Wounded Knee

The film Burry My Heart at Wounded Knee documents the Sioux’s resistance to the “Indians Removal” policies. In 1868, the United States signed a treaty with the Sioux guaranteeing them their ownership to Black Hill, and their rights to hunt. The government accordingly built reservation to relocate the Sioux, promising them food, cloth and education.   However, by the 1876, the U.S government started to persuade Indians to give up Black Hill.  
Chief Red Cloud agreed to sign the 1868 treaty, and moved to the reservation to protect his people. Although he refused to sell Black Hill, he did not join other war leaders in their fights against the U.S. On the other hand, Sitting Bull resisted all the government’s efforts to relocate his people .He fought the U.S troops in Little Big Horn Valley in 1876, and when he was defeated , he moved with his people to the Canadian borders . Eventually, he had no choice but to move to the reservation where he continued to resist the U.S efforts to assimilate Indians. Until his death, Sitting Bull fought with no success Senator’s Dawes proposals to buy Black Hill.   In the meantime, Wovoka, a religious leader began spreading his vision .He claimed that the whites would soon perish, but for this to happen, Indians must abandon the whites’ culture, and instead of mourning their loved ones, they must perform a dance prayer. White officials became alarmed at this religious fervor and in banned the dance on Lakota reservations.   On the U.S side, President Grant believed that assimilation of Indians was important for their survival; however, he supported using military force to relocate them since they failed to obey the removal orders. On the hand, Senator Dawes- a strong believer in “civilizing” natives-, lobbied to move Indians into a reservation where each man would receive 160 acres to farm, and achieve self-sufficiency.   Charles Eastman, who was seen as a proof to the success of assimilation was torn between the two cultures. He tried...