Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee is a great book to read about the history of the Oglala Sioux tribe (as well as other tribes). It has a heart-wrenching account of the 1890 massacre at Wounded Knee.
Skins is a movie about two brothers on the Pine Ridge reservation. It was filmed at Pine Ridge and many of the Lakota people appear in it. It documents the problems of alcoholism on the rez and the problem that the town of White Clay, Nebraska poses for the reservation. It will also give you a better understanding of what life is like on the rez. *Note* This film does contain offensive language.
A Tattoo On My Heart is a film about the 1973 occupation of Wounded Knee.
On February 27, 1973 traditional and AIM leaders chose another location to make a stand–the site of the 1890 massacre at Wounded Knee. Cold, hungry, and armed only with hunting rifles, fake guns, and one AK-47, they held out for 71 days against the US government. Over 500,000 rounds were exchanged between federal officers and Indians during the siege. Two Indians were killed, and several other wounded. Nearly 600 federal criminal charges were filed. A Tattoo on My Heart: The Warriors of Wounded Knee 1973 tells this dramatic and emotional story in the words of t hose men and women who struggled for survival inside the bunkers and ravines at Wounded Knee.
Incident at Oglala In 1975, armed FBI agents illegally entered the Pine Ridge reservation and gunfire erupted - one American Indian and two FBI agents were killed. After the largest manhunt in FBI history, three men were apprehended - only one, Leonard Pletier, was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison.
From the beginning, Peltier's case has been dogged with conttoversy. Many people, including some of America's greatest legal minds, believe Peltier is an innocent man.
Twelve years ago, Robert Redford visited Leonard Peltier in prison. Today after years of struggel with the FBI and the prison system, he and director Michael Apted (Gorillas in teh Mist) are able to present this film.
