Russell Means and Nicole Panter at Wounded Knee in 1993." (Nicole Panter)

Wounded Knee museum rises from ashes

Wounded Knee museum rises from the ashes

By Andrea J. CookJust one year after a fire destroyed the Wounded Knee Museum in Wall, it has reopened in a new location with new stories to share.

It was on the night of Sept. 2, 2012, when museum co-founder Steve Wyant saw a dream that had lived on for 10 years go up in flames. An electrical malfunction was blamed for the fire that also took 30 exhibits linked to the Wounded Knee massacre on Dec. 29, 1890.

"Insurance never even came close," Wyant said of the daunting task of bringing the museum back to life.

But there were precious items that did survive the blaze that today fill a new museum in downtown Wall. They also instill a sense of awe in Wyant, who marvels that they survived a fire that spared so few items.

"I'm always touched by the thought of it," he said of the collection of nearly 300 simulated eagle feathers suspended from a Lakota Medicine Wheel. Each feather represents a one of the 300 men, women and children killed by Seventh Calvary soldiers on that day.Comment:  Apparently Wyant gave no thought to moving his museum closer to Rapid City, Pine Ridge, or Wounded Knee. I.e., the places anyone interested in Wounded Knee would go to first. Too bad.

For more on the Wounded Knee Museum, see Fire Totals Wounded Knee Museum.

Below:  "Last September, an electrical fire destroyed most of the artifacts and collection in the Wounded Knee museum in Wall. A year later, owner Steve Wyant has rebuilt his museum in a new space in downtown Wall."

Reactions to Depp's Wounded Knee talk

Some of the many reactions to the news that Johnny Depp may buy Wounded Knee:

Johnny Depp interest in purchasing portion of Wounded Knee causes a stir

For months, questions have swirled about whether developers, activists or tribes would be willing to plunk down millions to buy a portion of the Wounded Knee National Historic Landmark. Now there's a new potential buyer in the mix: Johnny Depp.

By Kristi EatonOglala Sioux President Bryan Brewer, whose tribe lives on Pine Ridge, said he has not been contacted by anyone in Depp’s camp and was first notified of the actor’s interest when someone from England called him for reaction. Brewer said he and a group of descendants of Wounded Knee survivors are hoping to meet with Czywczynski soon.

The possibility of the celebrity purchase is generating debate in Native American communities. Some question Depp’s motives due to the timing of “The Lone Ranger” release, which debuted with a dismal $19.5 million in ticket sales on its opening weekend in early July. Depp, who plays the part of the Native American character Tonto in the film, has been accused of playing into stereotypes and misappropriating Native American culture. Tonto speaks broken English, wears a stuffed crow on his head and has a face painted with white and black stripes. Some Native Americans view the character as a parody.

Depp’s also been criticized for saying that he does have Native American ancestry, but he’s unsure if it’s Cherokee or Creek.

“People I’ve talked to think he’s in it for redemption because he’s gotten bad reviews,” said Oglala Sioux tribal member Dawn Moves Camp, 30.And:"Honestly, I don't think it would be a bad thing if Johnny Depp would purchase it with the cooperation of the tribes," he said. What's most important, he said, is that the land is preserved and an accurate account of what happened is shared with visitors through a monument.

Tribal members have disagreed over the years about how to commemorate the lives lost at Wounded Knee. While there is a small monument listing some of the names of those killed in 1890, some tribal members think a larger statue or structure is needed to educate the public.

Sonny Skyhawk, a Sicangu Lakota actor and founder of American Indians in Film and Television, said although he was not a fan of Depp playing Tonto in "The Lone Ranger," purchasing the land would be a "great opportunity" for Depp to step forward and do something for Native Americans.

"If it's from the heart, we accept it. If it's not from the heart, we'll accept it anyways because it's such a meaningful undertaking when you look at the significance of what the sacred ground next to it is," he said.Divided opinions over Johnny Depp's offer to buy Wounded Knee

By Daniel Simmons-RitchieTribal officials have repeatedly called Czywczynsk's price inflated to the point of extortion. Shannon County has appraised the combined value of the parcels at $14,000 by county appraisers.

But now Depp's offer has caused the Oglala to reassess their position.

"You see these celebrities with a lot of money and a lot of times you hear about the useless spending they do, this is something different, something that's unbelievable," said Garfield Steele, a council representative for the Wounded Knee District, who believes the tribe should take Depp's offer.

But others were less convinced. Nathan Blindman, a descendant of the survivors of the Wounded Knee massacre, said that, although Depp's offer is well-intentioned, the hearty profit that Czywczynski would make from the sale would be disrespectful to those who died.

"The bottom line is it's still selling the tragedy and violence," he said. "It's still making money off it, no matter who buys it."And:While he agreed that Depp has good intentions, Stainbrook said Depp's best approach would have been to privately offer a contribution to the Oglala and ask them how they could best use the money.

Instead of 80 acres, he said, the Oglala could use $4.9 million to buy thousands of acres of reservation land from non-natives.

"There's plenty of land not in Indian ownership that they could have used," he said.My Image is Not For Sale

By Taté WalkerDepp is offering Indian Country, especially those of us in South Dakota--the poorest communities in the entire nation (cue violins)--a wonderful gift. Is it a peace offering for that terribly offensive movie? Maybe, but I’m willing to let that go. A gift is a gift. But it’s like the generic body wash set your Christmas visitors get you (“Oh, I love the smell of strawberry passion!”); if you know anything about me, you’d know NOT to get me body wash. And there’s the rub: Johnny knows nothing about Indian Country, so much so that he based his whole Tonto look off of a painting whose creator acknowledged was NOT historically accurate. Like, at all. If Depp got to know his newly adopted brothers and sisters of the Plains, he’d realize there’s a TON that could be done with $5 million. Scholarship endowments, capital-building projects, infrastructure development…

So, yes, thank you for this gesture, Mr. Depp. But, please, look into how you can really help us. Pump some funding into programs trying to dig us out of crippling poverty and unemployment; advertise and promote ventures trying to get traditional foods back into our diets; talk to the dozens of kids who contemplate suicide every day; visit our underfunded schools and hospitals. Don’t want to get too deep too fast? That’s OK. Produce a Native-led film project. Start an arts program. Protest Big Oil with us. Be #idlenomoreHarriman: Is Johnny Depp really going to save Wounded Knee?

By Peter HarrimanDepp said he might buy Czywczynski’s land for the tribe, evidently undeterred by a price approaching $4 million.

Perhaps not coincidentally, Depp has a movie in theaters this summer in which he plays the Lone Ranger’s iconic sidekick. In interviews, Depp has said he might be a descendant of Cherokee or Creek ancestors, and in New Mexico last year, where “The Lone Ranger” was in production, Depp was adopted into the Comanche Nation.

But Depp has not traded on a tribal past until now, and his painted-face portrayal of Tonto has raised eyebrows. Is his Wounded Knee offer in the nature of appeasement?And:Depp might be entirely well motivated. But instead of spectacularly overpaying for land recent Shannon County sales suggest is worth about $300 an acre, if Depp wants to write a big check on the tribe’s behalf, he should give them a stake in the 21st century Black Hills.

Economic development at Pine Ridge is nearly impossible, in part because of its remote location. But the Black Hills are thriving. A cursory check of Rapid City realtors’ commercial listings shows a 10-building tract with an accompanying liquor license and 300 slot machines on Deadwood’s Main Street is available for $4.5 million.

There is an ice plant in Rapid City for sale for $3.2 million. A 105-room Rodeway Inn on the road to Mount Rushmore is being offered for $2.25 million. About 200 acres of development land near Sheridan Lake can be had for $1.59 million. Any or all of these would be of greater tangible benefit to the Oglala Sioux in 2013 than overpriced rangeland at Wounded Knee.Johnny Depp's Wounded Knee offer called generous, but some think it's misguided

By Leslie ReedChuck Trimble of Omaha, a Native American rights advocate and journalist who is an enrolled member of the Oglala Lakota nation, is among those who think Depp should do something else with his money.

“I think it's very generous of him, but there are quite a number of people who wish he wouldn't do this,” Trimble said. “If he wants to give millions, he should give it to a cause, and not pay it to a man who is holding the Wounded Knee site for a price—and it's very questionable how he got it in the first place.”And:Trimble said the pain of Wounded Knee remains fresh.

“The sore just won't heal,” he said. “Poor Johnny Depp. He's still trying to sell his Tonto role and hoping there won't be a backlash from Indian country. He's doing his best—he meant well. He still means well.”Why Johnny Depp spending anything more than a few thousand bucks for Wounded Knee would be a big mistake

And finally:

Indians to Johnny Depp: 'Keep Your Word, Buy Wounded Knee'Neither party has heard from Depp yet, but an online petition at Change.org directed at Depp and his agent seeks to push the actor to make good on his statements. Referencing Native peoples' history of disappointment at empty promises, the petition reads as follows:

"Keep your word. Promises to indigenous people are frequently made and broken. You promised to buy Wounded Knee and give it to the Sioux Nation. The owners want to sell. Keep your word. Buy Wounded Knee and gift it freely to the Sioux Nation."Comment:  The consensus seems to be that regardless of Depp's motives, buying Wounded Knee would be a good thing to do. But he could help more by donating money to other causes rather than wasting it on overpriced land.

The more cynical among us thought, "If Depp wants to purchase Wounded Knee, why doesn't he pick up the phone and do it? In fact, why didn't he do it in June, when the property went on the market? It's a mighty big coincidence that he mentioned this idea only after The Lone Ranger started tanking."

For more on Johnny Depp and Tonto, see Why The Lone Ranger Flopped and Ranger too Racist to Reboot.

Depp may buy Wounded Knee

A Facebook friend said she'd heard a rumor about Johnny Depp's buying Wounded Knee. I found the article below and the story took off.

'The last few years have been a bit bumpy': Johnny Depp on life after Vanessa Paradis--and cheating death on his new movie

By Martyn PalmerSuch is Depp’s commitment to the Native American cause, he is planning to spend millions of his own money to return land, Wounded Knee, in South Dakota, to their ownership.

The site, the scene of an 1890 massacre, is up for sale for $3.9 million. Local Native Americans say they cannot afford to buy it. Depp is outraged.

‘It’s very sacred ground and many atrocities were committed against the Sioux there. And in the 1970s there was a stand-off between the Feds (Federal government) and the people who should own that land. This historical land is so important to the Sioux culture and all I want to do is buy it and give it back. Why doesn’t the government do that?’’

Is he really prepared to pay for the land?

‘I am doing my best to make that happen. It’s land they were pushed on to and then they were massacred there. It really saddens me.’The Last Real Indians website confirmed that Depp's statement wasn't a complete fiction:

Explosive White Clay, Walking out on Nebraska’s Gov. & Johnny Depp buying Wounded Knee --Oglala President Bryan Brewer[LRI] *pause* [awkward silence from interviewer as the goosebumps settle] Uhhh, is that all Mr. President about White Clay for now [President Brewer chuckles], how about Johnny Depp, is it true you’ve been in contact with him about possibly buying Wounded Knee?

[BREWER] Yes! Johnny Depp, I’ve been put in contact with his representatives and we had a talk. They expressed to me that he’s interested in potentially securing Wounded Knee for us and all I can say is that I would love for Johnny Depp to come out, the Lakota Nation would welcome him for a sit-down to see that our name “Lakota” truly means Allies or Friends.The media quickly picked up on this potential blockbuster news:

Johnny Depp wants to buy the site of Wounded Knee massacre and give it back to the Native Americans

By Meghan KeneallyThe Lone Ranger opened on July 3 and is estimated to lose between $150million and $200million due to the film's $215million production budget and additional $175million for marketing.

The money is no matter to Depp, however, as he plans to make the move for Wounded Knee using his own personal savings.

Depp's standard salary is said to be around $20million per picture, and his total net worth is in the $200million to $300million range.

With that deep of a bank account, Wounded Knee's asking price of $3.9million should not cause a second glance.This article states what many people are thinking about the connection between The Lone Ranger and buying Wounded Knee:

Johnny Depp 'Tonto' Racist? 'Lone Ranger' Actor Spending Millions On Wounded Knee Massacre Site to Give Back to Native Americans (PHOTOS)

By Julia Lynn Rubin"Without an accurate pop-culture idea of a real-life Native American in moviegoers' heads, Tonto is less of an individual character than he is a key piece of the popular image of a large and diverse population. The stereotype is particularly detrimental for its fantastical elements," pointed out Adrienne Keene of Native Appropriations.

However, it appears as though Depp wants to reverse this idea, or at the very least, try to do something positive for the Native American community. "It's very sacred ground and many atrocities were committed against the Sioux there," he said of Wounded Knee in a recent interview with Mail On Sunday.Yeah, Depp wants to reverse the idea...that he created with his version of Tonto. Because his stereotypical portrayal is causing the movie to tank.

For more on Johnny Depp and Tonto, see Why The Lone Ranger Flopped and Ranger too Racist to Reboot.

Tribe may seize Wounded Knee

With sales pending, tribe moves to seize Wounded Knee

By Brandon EcoffeyWhen James Czywczynski first announced that he was selling the two forty acre tracts of land, one at Wounded Knee and one at Porcupine Butte, for a total of $4.9 million, many people scoffed at the notion that someone would be willing to pay that much for the land.

Nonetheless as the months have passed and several potential buyers are now negotiating a final deal on the land the Oglala Sioux Tribe has decided to take action and file in federal court under the premise of eminent domain to seize the land.

On Thursday, May16, the Oglala Sioux Tribal council voted 14-0 to file in federal court for eminent domain over the land that Czywczynski, a nonmember, owns at Wounded Knee. While many have praised the tribe for exercising an established right of any government, the legal efficacy of this action is still undetermined.Could it work?Although the tribe is granted this authority under its own constitution the legal waters become murky when it is acknowledged that the land owned by the seller is not tribal land and the seller is not a tribal member.

Speaking under the condition of anonymity one top federal Indian law attorney in Washington D.C. told Native Sun News that it would be highly unlikely that eminent domain could be used on the lands at Wounded Knee.

“It would be very hard for me to see the tribe pull this off,” the source said. “If this was truly a viable option for tribes than it would be extremely easy for tribes to consolidate their land bases. They could simply seize whatever they wanted from non-members within the confines of the reservation, provided they pay just compensation. Who determines what just compensation is?”

The lawyer also said that historically tribal jurisdiction is respected when the land is tribal land held in trust however when the land is owned by a non-Native and is not in trust the situation has been interpreted inversely by the courts.

Some tribal legal experts however feel that the tribe does have some legal standing to seize the land.

“The land in question is private, it is on the reservation and is needed for a public purpose, given its historical, cultural and traditional significance to the tribe,” said longtime tribal judge and law professor Patrick Lee. “Jurisdiction is always an issue when nonmembers are involved. Tribal ordinance 93-12 provides that nonmembers impliedly consent to tribal jurisdiction by owning land or by possession or use of any property situated within the exterior boundaries of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

Procedurally that is a very strong position for the tribe to be in should the owner challenge tribal jurisdiction” added Lee.Eminent Domain and a Horse Slaughterhouse at Wounded Knee?

By Vincent SchillingAs the sale of the historic Wounded Knee site looms with several offers on the table for owner James Czywczynski, the Oglala Sioux Tribe has moved to seize the land using eminent domain, according to a report by Brandon Ecoffey, the managing editor of Native Sun News.

In addition to this development, a petition on a Care2 website claims that one of the parties interested in purchasing the site wants to build a horse slaughtering plant and has garnered more than 38,000 signatures.

According to Denise Mesteth, Tribal Land Office Director, the tribe is intending to seek recovery of the Wounded Knee site through eminent domain, however the claims that the tribe would allow a horse slaughterhouse to be built on or near Wounded Knee were false.

“That isn't right; it is definitely a misleading petition. It is amazing how rumors get around. This may have been an effort to hinder the eminent domain move,” said Mesteth.Comment:  If the Oglala Sioux tried but failed to seize the land via eminent domain, it still would raise awareness of the issue. The sale of Wounded Knee would become an even bigger story than it is now.

For more on Wounded Knee, see Holocaust Museum at Wounded Knee? and Wounded Knee Sale Delayed.

Holocaust museum at Wounded Knee?

Native Sun News: Wounded Knee descendants speak out

Many see museum at Wounded Knee as positive thing

By Brandon EcoffeyMargo Iron Hawk, a Mnicoujou elder who is also a descendant of Wounded Knee, supports the erection of a memorial at Wounded Knee.

“It would be good to have a memorial, for our youth to be proud of. To tell why our ancestors died and how we survived. We can see it in our youth; they need to be given something to be proud of and shown where they come from,” she said.

Support for a possible memorial, although not unanimous, has significant backing from Lakota people throughout reservations in South Dakota. Craig Dillon, Oglala Sioux tribal councilman, recently told the British Publication The Guardian that he was in favor of a museum and a place where vendors could sell what they produce.

Retired owner of Native Sun News, Tim Giago (Oglala Lakota), has recently proposed an idea to build a Native American Holocaust Museum at Wounded Knee where an accurate depiction of the plight of Native people could be told, and tribal members on social media have expressed support for a monument to those who have passed away there, if it is done in a respectful way. Joe Brings Plenty feels that it could be a chance for the Mnicoujou to show the world what really happened at Wounded Knee.

“I would support a memorial park erected at the location, with walkways and monuments showing where the teepees and events occurred. There needs to be more information available to educate the public. The American public at this point has been misled by naming this a battle; it was never a battle. It was a massacre that ended tragically with many innocent lives taken and changed forever. The historical trauma our relatives, as well as ourselves, have faced in the past years is fatal to our Nation’s health. A memorial park would assist in retelling a history and honorable struggle of our nations will to live. This would give us an opportunity to honor our relatives in a good way, to remember them and allow them to be remembered in the way we know they deserved to be remembered, with the greatness they lived and passed on through the traditional culture we continue to practice today” he said.Holocaust Museum of the Indigenous People should be built at Wounded KneeWounded Knee may have been the final chapter on this holocaust of indigenous people. It is only right that the Oglala Lakota build a Holocaust Museum of the Indigenous People right here on the grounds where the massacre of the Lakota took place on Dec. 29, 1890.

The museum could house the history of the millions who died from the tip of South America to the top of North America. Every indigenous tribe has its stories of the death and destruction that was visited upon their people. A museum of this nature would draw visitors from around the world and it would inform and educate the masses as to the true history of the Natives of this Hemisphere. But more than that, the museum would serve as a stark reminder that the hands of the invaders were not clean, but they were the hands of a people who tried in vain to destroy a culture and a people.

Whether that destruction came in the form of forced religions or in the quest for gold, indigenous people died in its wake. There are hundreds of stories to be told and hundreds of photos and artifacts to substantiate the holocaust of the Native people. It should be a priority venture for the Oglala Sioux Tribe and there should be many wealthy people and the United States government itself that would contribute money and the expertise to make the Holocaust Museum of the Indigenous People a reality.

It is time to stop talking about the genocide foisted upon us and to do something about it. This idea is one that is achievable. We now need the Lakota people of vision to cease upon it and make it happen. It is time to tell the true history of the invasion of the Americas and about the millions of deaths that ensued.

And the Lakota People should be the leaders in this endeavor because for all intent and purposes, the holocaust of the indigenous people ended on the Sacred Grounds at Wounded Knee.Comment:  There is, or was, a Wounded Knee Museum already. I'm not sure how the proposed museum would be different. I guess it might focus more on the centuries of conquest and genocide.

For more on the subject, see Pine Ridge Needs Tourism and Fire Totals Wounded Knee Museum.

Wounded Knee sale delayed

Wounded Knee Historic Site Now for Sale on the Open Market

By Vincent SchillingThe May 1 deadline came and went without a word from the Oglala Sioux Tribe, so James Czywczynski, who owns the site of the Wounded Knee massacre, has put the land on the open market.

“They had until today; the deadline was May 1 to come up with the money. Now we have put it on the open market nationally and internationally. It is just unfortunate,” Czywczynski said.

“I gave the tribe 30 years and five months to buy this property, and it isn't as if they didn't have the money, they could have done a bond issue—I have a friend who could have done a bond issue for them,” he said.

“If they would just have taken $250,000 to copy million, they could have bought that property and owned it today. But, for some reason, they cannot see economic development and they cannot see tourism and they cannot relate. They want everything for free is what it amounts to I guess,” he said.

Though Czywczynski says he has not yet sold the property, he has had many interested parties contact him.

“We are already getting a flock of calls from people including realtors… a local one in South Dakota that has a woman who wants to buy the land and give it to the Oglala Sioux,” he said.

Czywczynski says he would welcome anyone who wants to purchase the land and then give it to the tribe. “I would be glad to have that happen. Somebody from Al Jazeera might buy it too, or some foreign country. This is worldwide now.”

"Without a word from the Oglala Sioux Tribe" directly to Czywczynski, perhaps. But I think tribal officials have been talking about this sale in the media. As the following story indicates:

Official: Tribe can't pay for Wounded Knee siteThe president of a South Dakota tribe facing a deadline on whether to buy a piece of land where 300 of their ancestors were massacred more than a century ago says his tribe does not have the money for the purchase.

The Oglala Sioux faced a Wednesday deadline to buy a 40-acre piece of the Wounded Knee National Historic Landmark on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

Owner James Czywczynski had said if the tribe did not agree to the $4.9 million asking price for that parcel and another parcel, he would open up bidding to outside investors.

Tribal president Bryan Brewer tells The Associated Press the tribe will not purchase the land, which has been appraised at less than $7,000 apiece.Predictably, Czywczynski blinked before he received a firestorm of anger directed at him:

Sale of 'Wounded Knee' Massacre Site Extended

By Alan FarnhamCzywczynski tells ABC News he has tried for 30 years to sell the property for lesser amounts to local tribes, who have, he says, consistently ignored his overtures. Only when he offered to sell the property to any bidder—including anybody wanting to develop it—did the tribes protest.

Brandon Ecoffey, managing editor of Native Sun News, first to break the news of the pending sale, confirms Czywczynski's account: "For 30 years he's been trying to sell it to the tribes. He's sent letters to tribal leaders and to congressmen. He's never gotten anyone to bite. It's only this time, when he put a deadline on it, that the story has taken off."

Originally Czywczynski set a deadline for bids of May 1. He now tells ABC News he has decided to extend that by as much as a month, during which the acreage will remain up for grabs to the tribes, to a commercial buyer, or to a philanthropist who might want to buy the land and give it back to the tribes.

The value of the land, as appraised by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, is $7,000. Is Czywczynski's price of almost $5 million an unseemly attempt to cash in on the land's bloody infamy?

Wounded Knee Sale Negotiations Fall Through

By Derek OlsonEven though the tribes failed to reach an agreement with Czywczynski, they're looking at different ways to keep the land from being developed. That includes appealing to President Obama and Senator Tim Johnson to designate the land a National Historic Landmark. However, it's more likely the sale will be held up in tribal court.

"They could at least get a decision in their favor on their homeland and let them battle the federal end of it," Charging Elk Sr. said.

If any development does move forward, tribal members vow to hold demonstrations at the site.

"I'm going to be right there with them," Brewer said.We don't know what the outcome will be, of course. But I'm betting Czywczynski won't sell the property to a private party and won't get the $4.9 million he's asking. Not from the Oglala Sioux, anyway.

For more on Wounded Knee, see Why Doesn't Depp Buy Wounded Knee? and Wounded Knee Seller "Should Be Ashamed."

Why doesn't Depp buy Wounded Knee?

The imminent sale of two Wounded Knee properties prompted me to post this on Facebook:

Hey, Johnny Depp...wanna prove your American Indian cred? Take a fraction of your Lone Ranger salary, buy Wounded Knee, and donate it to the tribe.

Charles Trimble: Saving sacred ground--Wounded Knee saga

It might cost you a hundred times more than the scholarships you've given to Navajo students...but that's kind of the point.

I said something similar when the Lakota were trying to buy Pe' Sla. But this is even more of an opportunity for Johnny to ride to the rescue.

What can we do?

A brief discussion of the proposed sale:Paying anything more than 10 grand for the 40 acres would encourage further robbery. I've been talking to some folks over the Eminent Domain issue trying to see if it can get any traction. Also the tribe should make it public that it will refuse business licenses to anyone who buys the land and also refuse their access to utilities. There is actually an amazing opportunity for Indian Country as a whole to utilize the courts on this case in a way that may have very positive future implications. It's just whether anyone in tribal council can access the legal minds to map it out.Several good points here. The tribe should use its legal and governmental powers to the fullest. Activists should use their power to instigate media attention and protests. And the rest of Indian country should see this as an opportunity to join in and establish a precedent. No more highway robbery of land from Indians!

Heck, if Depp made a video protesting the sale of Wounded Knee, the Keystone XL pipeline, or sequestration's effects on Indian country, I'd be impressed. But a greeting for the Gathering of Nations? No.

For more on Johnny Depp, see Hammer Says Indians Love Depp and Little Criticism of Depp's Tonto?!

Phony pro-gun Indian image

Perhaps because of the 40th anniversary of Wounded Knee II, this image was floating around Facebook recently. I didn't pay attention to it until someone asked me about it. Then I reposted it with the following comments:



1) Wounded Knee wasn't a school shooting. 2) The massacre happened while the troops were disarming the Lakota, not after. 3) More guns wouldn't have made a difference since the US had more or less won at that point. 4) Gun nuts are stupid.

Also, no one's proposing to take away people's guns. The right-wing hysteria on this point is...hysterical.

Let the discussion begin

This posting led to the following discussion with a Facebook friend:I don't get it. Is the claim of this a stretch, a misleading half truth, is that what you're saying? Confusing. Why then the wording "the US gov shot 290 unarmed Indians at School," emphasis on "at School"?? Context here would be good as the words Wounded Knee are absent from the message, and so is anything that would indicate a school. Then the comparison to Sandy Hook which is named, though the location of this pic is not. Very confusing. And yet being 'shared' like crazy, as usual on Fb, so it's appealing to people for some reason. Why do you think that is?

Let me guess: there was a school at the site of WK in 1890?The year and the number dead makes it clear this refers to Wounded Knee. No, there was no school involved in the massacre. The Lakota were camping in a field, not at a school. I doubt any of the people killed had ever attended a white man's school.

The massacre did occur while the Army was taking the Lakotas' guns. Gun fanatics are using this fact to argue against gun control.

I presume they're trying to arouse liberal sympathy by pretending that gun confiscation was behind Wounded Knee and other Indian massacres. As far as I know, a lack of guns wasn't a significant factor in any battle or massacre, so the claim is false.Why then is this being 'shared' by people, NA people and supporters, with sentiments like "Aho!" and "Never forget, and seemingly without thinking what this meme really says??They aren't as sharp as I am. They're probably not paying attention to the final line. Superficially, the message is, "You think Sandy Hook was bad? Wounded Knee was much worse." But the real message is, "The government kills people after taking their guns, so don't support gun control."A person doesn't have to be sharp to realize this pic is USING Indian people in a message, yet Indian people are sharing it like crazy. It's insidious.If they're sharing it without thinking about or commenting on it critically, they aren't that sharp. The "290 unarmed Indians at school" line is patently false.

I'm pretty sure the picture isn't from Wounded Knee either. The two guys in front look like white men leading a prayer service. Why would people be lined up to pray just before a massacre when they were surrounded by machine guns?You saying people can't read? Can't see the distortion of facts here? To me, there'd be nothing wrong with posting the pic alone with "never forget (WK)" and sharing/reposting that. But the text part of this, the message re guns and schools or is CLEARLY out of context. And false.I've told you my theory. People are missing the obvious because Facebook encourages mindless sharing. They may do things mindlessly, but I don't.

If you disagree with this theory, what's your explanation for why people are sharing it? You think they know something about the Wounded Knee massacre that I don't? What, exactly?

Image = propagandaSo why the association to WK? And why this week / today when the 40th anniversary of WK is being observed? INSIDIOUS is what I'm saying. Native people sharing this shit all over Fb breaks my heart, it really does. So much for the "respect" NA people are fighting so hard for, and by not THINKING a simple thought... i.e. "Hey, was there even a school at WK?" or "Where was this pic taken?" In essence, NA people--mostly Democrat leaning people--are sharing R-wing propaganda....against themselves and against credibility. *SMH. Insidious.As I said, you theoretically arouse liberal sympathy for guns by painting the government as an evil killer of innocent unarmed people. Of which Wounded Knee is the most famous example.

Never mind that this same government used force to integrate the schools and safeguard other civil rights. It's silly to think the government still wants to massacre civilians 123 years later.

As for why now, it could be just a coincidence. It's a little farfetched to think anyone's making a connection between Wounded Knee II, which happened in 1973, and this image. Wounded Knee II happened in the same area but it wasn't about the massacre 83 years earlier. Not directly, anyway.

People may be sharing this because everyone's talking about Wounded Knee II today, and it reminds them of Wounded Knee I. But I doubt someone created it to be shared today. I bet it's been floating around for weeks or months, and just gained currency today.Yea "reminds" of WK (insidious) but is this not obvious distortion to ANYONE who reads it? A school has nothing to do with WK, ought to be the first clue. And this to Indian people who are so proud of KNOWING their history. This is bullshit.The sepia-toned photograph of Indians is meant to remind you of Wounded Knee. But pictures of mangled bodies might not arouse the same sympathy. Perhaps more important, you couldn't pretend Wounded Knee involved a crowd gathered at a school. Showing the poor defenseless "school shooting victims" before the gun-taking government slaughtered them increases the propaganda effect.

As for whether it's obvious, ask people who shared it without commenting on the pro-gun message. Let's see what they say.

P.S. This is a good case for your Word of the Week "insidious." <grin>Yea har har W.O.D= insidious, I'll laugh later, right now I'm just stunned at the stupidity of people.The photo's origin

Another Facebook friend found the original photo online:



It's labeled "Kamloops Indian Residential School Priest Parents Indian Children."

Kamloops is in British Columbia. And what exactly is this school? Wikipedia provides the answer:

Kamloops Indian Residential SchoolThe Kamloops Indian Residential School was part of the Canadian residential school system and one of the 130 schools for First Nations children that operated in Canada between 1874 and 1996. The Kamloops School was opened in 1893 (initially as the Kamloops Industrial School) and continued operation until 1977. Hundreds of Secwepemc children attended the school, often forcibly removed from their homes once attendance became mandatory by law.I thought those were tipis in the background of the cropped version. But they may be planks from a cedar house, and pine trees, in the Pacific Northwest. Had I seen the original photo, I might've guessed that.

Not a bad choice for a fraudulent photo. You have Indians from the right era--the 1890s. They're dressed in the clothing of the times. There are no clearcut cultural identifiers such as tipis or totem poles. And the people look like innocents before the slaughter.

So the photo is from a residential school. Most of the people look like parents, but a few may be children. In any case, it has nothing to do with Wounded Knee or any massacre with 290 dead. As I thought.

My correspondent was so upset by Natives sharing this image that she posted a plea asking them to stop. Perhaps they heeded her, because the image stopped showing up. Or perhaps it ran its course and people moved on to the next Internet meme.

For more on gun control, see Gun Nuts Fear "Race War" and America's Culture Based on Violence.

40th anniversary of Wounded Knee II

Gunfire, Chants Mark Wounded Knee Anniversary

By Kristi EatonA Pine Ridge Indian Reservation resident who found herself in the middle of the 1973 Wounded Knee occupation said Wednesday amid ceremonial gunfire and chants that little has changed since the fatal standoff.

Faith White Dress was on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation 40 years ago when about 200 members of the American Indian Movement and their supporters huddled in houses, some with guns, to protest alleged corruption within the tribal government. Two Native Americans were killed, an activist went missing and a federal agent was wounded.

White Dress and others gathered Wednesday to remember the fatal 71-day standoff. During gunfire to mark the anniversary of the start of the occupation, she said the Oglala Sioux Tribe is still struggling.

"Unemployment is so high and the oppression is still so bad," she said. "I don't think it's going to take violence. It's going to take a gathering to determine how to bring jobs here. We need libraries. We need more of our children to have a better future."

Hundreds of people walked from nearby villages to the site of the occupation, drumming and chanting. Once at the site, the same place where in 1890 soldiers slaughtered an estimated 300 Native American men, women and children, AIM and their supporters continued to drum and chant and fire off gunshots into the air.

This year's events include memorials for AIM's charismatic leader, Russell Means, who died in October at age 72 after batting throat cancer. This is the first anniversary of the occupation since Means' death.

About 200 people gathered at a high school on Pine Ridge for the second of four planned ceremonies to honor Means. Friends, family and colleagues recalled Means as a man who taught his people how to stand up for themselves.

"He was articulate ... a proud Lakota," said Oglala Sioux president Bryan Brewer. "Today he is a version of our modern day Crazy Horse."Ceremonial Walk Commemorates Wounded Knee Anniversary

By Derek OlsonForty years ago, the American Indian Movement took over the village of Wounded Knee. Protesters spoke out against what they called a corrupt tribal government and discriminatory federal practices. On Wednesday, a number of events marked the anniversary including a walk to the spot where it all took place.
Shortly after 9 a.m. on Wednesday, a group of people gathered in the village of Porcupine on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

"Today, we are here to commemorate the activities that occurred in 1973," AIM supporter Edgar Bear Runner said.

It's one of four groups walking to Wounded Knee. For those in Porcupine, it's an eight mile journey in a wind making it feel much colder than 30.

"Despite the cold temperatures, we walk in their honor and in their memory," Bear Runner said.Pride and heartbreak in anniversary of occupation

Why Wounded Knee II matters

AIM–Wounded Knee II, 40 years later

By Chase Iron EyesSo, AIM is not a legacy; AIM is living. AIM is because of the Native Youth Council, NYC was because of Treaty Councils, Treaty Councils were because of Warrior Societies, Warrior Societies were because of great men like Sitting Bull and Tecumseh and the Peacemaker, great men were because of great women. Since contact our spiritual movement has taken many pan-Indigenous forms and will never die. When we come together we literally shake the world. Tribal Colleges are because of AIM, Language revitalization is because of AIM, Indigenous Education is because of AIM, Ceremony is out in the open because of AIM, Native Youth Movement, HonorEarth, IEN, LRI, Owe Aku, IdleNoMore, and all the grassroots movements we rely on are because AIM fired warning shots to the world that Indigenous peoples are on the rise. All of our movements are constantly evolving into other forces.

It is clear to me that Indigenous peoples should take their place in leading and working with all of humanity. Race is of course a human construct as we are surely all indigenous meaning coming from the universe with spiritual covenants to the land and each other. We are in a state of emergency right now with the Keystone XL pipeline, the petro-backed banking system bound to collapse, drinking water being wasted and poisoned for the benefit of the greedy carbon economy. uranium mining in our territories, sacred sites facing destruction and so on. This I believe to be our role as Indigenous peoples: to share our beautiful world with that of the purported colonizer. They came here to feed an insatiable greed for riches and self but I think they were sent to learn how to respect sacred sites, the land, the water, other humans, other world views, other beings, to learn what true civilization looks like. So let’s honor today and make the most of every day. We are all seeking a spiritual revolution.Comment:  For more on AIM, see Russell Means Was a Fighter and AIM Leads March for Traversie.

Wounded Knee seller "should be ashamed"

The entitlement complex

By Suzanne AdamsThe second story involved a 75-year-old man who wants to charge the Oglala Sioux Tribe in South Dakota $4 million for a 40-acre parcel of land that sits next to where more than 300 of their ancestors are buried at Wounded Knee. The land is also the site of a trading post that burned to the ground during the 1973 Wounded Knee uprising.

According to the AP, the land was appraised for less than $7,000.

The 75-year-old gentleman recently told the tribe that if they don't purchase the land, he'll sell it to the highest bidder, regardless of whether they are a member of the tribe or not.

Tribal leaders claim the man is trying to get a portion of the $20 million settlement the tribe is expected to get from the federal government for the mismanagement of its lands.

The man claims that historical significance of the land justifies the price.

"I'm getting older now and my family and myself want to dispose of this property," the man told the AP. "We just want to see it in the hands of the Indian people rather than put it on the open market to the public."

I can understand wanting to get some compensation for selling such a large parcel of land. I can also understand that the historical significance of the property might increase the value of the land.

But to charge someone more than 560 times what a property is worth is ridiculous--especially a people who have such a horrifically tragic connection to that land.

There are some out there who will say that the guy has a right to sell his property for whatever price he can get for it. Legally he has right to do that, but I think a number of people would find it morally wrong.

When did common sense go out the window? When did it become wrong to say to someone, "I think that's a horrible idea and you should be ashamed of yourself"?Landowner asks Native American tribe for $3.9M for part of Wounded Knee site appraised at $7K

Comment:  Funny how the "free market" often resembles blackmail. If the tribe doesn't pay the exorbitant price, James Czywczynski will sell the land to someone who may destroy the site's sanctity. At the moment, the only option the tribe has is to pay the price or risk Wounded Knee's desecration.

For more on the subject, see Wounded Knee For Sale.

Wounded Knee for sale

Native Sun News: Wounded Knee site put up for sale at $3.9M

By Brandon EcoffeyWounded Knee, the site of one of the most horrific and tragic events in all of American history, is being offered up for sale by its owner.

The family of James A. Czywczynski, owners of two 40 acre sites of land where the slaughter of approximately 300 Lakota men, women, and children took place on Dec 29, 1890 has agreed to sell the land for $3.9 million.

“It is time for our family to sell the land. We would really like to see the land returned to the Lakota people and that is why I am giving them an opportunity to purchase the land before I open it up to others for sale,” said Czywczynski. “I could offer it up for public auction like the Runnels did with Pe’ Sla, but I would prefer that the Lakota people be the ones to purchase it,” he added.And:The site does not include the mass gravesite where the members of the United States 7th Cavalry piled the bodies of those who were murdered that day. However, the parcels of land do include the immediate surrounding area where the massacre took place and the area surrounding Porcupine Butte (the site of KILI radio is not included). It does include the site of the original Wounded Knee Trading Post.

The Czywczynski family has owned the property since 1968, when they purchased the property from the Gildersleeves who had owned the property prior.

During the 1973 occupation of Wounded Knee by the American Indian Movement, Mr. Czywczynski had his home, all of his personal belongings, the trading post he owned (including all of the artifacts inside), and several vehicles destroyed. At the time he and his family were returning from a high school basketball game and were told by the United States Marshall Service that he could not return to their home that night.

The losses the he incurred during the occupation have been included in the $3.9 million offering.History for sale? Man seeking $3.9 million for site near Wounded Knee memorial

By Daniel Simmons-RitchieElected tribal officials said the Oglala Sioux Tribe is interested in purchasing what is considered sacred ground to the tribe but not at a price that far exceeds its actual value.

"I think the tribe should take all necessary action to purchase the land but at a reasonable price. I understand it's a historic site but that shouldn't be a means to take the tribe for a huge amount,” said Garfield Steele, who represents the Wounded Knee District on the tribal council.

Kevin Yellow Bird Steele, who also represents Wounded Knee, said the property is inflated to the point of insult and is an attempted exploitation of a dark chapter in U.S. history.

"As a representative of Wounded Knee District, I'm totally appalled," he said.

According to Shannon County records, the property has an appraised value of $7,000.

Czywczynski, however, cites a second event that brought national attention to Wounded Knee when explaining his asking price for a piece of property in a rural outpost on the reservation.

The asking price, he said, includes compensation for the damage done to his property in 1973 when the American Indian Movement and others occupied the community of Wounded Knee for 71 days in a violent standoff that drew national attention.Some background on Czywczynski's purchase of the land:

Charles Trimble: Attempting to profit from hallowed grounds

Comment:  It's kind of ridiculous to ask $3.9 million for land worth $7,000. It's a shame Czywczynski lost so much, but he should sue the people responsible. Why should anyone pay millions of dollars to make up for pain and suffering they didn't cause?

For more on Wounded Knee, see Fire Totals Wounded Knee Museum and Pine Ridge Needs Tourism.

Fire totals Wounded Knee Museum

Fire totals Wounded Knee Museum in Wall

By Ryan LengerichAn electrical fire has destroyed the 10-year-old Wounded Knee Museum in Wall, dedicated to the 1890 massacre on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

The building is 80 percent wiped out, and the 30 exhibits inside the 2,600-square-foot structure are a total loss after the fire Sunday night.

"It's like a parent losing a child, that is how we are feeling right now," Steve Wyant, the museum co-founder, said Thursday.

Wyant couldn't put an estimate on the building and museum's cost. He expects a full report from fire officials to detail the cause more specifically.Comment:  This would be a great opportunity to rebuild the museum on or near the Pine Ridge Reservation. You know, not too far from Wounded Knee itself?

It kind of belongs there, and it would draw tourists to Pine Ridge. If the owner cares about the Lakota, he should promote them, not their ancestors.

For more on the subject, see Pine Ridge Needs Tourism and The Wounded Knee Museum.

Pine Ridge needs tourism

Impoverished SD Indian tribe debates developmentThe Oglala Sioux Tribe occupies a seemingly prime piece of South Dakota—a vast, scenic reservation that stands near a crossroads for tourists visiting Mount Rushmore, the Badlands, the historic Old West town of Deadwood and other popular sites.

But don't look for museums, hotels, restaurants or even many bathrooms here on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, because the Lakota make little effort to attract visitors or tourism dollars, despite the fact that they are one of the nation's poorest tribes.

A generation after many other American Indians sought to harness their history for profit, the Oglala Sioux are still debating how much culture they are willing to share.

"When you take a community of people where at one point our language was outlawed and parts of our culture were outlawed, it's hard for us to, I guess, open up to the idea of sharing that in a way to make money off of it," said Nick Tilsen, executive director of Thunder Valley, a nonprofit on Pine Ridge set up to keep traditional Lakota culture alive among young people.Some discussion of the Wounded Knee site, which is the primary attraction on the reservation by default:Some tribal members think the site of the Wounded Knee Massacre, where more than 250 men, women and children were killed by the 7th Cavalry in 1890, should be turned into a tourist attraction with a museum. Others are fiercely opposed to development, saying it would be disrespectful to the dead.

The talk of development "hasn't matured yet," said Ivan Sorbel, executive director of the Pine Ridge Chamber of Commerce.And:A museum commemorating the massacre was ransacked and its contents lost in 1973. Another museum dedicated to the massacre draws thousands of people annually, but it's 100 miles north of the reservation in Wall, S.D.—also home to Wall Drug, a famous cluster of stores and tourist attractions offering Western kitsch.

The Wall museum is not affiliated with the Oglala Sioux, although co-founder Lani Van Eck said the facility had the blessing of Wounded Knee residents when it opened in 2003. She and the other co-founders decided to build it along busy Interstate 90 to attract more visitors.Comment:  As a first-time visitor to South Dakota, I can confirm this article's points. The state doesn't do enough to promote tourism on Pine Ridge and neither does the tribe. I discussed some of this in Economic Development on Pine Ridge.

Incidentally, I posted about the Wounded Knee Museum last December. But I forgot about it when I visited South Dakota, and there was no info to remind me of it.

I don't know how well it's doing. "Thousands of visitors annually" could translate to a meager 10-20 a day. But it's a shame that it's not on or near the rez. Pine Ridge needs several attractions like it to draw people from Mt. Rushmore, the Crazy Horse Memorial, and Deadwood.

Wounded Knee is a tough nut to crack from a tourist standpoint. The site is too modest to permit any development or traffic without ruining its solemn character. On the other hand, you don't want visitors to ignore it. You want to get them thinking about it--educate them about it.

If the Lakota had a museum, maybe it could have a huge room with a quarter-size replica of the site. So people could immerse themselves in it, get a feel for what happened, without harming the actual site. Or something like that.

A few visitors still would go to the actual site, miles away, just as they do now. But that or something like it would satisfy most visitors. There must be a way to have your Wounded Knee but protect it too.

In any case, tourism is an untapped possibility for the Lakota. They should get together with the state and start marketing the region's Native heritage. If they're doing it already, they should do more of it.

No doubt money is a big issue here, but still. Where there's a will, there's a way and all that. You can't win the game unless you play it.

For more on the subject, see Pix of My South Dakota Trip and Why Wounded Knee Matters.

Below:  "In a Friday, July 20, 2012, photo, from the left; Tricia Bear Eagle, Helen Red Feather, Rudell Bear Shirt and Edward Jealous Of Him, all of Wounded Knee, S.D., wait for tourists near the site of the Wounded Knee Massacre on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation at a self-made visitors center. A generation after many other American Indians sought to harness their history for profit, the Oglala Sioux Tribe is still debating how much culture they are willing to share with tourists." (AP Photo/Kristi Eaton)

Pix of my South Dakota trip

I plan to write some articles about my South Dakota trip in June. Meanwhile, here are my photos of the trip. I trust the captions will explain our experiences well enough.

Day 1

LAX to downtown Rapid City--June 24, 2012 (7 am-3:30 pm)

Prairie Edge Gallery--June 24, 2012 (3:30-5:30 pm)

Dinosaur Park--June 24, 2012 (5:30-6:30 pm)

Etta Mine--June 24, 2012 (6:30-7:30 pm)

Cemetery and Mt. Rushmore--June 24, 2012 (7:30-10 pm)

Day 2

Hotel and Scenic, SD--June 25, 2012 (morning)

Sheep Mountain--June 25, 2012 (morning)

Fossil-hunting--June 25, 2012 (morning)

Visitor center and Stronghold--June 25, 2012 (morning)

Red Cloud Indian School--June 25, 2012 (late morning)

Pine Ridge and Whiteclay--June 25, 2012 (early afternoon)

Wounded Knee--June 25, 2012 (afternoon)

Lakota War Pony Races--June 25, 2012 (afternoon)

Oglala Lakota College--June 25, 2012 (afternoon)

Lakota Prairie Ranch Resort--June 25, 2012 (late afternoon)

Thunderstorm--June 25, 2012 (early evening)

Day 3

Iron Mountain Road--June 26, 2012 (early morning)

Custer State Park and Wind Cave--June 26, 2012 (morning)

Into the cave--June 26, 2012 (early afternoon)

Hole in the Wall and Needles Highway--June 26, 2012 (afternoon)

Sylvan Lake and Rapid City--June 26, 2012 (late afternoon)

Day 4

Hunting geodes and finding Nemo--June 27, 2012 (morning)

Homestake Gold Mine and Terry Peak--June 27, 2012 (morning)

Spearfish Canyon and Deadwood--June 27, 2012 (early afternoon)

Bus tour and Boot Hill--June 27, 2012 (afternoon)

Walking in Deadwood--June 27, 2012 (afternoon)

Day 5

Black Hills Institute--June 28, 2012 (morning)

Gift shop and Crazy Horse Memorial--June 28, 2012 (morning)

On the Crazy Horse Memorial--June 28, 2012 (early afternoon)

Visitor center and gift shop--June 28, 2012 (afternoon)

Veranda and Lakota dancers--June 28, 2012 (afternoon)

Sculptor's studio and cultural center--June 28, 2012 (afternoon)

Nature Gates and Rapid City--June 28, 2012 (afternoon)

Day 6

Hotel and Memorial Park--June 29, 2012 (morning)

City of Presidents, part 1--June 29, 2012 (morning)

City of Presidents, part 2--June 29, 2012 (morning)

City of Presidents, part 3--June 29, 2012 (late morning)

City of Presidents, part 4--June 29, 2012 (early afternoon)

Fountains and park statues--June 29, 2012 (afternoon)

Rose garden and flight home--June 29, 2012 (afternoon)

Plus a few postings on related subjects:

Cultural center at Crazy Horse Memorial
Anti-suicide campaign at Lakota college
Hundreds of Sun Dances
Economic development on Pine Ridge

South Dakota trip schedule (Day 2)

8:45 AM
Badlands--Red Shirt Table and Cuny Table

10:00 AM
Red Cloud Heritage Center at the Red Cloud Indian School

11:00-11:30 AM
Drive through Pine Ridge and Whiteclay, Nebraska

11:30 AM
Lunch and meeting with tribal chairman

1:00 PM
Wounded Knee massacre site--with prayer

2:30 PM
Thunder Valley Ceremonial Grounds--Sun Dance

4:30 PM
Lakota Prairie Ranch Resort--dinner

For more on the subject, see South Dakota Trip Schedule (Day 1) and Off to South Dakota.

Means at Wounded Knee conference

Old divisions flare as AIM leaders reunite

Wounded Knee siege of 1973 still raw topic

By Peter HarrimanOld hatred dies hard.

Many of the archetypal survivors of the 1973 Wounded Knee occupation met again Friday at Augustana College’s Center for Western Studies for the 44th annual Dakota Conference.

They were joined by a second generation in Denise Maloney, daughter of slain Indian activist Anna Mae Aquash. Maloney addressed the gathering via Skype. Also there was John Trimbach, son of FBI agent Joseph Trimbach. John’s book, “American Indian Mafia,” denigrates the American Indian Movement’s key leaders, including Russell Means, Dennis Banks and Clyde Bellecourt.

The three AIM icons attended conference sessions throughout the day. Means gave the keynote address Friday evening.And:Trimbach called the AIM leaders “liars, thieves and killers.” He said much of Means’ book, “Where White Men Fear to Tread,” was “hot air,” but added, “I believe Russell when he said he and Dennis Banks could make people disappear.”

Like Banks, Means did not joust with Trimbach. Indeed, he was out of the room during much of the attack Trimbach directed at him. But Means had his own criticism of the conference and offered his own view of what the Wounded Knee occupation and AIM accomplished.

He called the conference “a South Dakota academics’ mutual masturbation society. It’s exactly the way South Dakota wants Indian history to be interpreted.”

Means said the international attention drawn to the lengthy Wounded Knee occupation was the spark that “brought about the international political sophistication of Indian people.

“I went up and down this hemisphere looking for that spark. I thought I found it in Nicaragua, but I was wrong. I thought I found it in the Northwest Territories, but I was wrong,” he said.

Then he said he looked to his own Oglala Lakota tribe at Pine Ridge.

Trimbach said academic history is complicit in perpetuating an incorrect view of AIM, “the most falsified movement in American history.” Means criticized a lack of a definitive academic history of AIM. He said it was a foundation of the effort of tribes in the 20th century to assert sovereignty.

“If you want to be sovereign, you have to act sovereign,” he said.Native Sun News: Conference opens wounds of Wounded Knee

By Karin EagleAn incident more representative of the mixed bag of emotions the conference stirred up occurred during a discussion Means participated in that led to questions posed by Stew Magnuson, author of “The Death of Raymond Yellow Thunder: And Other True Stories from the Nebraska-Pine Ridge Border Towns,” which highlights the racial tension found around the reservations in South Dakota.

Magnuson, who participated in the conference as a keynote speaker during the first night’s dinner presentation, questioned Means about Ray Robinson, a black civil rights activist who traveled to Wounded Knee in 1973.

Robinson has never been heard from or located since.

Means responded by standing and addressing Magnuson: “I’m going to tell you this–no charges from 1974 to 2002. Did anyone hear of Ray Robinson? Did anyone ever shoot him, stab him, beat him or disappear him?”

“It was a generation later that the badmouthing of Wounded Knee continues,” Means said. “You and people like you are to perpetuate this erroneous image you have of who we are. And I’m sick and tired of you bringing up these false accusations based on what? Nothing!’”

Means further expressed his anger that AIM has been repeatedly associated with Robinson’s disappearance.Means: Sovereignty benefits U.S.

By Peter HarrimanIn a rambling 90-minute address Friday evening that wove personal history with highlights of the American Indian Movement, famed AIM leader and activist Russell Means on reiterated themes he advanced earlier in the day at Augustana College’s annual Dakota Conference, which focused on the 1973 Wounded Knee occupation.

In a keynote address in a packed Reconciliation Chapel, Means said AIM and its occupation of Wounded Knee in 1973 ignited a spark of Indian sovereignty.

He also maintained that will work to the benefit of the U.S. in general.

Means said when he led a delegation of traditional tribal people to Washington, D.C., and created the Republic of Lacotah in 2007, claiming he was severing tribal ties with U.S. treaties and restoring traditional tribal governments, he was carrying out his greatest personal legacy from Wounded Knee.

“I hope young people latch on to this. I know someone will. Some student 20 or 30 years from now,” will see the significance of the sovereignty initiative in that, Means said.

“Continually allowing of your government to violate the Constitution of the United States of America on a daily basis with us has caught up with you, hasn’t it?” Means said of government failings in living up to tribal treaty obligations.

“Your representatives don’t care. Your Supreme Court is political, not judicial. Your president is a quasi-king.

“You’re the new Indians,” he said, throwing his arms wide. “Welcome aboard.”Comment:  Judging by the article, Means isn't clear on how Indian sovereignty will benefit Americans. I guess he's saying it provides an alternate model that isn't a corrupt failure.

But many tribes use a standard chairperson/council/court system of checks and balances, just like the US. And many tribal governments are supposedly corrupt or at least unresponsive to the people.

I wonder which tribal governments does Means consider the ideal? Other than his own nonexistent Republic of Lakotah, that is.

For more on the subject, see Wounded Knee II's Positive Effects and Controversy in Wounded Knee.