The beginning of part two focuses on the Dakota, their ways of life and delves deeper into the atrocities of the Dakota War. Towards the end of part two, Ojibwe lifeways are touched on, including traditional foods and how birch bark was integral to daily life.
Part three focuses on the allotment of land and blood quantum by discussing what happened to the White Earth Reservation, which was created in 1867, when the Nelson Act was passed in 1889. Boarding schools are also discussed more in depth in this segment.
“One of the first Native traditions to come under assault at the boarding schools was the names of the Indian students,”¯ one of the students says in the video. “Symbolically, the casting off of the Indian name and the assumption of a Christian name was the first sign that civility had indeed touched the savage.”
Part four starts the discussion about economic revitalization through American Indian gaming, how it has helped not just Natives and the pros and cons of the industry. Toward the end, see how much a random sampling of people around the university know about Native Americans.
The final installment of the documentary discusses working toward justice and how an apology will begin the healing process.
Photo credit: Treaty of Traverse des Sioux, Minn. July 23,1851 [Sioux]. From painting by Frank Barnell Mayer.
Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may
not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.