Historia 2008 Scott

8/9/2019 Historia 2008 Scott

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/historia-2008-scott 1/12























Scott46

address concerns on the reservation and found support to have their voicesheard.

I would argue that the Oglala did not seek to dissolve theirrelationship with the federal government, rather to restore it in ways that

were just and fair. Their primary concern was to end Dick Wilson’sviolence towards them and to insist that the federal government honortreaty rights. What erupted into violence reflected more on the response ofthe federal government in their desire to end the activities of AIM, andtheir lack of response when the Oglala asked for help rather than theactions of the occupiers themselves.

Regardless of the intention behind federal policy toward Indians, theresult of allotment, the IRA, and termination changed the character of thereservation with the influx of whites, the elimination of traditional tribalorganization, and the efforts to end the reservation system by relocationand forced assimilation. These policies ended up reflecting thegovernments’ desire to have unlimited access to natural resources onreservation land, cultural genocide in the form of assimilation andacculturation, and to solve the “Indian problem” once and for all byeliminating communally held lands among Indian peoples. This is not tosay that there were not voices of dissent in the government as is evident inthe end of termination. Nevertheless, these dissenting voices were not, inthe end, strong enough to counter those who dominated.

The story of Wounded Knee 1973 encompasses decades of struggle

and conflict between white occupiers and indigenous people. It is a rathersad story on both sides, as those involved in the occupation, and indeedthose involved in decisions up to that point, found themselves faced withconflict that has no end, no truly acceptable resolution. Again and again, weare confronted with history, a history that perhaps none of us chose, butone that we must live with and find some sort of peace inside of. Iunderstand that Wounded Knee was one of these attempts to somehowsoothe the deep scars that remain from a time long ago, when no one couldhave anticipated what was to come.

Documents

Historia 2008 Scott