Monday, December 1st: Welcome Back!

Goal:
React to and analyze the film,  Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee, to culminate our exploration of Native American history.

Starter:

• What have you learned about what happened with Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, on August 9. 
• What do you know about what has happened in Ferguson since then and most recently?
• How was your Thanksgiving break? Share a highlight with your starter discussion buddy.
  
  

Agenda
1. Discussion/activity about the Grand Jury's decision in Ferguson, MO

2. Homework/Schedule for the week

3.  Review the Battle of Little Bighorn and the conflict between the Sioux Nation and the U.S. government: What do you remember?

4. Ashley provides some context on the film (see the end of today's post)

5. Begin Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee and take notes for the.....
LAST JOURNAL ASSIGNMENT!
Write a critical reaction to the film  (Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee) that includes a solid two paragraph response (min. 5 sentences per paragraph):

Paragraph #1: Emotional Reactions
What emotions did this film evoke for you and which specific scene(s) caused those reactions the most?

Paragraph #2: Critical Thought
Where did you see bias? In what way(s) do you question the perspective or evidence? This could either be critique of the filmmakers OR critique of one or more characters in the film. 


Context on the film

• Battle of Little Bighorn occurred in Montana, on Sioux nation territory on June 25-26, 1876
• According to Wikipedia: The Wounded Knee Massacre occurred on December 29, 1890, near Wounded Knee Creek on the Lakota Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Today, Pine Ridge is the eighth-largest reservation in the United States and it is the poorest. The population of Pine Ridge suffer health conditions, including high mortality rates, depression, alcoholism, drug abuse, malnutrition and diabetes, among others. Reservation access to health care is limited compared to urban areas, and it is not sufficient. Unemployment on the reservation hovers between 80% and 85%, and 49% of the population live below the federal poverty level. Many of the families have no electricity, telephone, running water, or sewage systems; and many use wood stoves to heat their homes, depleting limited wood resources.
  
• The Dawes Act of 1887 (also known as the General Allotment Act or the Dawes Severalty Act of 1887),[1][2] adopted by Congress in 1887, authorized the President of the United States to survey American Indian tribal land and divide it into allotments for individual Indians. Those who accepted allotments and lived separately from the tribe would be granted United States citizenship. The Dawes Act was amended in 1891, and again in 1906 by the Burke Act.The Act was named for its creator, Senator Henry Laurens Dawes of Massachusetts. The stated objective of the Dawes Act was to stimulate assimilation of Indians into mainstream American society. Individual ownership of land on the European-American model was seen as an essential step. The act also provided what the government would classify as "excess"Indian reservation lands remaining after allotments, and sell those lands on the open market, allowing purchase and settlement by non-Native Americans.