Salina Art Center
One of the most powerful and eloquent voices in this extraordinary film, Lakota Nation vs United States, is that of poet Layli Long Soldier, who reads her work both onscreen and in voiceover. Language is a key theme of this documentary by Jesse Short Bull and Laura Tomaselli.
For ticket information and showtimes visit the art center's website here.
The language of the Lakota people was long outlawed, and their history, culture, customs, and beliefs erased—so that the European pioneers could ensure that their version of “America” was the story that survived and became embedded across the nation’s schools.
Language is important because words have different meanings for different cultures—and something as seemingly definite and intractable as a legal treaty can easily be altered or ignored. This film explores how popular culture created the mythic “Indian” to help dehumanize an entire people, and how extermination and assimilation were explicitly backed by the U.S. government. Abraham Lincoln supported these policies, too, ordering the mass execution of 38 Dakota men charged in the “Sioux Uprising” of 1862.
The film only touches upon Lincoln to make a larger point: American history curriculum can’t seem to make room for indigenous people, even when a popular, deified historical figure like Lincoln has significant involvement. This serves as a compelling backdrop to the specific subject, which is the continuing struggle of Lakota Nation to receive reparation, respect, and acknowledgment from our government—particularly where encroachment on their sacred lands is concerned. Appropriately angry yet related with succinct, sharp insights and visuals that speak volumes, Lakota Nation vs. the United States adds scope and depth to our conception of American history.
It’s a painful but vital truth—but the real thunderbolt is that lying and thievery aren’t something that happened in the distant past: they never stopped. That’s why this story, and this film, are so relevant and vital today.
For ticket information and showtimes visit the art center's website here.
(Rated PG-13 for profanity, violent images, and mature themes.) | 120 minutes