The Canary Effect
The Canary Effect is a documentary that looks into the effects of that the United States and its policies have on the Indigenous peoples (Native Americans) who are residents.
It premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and won the Stanley Kubrick Award at the 2006 Traverse City Film Festival (Michael Moore hosts).
The movie was directed by Robin Davey and Yellow Thunder Woman, who are both members of LA Based alternative pop group The Bastard Fairies.
Delving deeply into the often misunderstood and frequently over looked historic realities of the American Indian, The Canary Effect follows the terrifying and horrific abuses instilled upon the Indigenous people of North America, and details the genocidal practices of the US government and its continuing affects on present day Indian country.
Featuring interviews with the leading scholars and experts on Indian issues including controversial author Ward Churchill, the film brings together the past and present in a way never before captured so eloquently and boldly on film.
Directed by: Robin Davey, Yellow Thunder Woman
Very emotional and disturbing at the same time. Did my best to share it so more people can discover , like I did, that what I learned in school in history text books was far from this.
Amazing documentary. I am wondering if there is or will be a current follow-up? I live in a small town in Oklahoma. Have native American friends and never once passed up the opportunity to hire them. But unfortunately, I do have white friends as well where I do see that reserve that they hold the Indian Nation. I have never understood their mentality. And I hope with the passing of more years that the bigotry will die away. It is a great shame for me to see it. And this should make every American cringe with their self-pride...
Can someone give me the publishing information for this film?
Governments have often committed atrocities, and because governments have people in them who are greedy for even more power, they have the tendency to spread like cancers. Europe, which was a state-dominated region, went on a spree of conquest and colonization. Many of the worst atrocities that people perpetrated on each other were coordinated by governments.
After the first Opium War (1839) , the westerners from the USA and Europe carried out culture genocide similar to what they did to the native Americans as described in this documentary in China, the western christian missionaries and xtians(christian zealots, disciples and sheeples) lured, kidnapped and adopted Chinese kids, women and youths to achieve their mission of “killed the Chinese, saved the man”. In order to break down the Chinese determination to protect their identity and dignity. The western Christians used their extraterritorial power to shield Chinese criminals from prosecutions, stole lands and properties, destroyed Chinese culture and artifacts, etc.
The incompetent and corrupted Qing court refused to step in to protect the Chinese from the reckless westerner’s culture genocide, it forced the ordinary Chinese to organize themselves to protect their land, families, and culture against the westerners’ ruthless criminal assault, it was called Boxer Movement, but the westerners labelled it Boxer Rebellion, a terrorist movement that threatened the safety of their people in China, and crushed it with an Eight-Nation Alliance armed invasion.
The Eight-Nation Alliance troops overrun Qing’s capital Peking, uncontrolled plunder, burning and killing of the capital and surrounding countryside followed. The Eight-Nation Alliance (the American as a member) forced Boxer Protocol on China, the indemnity alone was 450 million taels of silver ($10 billion today’s money) which was more than Qing’s annual tax revenue. Subsequently China went from crippled by Opium to a totally broken and wrecked semi-colony ridden with poverty, deceases and wars, it was a hundred years long humiliation, and human right hell.
Have the Americans (the non-natives) changed from the savages described in the film “The Canary Effect”? Not a bit, the Americans have been wrecking havoc around the world the same way they have wrecked havoc to the native Americans ever since. Insane, mad, crazy, psychopathic, double think, morally defunct, blood thirsty, savage... are not bad enough to describe the true nature of the Americans.
Agreed.
USA's foreign policy is akin to British colonisation.
It will take a long time to undo, but it has begun.
My problem with this entire narrative is that;
a) aboriginal people get grouped into one entity, which ignores the fact that some tribes attacked, invaded, exploited, forcibly assimilated, and stole the land of others. Europeans come and do the same thing (which has been going on for all of human history) and suddenly history stops.
b) this documentary presented practically no evidence for how aboriginal people are discriminated against today, and in fact highlighted more cases where they get special treatment (eg. subsidies, expecting to be taken care of by the government, getting to retain ancestral culture,etc.)
c) It shift responsibility for all native problems, to the whiteman. This is not true, but also explains why they are still struggling to solve their problems.
I think the problem is, you expect their culture to be exactly like ours (European Caucasian). Try to be more open-minded :) In fact, this is the one of the biggest points. Sorry you missed it.
a) Agreed, each group was vastly different. But the worst part is, all groups were treated as 'savages'. What a terrible word to call another human being. Even the most 'violent' groups, say Comanche or Apache had a purpose. On all their raids against Americans, recall it was Americans pressing into their land, killing off natural resources (which their culture was based on to survive). Most 'raids' where never more than a handful of people, natives rarely had the intention of slaughter even among their own. You mentioned they pillaged each other, true but never forced a culture on one another. That is a purely European trait. They understood the value of diversity and the value of 'war-games'. Which kept evolution moving.
b) The fact that they cannot hunt buffalo for free but are now required to stand in line at the subsidy office is exactly the point. Try not to think link an employee, but a self-autonomous being. The hunters who ravaged 3000+ buffalo a month had no more right to them than the natives. Why did they need to consume so many, why not sustainably hunt them so they are there for years to come? Very little true effort was made to live peaceably with the natives, just empty words. Who is more 'savage' the greedy man who lets resources waste (rot) for a few bucks, or the culture who utilized EVERYTHING from a kill. Taking no more than they need. The reason there were millions of buffalo is because natives didn't sport kill thousands and over-consume. It only took Americans a few years to wipe that slate. Savage.
d) Americans did take responsibility, by creating treaties (which they rarely upheld). Likewise, funds and supplies that were supposed to go to the natives were never delivered by the corrupt Indian Bureau. Did anyone hear their cases, or care that they were starving or dying of treatable medical diseases (which whites gave them). Nope. Let's revisit the hundred of treaties that were made and broken by US before we start saying there is no responsibility of the Whiteman.
Don't be so naive that every culture is the same. The need to make everyone exactly like ourselves and force our beliefs on them is pitiful. Why would a 'man of god' use military force slave labor to build a mission preaching a religion unwanted to natives. It happened all over the SW. Even after Chief Red Jackets speech, he extended his hand (not his custom btw) but the missionary turned and left never reciprocating the handshake. Savage.
They were from ancient ancestors afro asian...there is more too the people of melanin colored skin in the Old Testament
They will NEVER break our spirit.
There are an embarrassing amount of typos in the supers that appear throughout this movie.
From everything you just heard and watched, all you're worried about are several typos? You sadden me. Pay attention to context, please.
The problem this film explores is the psychopathic id of modern culture. Politics, finance, education, inherent racism, ecological failure, they all are at their root part of the mass suicide we call globalization. Native American cultures had a vast amount of knowledge both spiritual and ecological that the "civilization", whether eastern or western, has never possessed. We all need to contemplate how we can reinstate stewardship of the earth to the only true protectors of her; Native inhabitants and cultures.
The American people have been systematically and repeatedly lied to and denied knowledge of the genocide within this country. You, too, will play the game, or pay the price. We've been offered the good life, and good jobs, but only if you don't see and talk about what is taking place within our borders. Where have our teachers been, why have they not told us? Because their jobs depend upon them NOT telling children the truth, and textbooks are used only if they have been censored and rewritten to reflect our 'Official History of the U.S.'. Our military destroyed civilizations that had evolved within North America for thousands of years prior to their 'discovery' by the english. How bizarre, the country was completely occupied when it was discovered by the English, and some of the people are those you've likely never heard of, such as the Melungeons, families of sailors from the Mediterranean area, and Indian women from the southeastern coastal areas of the U.S. The dark skinned Melungeons were pushed up into the hills of Tennessee by the English and Irish, and denied civil rights such as voting and holding office. Only the Seminoles in Florida could avoid confrontation, by slipping back into the everglades.
So where does this desire to eliminate another race of people come from, since it seems so universal? Lately I've been watching U.S.helicopter crews gleefully killing men, women and children in Iraq using powerful canons mounted on their gunships, and the sounds of their laughter still rings in my ears. What will it take for humans to live together?
The tendency you have described is Universal. Australia - the same story repeats. I believe the root cause is a faulty world-view based on "greed/control" and "relentless urbanisation" ignoring deep spiritual and ecological connections nurtured by indigenous people. From science to medicine, systematically indigenous people have been portrayed as "uncultured" / "aggressive" etc. May be it's true for some instances. But for vast majority of cases it's the other way around. And it's not just white/brown/black people, it's an indoctrination, where racial stereotypes are overblown ignoring the fact that black/brown people can be brainwashed or conditioned in presence of appropriate culture in a similar way. Notice how late-1G or 2G indigenous people behave with current indigenous people only to distant themselves from their true lineage. Humans are strange creatures, really !
The only deadly consolation for me is the realisation that many of the socio-economical-ecological crisis plaguing us originates from that same faulty world-view based on "greed/control/domination". Now that whole world has been dominated by people, innate aggression has nothing to do. It vents itself out through corporate profit figures, venture-capital and "hocky stick growth". The same people that butchered dirty tribals are in charge of many VC-funds/Corporations/First-world government. Interestingly Asian countries chew the same pill and turning their souls from agro-indegenous roots to capitalistic roots. It takes lots of self-criticism and un-conditioning to realise that we probably have to stop over-doing / over-developing / over-modernising / over-researching / over-mechanizing and have to connect that "spiritual-and-ecological" knowledge used to be nurtured by tribal / indigenous / aboriginal people around the world. Read "Ascent of Humanity"
This documentary should be part of every history curriculum in our public schools. There should be accountability Finally for the genocide of the Indigenous Tribes which should include reparations directly from the Corporate Colonial Military Industrial Complex as it exists today.
that was shocking ... sickening
America is the new reservation, What was done to the native American is being perpetrated on the average American. The government of the world new they had to destroy the native culture because it was the opposite of the European societies which are top down pyramid schemes that need to conquer, steal and exploit to survive and prosper. We as Americans are reaping what our ancestor sowed. What was done to the Native American will now be down to the average American so the elites can continue their pyramid scheme.
Golden words
So many Americans consider themselves religious, and righteous, yet those who manage our governments, our federal and state governments, cannot bring themselves to treat the Amerindians as human beings. It is said the U.S. Government has never honored a treaty with an Indian Nation. I was completely brainwashed, lied to as a child growing up, beginning with the Columbus myths, until today 70 years later I have no trust in any United States leader or institution. If I had the courage I would give up my American citizenship in protest..... but to what end? I know eventually this country will go the way of those others just like us, eaten up by debt and greed and inhumanity. What will it take for the US Government to be kind, to be honest ........ to be human, with other humans?
Too much talking and writing treaties and laws. Talking and written laws is what has gotten the WHOLE WORLD into this. Humanity needs to appreciate its own capabilities as a species, and allow communication on such passionate matters through ancient methods like dance and music.
That being said, Canary effect is a great title. The whole world, all beings inclusive, has suffered more than it has gained from the establishment of the 'New World.'
I appreciated this film. Our country's history with the Native American is shameful, and an important revelation of human ignorance, willful or otherwise, that we hope we learn from. The challenge for the Native Americans will be to overcome the pain, choose to heal, move on and build a future with pride and dignity. A future that celebrates and honors what is worthy in its communal traditions, yet rises above the dependencies that cripple it and leave it in poverty, addiction, poor mental and physical health.
being a full blooded first nations person from Canada this was heartbreaking & horrible to watch, its not only the US its here in Canada and around the world that this had happen & continues to happen. I stand with IDLENOMORE and believe that we will rise again as prophesied by our ancestors years ago before the white man had even stepped foot on land. they may break our bones but will never break our spirit <3
Seriously!!...American Indians weren't even classified as American citizens?even by presidents...Thats so not right..
open for discussion on the facebook group "Brainstorming to Make the World Better". please join.
can anyone tell me the name of the artist of the song that begins at 0:12:01 ??
Best documentary ever. Until I drove through a reservation one time I never knew how bad they were. I seldom to never see anything about this in mainstream news. America hiding its shameful history like a dysfunctional family; if we never speak about it, it didn't happen, doesn't exist.
can anyone tell me the name of the artist of the song that begins at 0:12:01 ??
I am and is still saddened by the way the Native were treated.How horrible and to honor Columbus as an hero when he was nothing but an true mass murder is sickening.They made up all of these lies on the natives,even taught in school lies about them.When I found out the truth about what evil,savage,barbaric acts were done to them-I decided that I would tell as many people as possible the truth.I sign petitions for them every chance I get.They are over in the amazon doing the same things all over again.It is wrong and they need to stop.The Natives deserve an Holiday,an monument,statue,etc in their name and I pray to God that they get it.I am going to fight for their rights as long as I have too.It is truly heartbreaking and horrible that an mass murder have an Holiday named after him.
Instead of arguing about past morals etc we should be asking what we can do to help the situation. We need to be aware of the past and what happened, but the more pressing matter is what do we do now? Does anyone know if there's any way of funding mental healthcare or counselling or something on the reservations? We need to help prevent alcoholism and suicide as is a matter of urgency... Also the fact that the US government refuses to acknowledge the suffering of the American Indian community is appalling.
I'm white boy and I know my ancestors did take over North America's lands. I was never taught or told the factual stories behind the white man's triumph over the new lands.Now that this information has been given to me I feel terrible. I always thought that it was great that we celebrate Columbus Day and we as Americans should honor our flag. Now I think it's all a big joke. I wish things were different but I can't change the past.
Quite right. My comments re the technical aspects of the doc and regarding the origins of pre-Columbian populations i see in retrospect as being well out of place. Thanks for taking the trouble to point out my error.
i kinda knew that these ppl had been treated bad but never realised the genocide movement usa used on these poor ppl. just shows where the roots of usa sick, violent and inhuman policies come from. a very well made doc with lots of info.(in reply to 555hit) i think 555hit needs to go make a doc before you disrespect somes hard work.the info in the doc over ways any complaints regarding editing. i enjoy docs that help you relate to the victims and this does, some very sad stories. ie: i never heard of the 10 boys who done a hanging pack, shocking, sad and heartbreaking......and the fact that bush never even made a comment on the tragic event just shows that usa hasnt moved outta 1850s with regards to the native neighbours..........still treated 2nd rate.
the555hit:
You're a bit misinformed about indigenous peoples in the Americas originally coming from Asia (the Bering Strait Theory). Those indigenous peoples would say they have always been here... and in the last several years, a theory that the migration actually went from the Americas to Asia is gaining more traction. But, we digress.
The film is not professionally made to hollywood standards, but that is who the creators of this documentary are -- they are not professional film makers, they are storytellers (usually they tell stories through their music) and more importantly, activists. The tools are in the hands of the people -- we don't need experts in order to communicate with each other.
the555hit:
You're a bit misinformed about indigenous peoples in the Americas originally coming from Asia (the Bering Strait Theory). Those indigenous peoples would say they have always been here... and in the last several years, a theory that the migration actually went from the Americas to Asia is gaining more traction. But, we digress.
The film is not professionally made to hollywood standards, but that is who the creators of this documentary are -- they are not professional film makers, they are storytellers (usually they tell stories through their music) and more importantly, activists. The tools are in the hands of the people -- we don't need experts in order to communicate with each other.
Another worthwhile doc with great subject matter but totally ruined by an amateur's failure to understand the use of the technology, subjecting us to mindless visual gimmicks, absurd and irritating choices of muzak played at intrusive volumes over spoken passages. Hello internet DIY. Why would someone go invest time and effort on something just to fk it all up in the final edit? Good content though. It does go mainly neglected that the 'native' north American populations were immigrants themselves from Asia, but that's just the general incapacity for rational thought endemic to the human race. It must be hard for many white American bloodlines to live down the shame of their obscene history, infanticide, undreamable cruelties. Perhaps a peace and reconciliation process where the immigrant European families concerned could ask the pardon of the descendents of the blacks and native peoples so inhumanly abused could do something to temper the bloody kharmic fee that undoubtedly awaits the US somewhere probably quite soon down the line of its destiny.
I am of mixed blood. I cannot blame one race for the atrocities that have been done in our past, and will be done in our future.
I do however, blame the flag waving, manifest destiny spouting, greedy, selfish and inhumane leaders who have brainwashed an entire nation to look away from the truth. And I also blame all who defend any such actions for any reasons.
Evil does exist, whether you can wake up from your trance and see it or not. It still remains.
Our country was founded on blood, and it's thirst has never been quinched. The same agenda is still being played out today, here and in countless countries around the world in order to liberate them... of their homes, land, spiritualism and identities. All so that they will learn to be loyal subjects to the masters of money, lies and deception. Led by corporate world bankers and puppet politicians who know that capitalism will always end in the same way as a childs monopoly game.
The rich will always win, and they will always be supported by followers of that great american dream who believe that the game is fair and who want to get rich too, at any cost.
Nothing in any of mans leadership past, has shown an ability to be loving, fair, kind, fatherly or God like in any manor. Except the way they want us to fear them, support them, finance their riches, and kill for them.
I am truly ashamed of our world. I understand there is no way to fight the powers that have controlled us for thousands of years.
If you speak of peace, love, fairness or logic and reason, you may end up dead and surely will be slandered and critisized for your ingnorance of Darwins theory that only the strong survive. That strength being, in the numbers, of golds followers.
I hope you can fit through the eye of a needle.
wow. what a brilliant documentary.......
if its one thing i've learned about the establishment of Anglo Commonwealth Nations is that the Indigenious people always lose when the borders are drawn and that the governments policies to fix the problem ironically only make it worse. alot of sheeple don't even know were still on the frontiers of colonization they think it was all n the past and we should move on. I wanna go to school to study Epigenetics and research the traumatic impacts of colonization and the similarities between all the disorders and illness seen in Indian country
Your are right adilrye the Mongols your could say were unlike the Huns they were exception to the rule but their ideology was crude like the Greeks and Romans and they like the aforementioned they new their limits and they new when to fall back when they were over extended.
First off the white men stole our nation, then they tell us that we have to become a U.S. citizens. Chief Opechancanough gave up on diplomacy with the English settlers after the Indian massacre in early 1622, so on March 22, 1622 (Good Friday) Chief Opechancanough lead a series of attacks in which approximately a third of the settlers was killed. We want our nation back!!!!!!!!!
That can't possibly happen when 98% of the population is not Native American. Not trying to be offensive, but it's the reality.
YOUR TRIBE HAD NO CONCEPT OF LAND OWNERSHIP LET ALONE A NATION. THATS ONLY A CONCEPT YOU CAN UNDERSTAND BECAUSE OF US WHITE MAN. LOL. THE TRUTH IS HARD TO SWALLOW SOMETIMES
There was no need for land ownership, until greed came in the form of white man. The fact that your govt is guilty of genocide is a hard truth for you to swallow it seems...
Yes. That's the fact
True, but at the same time nothing to be proud of... how ****** up can you be?
C'mon, that's irresponsible and ignorant.
To think that Africa or the Americas did not have people living there with their own culture, society, trade, politics and organizations before Europeans is simple ignorance (the term is "Eurocentric"). Read. Lots.
Writing your ignorant comment in ALL CAPS is just plain irresponsible, as someone might be scrolling down the comment thread and mistaken your comment for something important.
Lol! Trust me, as an academic who has studied first nations peoples, trust me when I tell you that they had a strong sense of ownership and land claim. Especially on the northwest coast, but all over North America. Did they use gold coins (no, only in South America). But they had a really complex system of bartering. They knew exactly which plot of land belonged to which family, they knew where their land ended and another family's started, and they knew the worth of everything they had.
they were living on the land...just because they didnt produce a title. Possession is 9/10's of the law
This have standard operation going back to Europe and Western Asia most cultures and civilizations have confined their criminal behavior to themselves and their immediate neighbors. Only the Europeans and Arabs under the banner of religion and so called trade extended their violence world wide and exported on a wide scale their misbehavior to the rest of the world. And this unfortunately they began doing to their own first. The Europeans and Arabs don't seem able to stop this but continue to torture and kill the victims long after they achieve their ends it is like a addiction to them and add on their slave junkies to boot. the only exception to the rule were the Mongols and to a lesser extent the Huns and by in large they were after loot. They didn't have no other driving motive.
Not necessarily. Genghis Khan was driven by a "heaven derived mission" to unite the tribes of Mongolia and furthermore, wanted to turn Mongolia into a truly world conquering empire, because of notions of cultural supremacy, military excellence and in part, the God given mission to expand.
no such thing as god - just the idea of god
Mi cante s'ica (my heart is sad). It has been happening for so long. How can we ever think that our present political empowerment system will ever work when it only supports the Rich and Powerful. When our hearts and our heads needs to be aiming our leadership at the wise and compassionate. We instead are only given choices that amount to choosing bad over worse. "What's happening here is coming to the rest of the country soon. It's just a mater of time." Lakota Elder Vincent Black Feather, Pine Ridge Res. 1996.
Those who watch this please watch another documentary by John Trudell.(Trudell)
This is not only in America, widely happening in Australia, native australians lost everything belongs to them. White supremacy, please wipe out all except you people
where are the native scholars, Ward Churchill is NOT native. This one of those "Native documentaries" that, while meaning well, seems to come from folks who just discovered all these bad things that happened to Native Americans and said to themselves, OMG we have got to tell people about this.
lol.... i think this documentary is pretty good a little dramatic but how else do u grab the attention of an uninformed public.
that is the way of colonization Terrible what these people have done and get Regan "Our Land"
I want to address Kris Smith's commentary about Ward Churchill's statement about spreading small pox. I think you just need to look into parallel historical scenarios to confirm Churchill's statements. For example, Noam Chomsky co-authored a book about Christopher Columbus' diary where he admitted to the fact that they were even privy to spreading some kind of disease or plague to the Native Indians even though humankind was unaware of germ theory until the late 19th century. Moreover, in more contemporary times, it's a fact that the U.S. State Department and War Department illegally inoculated Central Americans with syphilis that was carried in vaccines. Doesn't that sound like biological warfare? I am most certain it is, and it has been used, whether the science confirmed it or not, for hundreds of years, especially in the Americas. I think there is a greater sinister agenda that will possibly reveal itself in our lifetime perhaps. I also think that when someone like Ward Churchill espouses truth the become attacked on all fronts, as Gandhi pointed out, that means your beginning to win.
As A former U.S. Army paratrooper, who served in both Iraq and Afghanistan, I want to apologize for perpetuating the U.S. government's policies that create genocide around the world and within the U.S. It's despicable to me to remain silent as well as attack greater truths that are revealed by our world's most oppressed peoples. The Native American Indian deserves our nation's greatest acknowledgment that their people have had a genocide committed against them in the most profound way. They, the American Indians, deserve recognition as a highly resilient people, but most importantly, they deserve justice and compensation by having their ceded (STOLEN) lands and mineral rights given back to them while also being compensated for having billions, if not trillions, of dollars of revenue stolen from them by the U.S. government and its crony capitalist insiders who do not support a free market what so ever. From the Redwood forest to the Gulf of Mexico, to the Pine Ridge Indian reservation to the Seneca reservation put under water by a dam built by the U.S. government in the early 1960s, to Plymouth Rock to the backwaters of Seminole country down in Florida, may justice and freedom become attained in the hearts and minds of all of the American people, especially the ones who live in the Fourth World, our Native American Indian brothers and sisters who are under economic and political siege. May this scourge against humanity and our Great Spirit stop now!
Many diseases are carried in vaccines including here in America. Where do you think cancer came from?
are you claiming that the first case of cancer was caused by a vaccine ? if so please explain? if not please clarify what you meant?
This is stupid, although some of there facts are true, most are just stupid, beside what happened to us native people happened a long time ago, GET THE F*** OVER IT, the long we hold on to crap the longer we will sit in crap, at 1 point or another we have to stop crying and just move on and focus on making ALL NATIVE peoples more educated so we can better our lives, the time to stop pointing our fingers is now!!
True, a good portion of the film talks about certain details that happened in the distant past, however it also talks about many abuses that are happening to the Native Americans in the present day! That said, your statement that it is all in the past begs the question if you have even finished the complete documentary since it shows that a lot of it extends to now.
The fact that Indians are still being abused and oppressed (yes, I mean "oppressed") in the present is demonstrated by the case of the Western Shoshone Indian Tribe.. The U.S. government is currently trying to force the Shoshone's off their ancestral land; land that was never ceded. Yes! It is going on now in 2011. Why? Because there is a huge gold deposite on their land. It matters not that land belongs rightfully to the Shonshone tribe. (See the Documentary "American Outrage" for more details).
You, Ma'am, are a Buffoon. Get over it?, Stop Crying?, Educate the Natives? Are you serious? Try and put your head around this fact, and then I'll supply you with a few more. "If", the Holocaust numbers are accurate and six million Jews were killed, what would you consider 80 million? That is an estimation on the number of indigenous deaths that occurred on this continent. Are the Jews still crying about their six million? Do the Jews have a homeland? Do the Jews still have their religion? You bet your Ass on all counts.
I'll bet your immediate thought is, "Well, we had to protect ourselves from those savages", right? If it happened again, and China invaded this country and burned all our churches, killed nearly every citizen and then put the remaining ones in little shitty places to live, would you be alright with that too? How about, next, they forced us to wear the kind of clothes they wore, worship their Gods, speak Chinese and go on welfare ... which they made us beg for or get nothing? Still okay with it?
Suppose, after you had finally accepted the fate you were in and started to accept living in squaller and poverty only to have the Chinese government force you from that land because they had suddenly found gold there and killed many more to make the move swift, still no problem? I hope not. The fact that we have treated the Native people like animals is pathetic and unforgivable and "Why not move on and forget the ancient past"? In Gods name, so we don't repeat such an atrocity and guess what has never stopped? We have carried our brutality all over the globe from Vietnam to Iraq.
Over a million dead civilians in Iraq as we continue killing people in three different countries simultaneously and you callously as about crying? I apologize for using the word Buffoon ... it was far too weak a description for someone having such a mindset and a cold heart. I wish you well.
I do apologize for my incorrect figures on the number of deaths. It should have been eight billion instead of eighty.
I am Native too, maybe it's different in America, but up here in Canada some of these things happened to my parents. Try looking up Indian Residential schools sometime. The ripple effect of a terrible thing cannot just be stopped. That would be like trying to stop a tsunami after an underwater earthquake. It will take time for the people to heal, because it is ONLY NOW that people are actually starting to care about them and everything else surrounding what has happen and is happening. Although you may be native or I am misreading your paragraph, but it seems that you haven't aquired the vast knowledge of this to fully understand what had happen, and why the effects are still happening as they are.
To get a first hand understanding I reccomend:
That you be place in a kidnapping, be taken away from everything you have ever known, be beaten, raped, forced to learn a language you know nothing about, not even have the freedom to dress the way you want or freedom to believe who you want to believe. Then be forced to live with others who have gone through this, in a very small space, and have everyone outside that circle of people tell you that you are worthless, you should die, you are the worst thing about society, the world would be better off without another f-cking indian like you. Maybe pop out five kids, two of them are because you were raped, have those kids taken away and go through what you have gone through. Then have people tell your children, and grandchildren to "GET THE F*** OVER IT".
This will not happen in one generation. I believe we can make a difference, BUT not with your unsympathetic, and obtrusive attitude to something that was utterly horrendous, and deviod of any humanity.
Kayla,
It is not different in the U.S. This documentary is pretty much true despite my own reservations about it.
The fact of the matter, Ms. Anderson, is that even educated Native American people are unable to make a true impact and change the current status quo or oppression of Native American culture, identity, and social status. It takes more than a few college degrees and letters behind a Native American's name to get over history. Thank you for your comment though, because it shows how ignorance thrives!
Stories have to be told or they die, and when they die, we can't remember who we are or why we're here.' This is undeniable but to look forward instead of holding on to the hate,grudges and vengeance associated with the doings of our forefathers is credit to those who in this surviving oppression are big enough to feel no need to vindicate any of the heinous crimes committed man against man that have littered history, big enough to feel no need to take sides in our contemporary age. We cannot forget where we came from but let not the stories retard our evolution of consciousness
What a sad and silly response, Miss Anderson. This, unfortunately, is some of the rhetoric used to dismiss and ignore relevant history. You have to make history like this seen/heard and try to process and understand the 'why's" to know what and where to begin. This is not just about 'old history' this is about how history has shaped and dictated policies, laws and practices employed TODAY that have major consequences for people today--Indigenous and non-indigenous folks. Please keep this in mind. It's not about just 'getting over it'---how does one truly get over genocide?
To live in the past will make you a prisoner of the past
Very wise words Bernadette.... The best I have seen on here so far. It is terrible what happened to the Indians but this has been over played and the victimized is overbearing.. There was killing from both sides... The Indians were not innocent... they killed each other. We as humans are all guilty of sin and we all need to now Love one anther and move on..
This is a good documentary. I studied American Indian history, and I am doing my own independent reading up on it...
My only bone with this documentary is that one of it's "authorities" is Ward Churchil...who has been convicted of "Serious Academic Misconduct." -- Churchill fabricated some of his own "research" about how the U.S. Army supposedly and intentionally spread smallpox to the Mandane Indian nation..
It is true that the U.S. Army has done horrible things to the Native Americans, but that particular episode was Churchill's own fabrication.
i also know about that apology and it was long overdue but it cheapened the words when i heard that stephen harper also said in a conversation with another world leader that `at least MY country doesnt have a history of colonialism` not being a negative nancy here but... in germany holocaust denial is ILLEGAL!
if we gave you a$$holes the rest of our land would you finally be happy?
From the onset I was overwhelmed with emotion, the kind of emotion you feel as you watch your family brutally beaten and killed in front of you...and I am African American!
It's not a stretch at all. We've done pretty much the same things to African Americans that we did to Native peoples. It breaks my heart to know the things that my ancestors have done... and the things we are still doing but are too blind, stupid, or self-centered to acknowledge. We white people, because of our privilege, can be so oblivious and unsympathetic to the situations of others. We hold other races down, and we hold ourselves down. Our politicians and businessmen try to rule the world and amass wealth for themselves. They feed us with ignorant and hateful rhetoric, and we eat it up. We buy all of the shit they sell. We try to be them. It makes me sick to think about it. We white liberals even manage to screw things up and undermine people of color when we try and help their causes. We never get it right, and we hurt people in the process. I don't know what to do. I wish people were equal and free to govern themselves and live their lives as they please - in peace and solidarity with each other. How can it be done?
i loved your comment, im a kanienkehaka, a ``mohawk`` all natives have been through this kinda shit, my grandpa was sent to a residential school and now most of our family and the rez are alchoholics who dont know shit about why this is and we are trying to get back what was taken from us, with more ppl educated comes a real change and we really need more ppl like you who will notice and acknowledge the stuff we went through, we need more ppl like you. thanks brother.
Why do we do these things????
Racism.
I know. I just don't understand. It's SICK.
When I got to the school shooting I cried uncontrolably. Why have my people and "my" government done this? Why have we not moved to try and correct the problems we have caused? I know the past can't be erased, but can the present be fixed? How can I help?
Aboslute tragedy, Genocide at its true essence. Its a amazing how very little the history of native Americans is shown or known about. The American negros suffered dearly but this brutality of suffering by the Indians by the white Eurpean occupiers of this so called new found land is beggars belief. And its happening to this day but now travelling far out to every vulnerable country as possible, using these modern technology, science, machines and and whatever else at their disposals to kill and divide nations for their wealth, raw materials, food etc for their own greed. The list of occupation and interference with other countries is growing. Iraq and Afghanistan is at present demolished. Iran, Pakistan and North Korea are next on the list.
The countless deaths of men woman and children at the hands of the white Americans (obviously a handfull of muppets as well) are in the tens of millions. They have taken genocide to the next level called global genocide. What amazes me is that how the media can easily grip majority of peoples mind and make them believe whatever they want them to believe. 911 was a tragedy but it was an inside job from the Government (Operation False Flag) i recommend do your research. (Youtube is usually good) A couple or so thousand people lost thier lives, but thats nothing comparing to the millions at the hands of the White Eye over the decades.
Objective X Vs The American Government.
The Jury has reached its verdict. Count 1:The Torture and Enslavement of people of African decendants. Guilty.
Count 2: The genocide of a entire nation (Native Indians) Guilty.
Count 3: kidnap,torture and false inprisonment of Muslims under the Geneva Convention and Human Rights Act. (Guantanimo)Guilty.
Count 4: The Income tax on the entire American population. Guilty. (These tax laws and enforcements are illegal and contradicts The Bill of Rights and has put the American Law system on par with Disneyland.
Count 5: Oppression & Racism of all minority groups and inprisonment on a disproportionate scale compared with white counterparts. Guilty
Count 6: Neglect and abandanment of the poor and vulnerable .About 50 million (peolple in poverty, usually minority groups on food stamps) Guilty.
Count 7: The encouragement of promoting violence, drugs, alcohol, sexual deprivaty, corruption and allowing gays, Islamophobia, paranoaia, Greed, lust and the rest of the sins from the Bible. Guilty.
Count 8: Dictatorship and Hypocarcy and occuption of foreign lands. Guilty.
Count 9: Brainwashing and dumming down of own citizens, usually through media. (controlled by Jews) And bringing the country into tens of trillions of dollers into debt (also controlled by the Jews). Guilty.
Count 10: Deaths and muders of millions of peoples globally and indiscriminatley (including woman and children) Also putting millions of people in stavation and and poverty. Guilty.
I have found America GUILTY on all TEN COUNTS. I sentence you to lowest depths of Eternal Hell. GOD BLESS AMERICA. LOL
I a m confused: are you a KKK member or just a Religious Right fanatic?
liked #8 what would Canada or the United States do if they had to recognize First Nations as Sovereign nations? i could see more nations exercising there right to be free in the coming future
This documentary should be MANDATORY in every american school
I am a 21yr old full blood Moose Factory Cree Native, and in reading some of these comments i can already tell what type of film this will be. I have read about most of the Native history and peoples. So i will tell you the most important thing i have learned. It is also the prophecy of the Cree peoples. "Only after the last tree has been cut down, Only after the last river has been poisoned, Only after the last fish has been caught, Only then will you find that money cannot be eaten."
You are a very smart young man, Eric! I am a 43 yr-old non-aboriginal person, but I must wholeheartedly agree with you! We need to get rid of this colonialist/capitalist/imperialist/feudalist/fascist poison in this country so we can have a sustainable society in which NO ONE is diminished in importance when it comes to rights and basic human needs. This requires a paradigm shift in thinking, and how we relate to each other and to our environment. Because you're right: no amount of money will buy us another planet to live on if the powers-that-be mess up this one beyond repair.
Josh & Keith,
the answer isn't terrorism (even if it got a lot of attention no positive peace will exist if people are scared and alienated) is non-violent non-passive resistance
states will always have more guns and resources, we will never beat them at their own game
Soo if we gave Manhattan back to you would that stop your whining?
KasparHauser4, listen up: any of us who are non-aboriginal are descendants of colonizers. Many of those colonizers were Europe's poor that Europe didn't want to have to include socially and economically. So they were sent here and told that if they helped their over-privileged rich elite ruling class by deracinating the continent, they too would find a place at the great table of wealth and prosperity. This was all to benefit the inbred crowned heads of Europe and Britain, and the multinational bankster corporate class. If you agree with the current and ongoing mistreatment and disrespect of this country's rightful owners and first occupants of this country, then you are a tool — a disposable willing tool.
Now let me tell you what "deracination" means if you're too incompetent to use a dictionary: it means clearing the land by means of genocide. That's right, buddy. If you're a rich (or even comfortably off) white male who is fine with the status quo, you are a tool and an apologist for imperialism and genocide.
Now, I am a poor woman from the underclass, and also a descendant of colonizers. But thanks to the opportunity of being educated to the truth that this video provides, plus the sharing of many other First Nations people about their realities, I am able to recognize something that you do not: the difference between right and wrong, and the injustices suffered by many due to an entire toxic system of unearned privileges.
I did not ask to be born here under the terms and conditions that I was, but I can damn well choose the right path since I am here. And that path is one of social justice.
And when I say social justice, I mean not only economic justice and equal rights. I mean respect for First Nations peoples' human rights and their right to have a say in the direction in which this country, and society as a whole, is going. Human rights and social justice also includes the right to human dignity and cultural preservation. Justice is what love looks like in public. Now you think about that.
I just want to say thank you for this incredible documentary!!!
I hope that everyone gets to watch this film. It is much needed.
@ d e goodman
Way to go... you have contrasted the historical persecution inflicted on African Americans and Jews and its repercussions and their expressions of it(or 'whining' as you choose to term it)with the 'dignified silence' of the Native Americans...
And this after having watched a film whose fundamental message is, I am convinced, that it is exactly the sort of brusque dismissal of the pain of others that you display that, wrought large, destroys the spirit and corrodes the heart.
Well done
@reasons voice..as someone who has lost family to terrorism, i am from northern ireland. i found it despicable that the ira was funded by americans and their leaders welcomed as heros by YOUR government..maybe i should have made my circumstances clearer in my first post. i am not saying the american people are bad, but some of the blame has to fall on you for not holding your elected officials accountable. when the northern ireland assembly was formed i refused to stay there as the man who ordered my aunts murder became deputy prime minister and emigrated to canada. the system up here is far from perfect but peacefull protest (i took part in the the g20 protests in toronto) and civil disobedience is a valid way to express to your goverment that its not ok to run over people rights including your own, you love your country stand up for it.
i also come from the north of ireland and i have friends who the uvf has killed and the british were helping them. the ira were not the only terrorists in ireland
@shugga..the usa's foreign policy and its policy at home is one of domination, wake up. fight back.
Amazing how you self centered pieces of garbage can turn this discussion into one that involves the US foreign policy within just a few days.
It disgusts me to see how people randomly connect 9/11, terrorism, Iraq and what not into a debate that should just be about JUSTICE for the native american population....
Not sure why Columbus the serial killer is so revered in the history books... maybe that should change in respect of the entire nation of people he helped slaughter? just a thought.
Yeah, I wonder about that myself. Maybe it's because the descendants of European colonizers need a hero in order to feel good about themselves and they can't think of anyone else to hold up in order to feel proud and important. As for me, I do not think that a rapist, bloodthirsty, greedy enslaving piece of s*** who used his religion (Christianity) like Columbus is any sort of hero for me. I think Voltaire was a better role model. So was Galileo. But Voltaire was an anti-establishment atheist and Galileo narrowly escaped being burned at the stake for the ecclesiastical crime of heresy...so those guys aren't idolized with holidays because that would not suit the Vatican. Go figure, right?
Good post Az, Very true. And @John; Lets all hope you are not right. I don't pretend to defend what happened in the past or even some of the actions our government takes today. But if I start loosing loved ones to repeated cowardly attacks by foreign nations believe me I'll be coming out fighting too. And I will not be alone. People think the US is a bully now just wait to see the results of actual and deliberate provocation. The term WWIII would not even come close to describing it.
I personally would love to see the US pull out of all these other nations. Concentrate our efforts right here at home. I have no grudge against any people of the world nor do I want their stuff. I also do not celebrate the destruction of war and agression. In a way I guess I am one American that is a better person than one like you @john. You keep wishing pain and hate toward people you do not know and you define yourself as their equal in evil.
What was done to the tribes was not done by Americans, it was done by Europeans who became Canadians and Americans(a wrong term since it would include South Americans if it was right)by doing so. Canadians and North Americans are Europeans (and other country ex-citizens) disguised under a flag that has been flying in the wind for a very short period of time compare to the flag of their country of origins....me included!
To hate North Americans is to hate the product of your own lineage, it is as if a Mother and a Father hated the actions of their own children.
az
@Josh...that's really not a bad idea. I would stand in solidarity and even get my A$$ thrown in jail if I had the privelege of being part of something like that.
This was a very disturbing video,,It is a awful shame what the United States Government did to those people. Yes,,This was there land and they took it, the killings of men,women,and children are unforgivable. I am African American and i feel your pain and please do not stop until you get was is rightfully owed to you.. The United States Government committed Genoicide on the Indian race and should pay for it, and this is Land of the Free??
Yes Nigel, and the Aboriginals of Australia. Hard to fathom, but all very true.
in fact what we did to the Maori of New Zealand is as good an example as any.
The two words Mankind and Humankind are the most horrendous oxymorons in the English language, there is absolutely nothing kind about either man or human!
Don't committe suicide become a suicide bomber your get the greedy American people's attention real quick. Something radical has to happen to get what they owe the Native American people. Unite your people and make one last stand 2-3 million strong. Don't leave Washington until you folks get what you are owed.
Not a surprise at all. I’ve been telling my kids what happen to the Native American’s is 10 times worse then what Germany did to the Jews. The Native American people need to stand-up for themselves. If they can do it in the middle east then they can do it here. Stand up and don’t take any more sh** from the corrupt government. I don’t know why they give any money from the gaming to the federal government. It’s called extortion. Don’t pay them what are they going to do? Shut down the Casino. Let them shut down the Casino’s. All Native American’s come to Oregon March to the Capital and don’t leave until the corrupt government give you folks what you need. If they can do it in Egypt then they can do it here.
i do not believe in any god but a day of judgement is coming on america..the greed and cruelty of the usa is staggering..all through the history of the corporate states of america it has been one atrocity after another with no remorse or shame or empathy, just a bully and a tyrant, killing and plundering resorces all over the world while claiming to be promoting freedom. i am not an american and as such will be likley be lambasted for saying this about the GREATEST COUNTRY..lolol. i would be utterly ashamed to come form such a society. 911 was just the opening salvo for you guys...as rev wright said the chickens are comin home to roost.
@suzyspellcheck
agreed!
Thank you for posting this documentary.
From as far as history goes and in every scale of sizes, humans have taken over other human's land while eredicating their way of life. We are seeing the same of this with the whole world taking over and *bettering in their own terms*, the countries of Africa. It comes hidden in fighting poverty with humanitarian help, in religious teachings (as seen in Missionnaries of Hate), in oil digging as a way of financial help or as a touristic embelishment of some of the best beaches with huge resorts or vast lands as Golf course. All of these actions brings more cash in the pockets of the ones holding the strings and provides an inside nest, they can later claim as their own as Zatarra implied in the FUEL doc.
On may 5-7th 2006 I was invited as an artist at Ryerson University for a meeting organized by Lead and Uniterra. I presented an exhibition of African portraits and was a participant in the forum and workshops to help strenghten Canadian Response to the Millenium Development Goals.
Their brochure said: Extreme poverty has been somewhat clinically defined as having less than US$1 to meet one’s daily needs. More harshly, such poverty has been called “poverty that kills.” Were the Millennium Development Goals to be fully reached in 2015, more than 500 million people [would] be lifted out of extreme poverty.
More than 300 million [would] no longer suffer from hunger rather than die before reaching their fifth birthdays,
30 million children [would] be saved. So [would] the lives of more than two million mothers.”
While we ate from huge buffet of smoked salmon, roast beef, fancy salads and delicate desserts people talked about what can be done to bring a salary of at least $1.00 a day to every African living. Many suggestions were made, many ideas were brought forward, the one thing they all had in common was providing a nice trip to many people to better their own life abroad. They talked about what could be implemented there in every way possible but never was it mention what we could bring and learn from their family values to better our world here until i got up and took the microphone.
I didn't talked from my head or ego i talked from my heart remembering the thousands of people i had met on my two 6 months trip through West Africa. I went to this meeting unpaid but well taken care of. I didn't try to sell any art and even supplied free access to 20 photographs for the Worshop Report that was to be sent to all the people present. I allowed the use of those in the hope that the soul of the people on those photographs would give power to their message. This reminds me, i should write to Nayé Bathely, an African woman from Senegal working for World Bank External Affairs Division Paris, who was touched by my comments and ask her how she is doing.
az
I agree with you all in being dumbfounded by the weight of shame and guilt that our nation bears. Waldo, I share your feeling that perhaps - though obviously not possible or likely - we should just dissolve and elect a council of descendents of the wronged to work us in penal colonies. It is hard not to feel a bit hopeless in the face of not only historical atrocities but current systemic brokenness and morally repugnant structural disenfranchisement. What can we do? This is so powerful. You wonder, if someone like Obama (and yes I'm idealistic enough to believe he wants to the right thing and has a heart for justice, despite being handcuffed in any such efforts by our whole messed up government and system) could sit, with no distraction, and watch this film. What might be the result?
For any who haven't watched it and are looking to further brighten their day...ahem, or rather for those who find hard truth to be cleansing though painful, watch End of Poverty on here. This cultural rape has happened all over the globe. Australia's is a very similar story to our own.
The world we find ourselves in is and was a nightmare. We live the nightmare. I weep for the children of the three times.
I'm distraught by this. I knew, just from what western so-called civilization commits on a daily basis, that the treatment of the native peoples were bad and at best negligent. But this is just beyond me.
Is it the collective guilt that resides in us, the inheritors of these genocidal acts and it's consequences, that lays the ground for us not acknowledging this and even continuing these atrocities? It seems like every day, I see more and more people/institutions doing the opposite of what they are supposed to and say they do in the true orwellian double-think fashion. I don't know.. All I know is that I'm ashamed I didn't know the extent before I saw this.
Thank you for posting this its an excellent film showing what I have been saying for years "The real illegal immigrants ARE WHITE, came on ships in 1500's to conquer these once great lands to rape, plunder, conquer and eventually fill America with a bunch of fat cheeseburger munching imbeciles." I'm half Iraqi and part Native American. I think what this country has turned into stinks and sometimes wish I was never even born into this messed up polluted hell hole in a downward spiral to nowhere. And I cannot remain silent while I see these same things happening in the Middle East and it makes me sick to my stomach you know like Bill Hicks said I find myself agreeing with the "bad guys" more often than our presidents. People have always discriminated against me because they are dumb, deaf, and blind. Their world is polarized between good and evil, black and white, they can't think for themselves and the world inside their mind is quiet Orwellian "Freedom is Slavery" their thinking is so backwards they couldn't see the truth if you hit em upside with the head with a 10 ton block of truth.
Thank you for making this doc available. What a poignant reminder of ourselves & the evil things we do both past & present. Unfortunately like so many other worthy causes & wrongs that need to be righted few if any of the masses will ever become truly aware of these issues addressed in this film. It is usually a very small % of the population that is interested enough in the truth that ever takes the time to educate themselves or sit down for an hour or so to watch a presentation such as this. The classic "preaching to the choir" as indicated by the previous heartfelt & concerned comments.
I believe it is safe to say that the majority of those who watched this film & especially those of you here at Top Docs are appalled at the obscene treatment of the aboriginal peoples of North America. The question remains: How do we truly effect change/reparations & get the masses to gain enough interest to even take the time to search out a doc like this & actually watch it & open their eyes. That was a somewhat rhetorical question. I think we know the answer. Now if only we would act on that knowledge.
Amongst many criminally self interested acts, America's subjugation and abuse of indiginous peoples was as unconscionable as it was inevitable. Many native nations conducted themselves with impressive dignity and honesty only to be cheated and murdered by America's greed...
There is no "making this one right." We can only go forward together and hope that the good intentions that we have for our native brothers shape and inform our actions far more than any guilt we may harbor over the sins of our fathers.
goodman, appreciate greatly your sentiments. We should definetly expect more from our leadership.
It should be noted however that to our Nations credit we have chosen to be a people who persue the truth and make an attempt at justice, even if will never be sufficient to make amends. Bear in mind that in many places on this globe, the sins of the father are downplayed, denied, or worse ignored. Ask the Turkish Armenians about it... Or the Buddist in Tibet... Or the Millions of victims of Japanese war crimes during the second world war.
We are a people of conscience.
the usa makes it right by giving them god.
rectumfies everything.
this is a must, evryone needs to watch this
Ever think the US should just desolve and call it quits? We have committed so many attrocities we owe so many peoples so much, how could we ever make it right? Indians were treated horribly, so were blacks and many other peoples that we have opressed in their own country. Heck, were still doing it, right now as we speak the US is doing horrible things to people. I wonder if generations to come will be watching a similar doc about what we did to Iraqis.
The US government first destroyed their bodies, then their minds and now their spirits. America can be disgusting to the people it is charged to protect. My mom is half-blood. This makes me sick.
History repeating itself.
SPENGLER: "Man is a savage beast of prey, I shall that again and again.
I am 1/4 Cherokee. My Grand Father was full blooded Cherokee. I have wondered for some time, why it is the Jews as well as the Blacks, and how they bitch and moan about "anti-semitism" and "slavery." First of all, just because someone disagrees with a Jew, doesn't make him an "anti-semite." And disagreeing with a black person, doesn't make him a "racist." I'm sick and tired of hearing these EXCUSES for people who cannot dig themselves out of their own deceptions.
I don't believe I have ever heard a "red-man" bitch and moan about how THEY are treated, and yet they are STILL being treated inexcusably! The reasons there have so much alcoholism is BECAUSE of HOW they are STILL being treated! The only positive thing I CAN say, is they've stopped scalping them. Instead, they treat them SO poorly, they kill themselves. Arnold needs to go back to Germany. He was obviously NOT "Jewish?"
It kills my heart to know how these Indians are still being treated, not because I am part Indian, but because I am HUMAN, and I have a CONSCIENCE. That is something most Congress-people do NOT seem to have these days. It is unconscionable to have a job that can make a difference, and yet they do not exercise that ability. The people in Congress need to be looked at with a KEEN eye, and replaced with those that have a heart; and are not first, more concerned with their wallets. Or as in McCain's case, how many homes he has been PAID-OFF with. I mean how many people in America, don't even know how many houses they own? And they were going to APPOINT him President of this country? One of America's biggest problems is, we (I'm referring to our Congressional representatives, AND the White House) think only of PROFIT, rather than with compassion. America is in it's saddest state, since I was born in 1950. The wool is coming off though. I only HOPE...it is in time to save what is left over, since the Act of 1871! As well as the "final solution" of 1913. When the IRS and the "Federal Reserve" took over what was left.
Why bash Jews and black people for fighting against racism? Do you think it's a badge of honor to be treated like crap and not stand up against it?
Have you noticed that the peoples who were most abused or enslaved, by the 'Christians'; are the most fervent in THEIR belief in Jesus?
I understand that to 'kneel down' and pray, is really begging. It is begging the slave owner to not continue with the beatings. It is begging Custers men to stop raping the women and children. And with their bible held high and claiming that God is on our side, they stop the torture and slaughter the village. The survivors recognize that 'their' prayers were answered.
What a sad and tragic history we have brought. What a sad way to bring the children to Jesus. The popular belief is that these kinds of things dont happen anymore. That they stopped this after the dark ages. Or they stopped it after WW1. Or WW2. Or after it was revealed that they were raping and molesting little boys.
Or was it last week when the Christians were found in Africa burning witches?
Amazing and revealing doc about the injustice of the beautiful Native American culture.
It honestly should be showed the day after Columbus day in schools lol
"Behind every great fortune is a crime." Honore de Balzac
This film opens with an address by Senator Dan Inouye of Hawaii.When Hawaii was attacked in 1941,He like thousands of
other Japanese-Hawaiian kids enlisted in the U.S. Army.They were not American citizens,Hawaii being a Territory of the U.S. Daniel Inouye lost an arm in Italy.Only 20% of the Hawaiian-Japanese boys returned home.
Hawaii,dicovered by the British,then essentially stolen by military coup by agents of the United States of America.Many of the economic ,health,social problems afflicting Hawaiians
are similar to natives of the Americas.The population of
pure blooded Hawaiians,decimated by diseases and the result of disenfranchisement.Pure Native Hawaiians are no more.They are extinct.The lesson here is ,If you see White folks in big boats coming at you..Run like Hell
No words can really describe it. How do you fix any of this? I never have understood the racial issues involved here. Maybe it is just my nature and that I see such proud beauty in the native people and their cultures. I just don't get it from any angle. The people refusing to give jobs to natives? I have seen people with jobs who have no work ethic no skills and are generally a waste of air but they have a job. How are natives so bad that they rate lower than that? The casinos that do make tons of cash dont think that sharing that profit for the betterment of the peoples is important? I hate all of this. As I said there are no words adequate enough. I have been aware of many of the issuesandevents depicted here but not in such depth or context since there are no major reservations around me. I would volunteer my services to one if there was. Just truely pathetic how overlooked they are.
Thank you Vlatko for contributing this award winning documentary. I hope those who comment will do so with thoughtfulness and sensitivity... I have often, sadly, heard people say things like - we were not there when these things happened, so why should we be held responsible? Perhaps, in watching this film, some small realisations might awaken that "these things" have never stopped happening, and unless and until an honest will for North America's governments to work 'with' First People's in both respectful and honourable ways, the devastation of our original people's will continue. For me, it is clear, that the losses have already been deep and horrible; they must not continue. - Maci