I am Oglala. My grandmother was born on the rez and moved later to Seattle. We are from Wounded Knee and Rosebud. What you are doing moves me and makes me both happy and sad. To see the conditions my family lives in to this day moved me to tears in the middle of class when I first discovered your photographs and this speech. But to see a Wa'sichu devoting his life to our cause makes my heart soar. You are not a wa'sichu as your skin leads us to believe. You are a brother. Thank you.
It was law that Lakota could not leave the reservation. That law no longer exists, but the mindset remains. Not to mention that our faith was outlawed for decades and still faces discrimination. We can leave the reservation, but it is not the intention to permanently leave the Sacred Black Hills forever. It is okay to learn outside as long as the traditions are intact, as that is a way to preserve our sacred way of life. Point in Fact: The Black Hills legally and morally belong to the Lakota!
i highly recommend to all natives and all white people to listen to the podcast "all my relations" hosted by Matika Wilbur (Swinomish and Tulalip) and Adrienne Keene (Cherokee Nation) they "explore our relationships- relationships to land, to our creatural relatives, and to one another."
That would be SO, SO, SO, much better if it was delivered by a Native American. When delivered by a white man it's no different than the freeing of Iraq. It means less. Red Cloud... now THAT meant something. Also instead of showing their current plight, show the service and accomplishment of those who chose not to play the victim card. Show their value and successes. I'm 1/32 Cherokee and I'm proud of it for the stories of my great, great, grandpa.
What did Indians do to each other for centuries before Europeans arrived? Hasn't conquering been part of history for ages. How many Indians today want to live like there forbears did? Assimilation happens in many conquered places.
Not so! Their idea of war was -- according to de las Casas -- was like children playing cowboys and indians (haha) compared to the most highly war-oriented militarized invasion performing total torture-murder genocide. Of course the Indians want to live like their forbears. If we lived their democratic egalitarian way of life, the life on Earth could go on like it had been for millions of years more
English Australian colonists did pretty much the same things here; though treaties were never signed because the British considered them part of Australia's flora and fauna (ie animals). Very moving talk!
My soul is crying for you my Indian Brothers and Sisters.But your spirit is now beginning to gain white man and woman. We own you so much in a spiritual way.
1/12/2011 ~ Yes. Honor the Treaties! Give Back the Black Hills! Let all Americans and all humane beings witness this Video, share it with others who have a good heart and a sound mind. Blessings to Our Brother Aaron Huey! We need to come together as one humane family because all of us are of an endangered species! ~Namaste, Che Peta_de_Aztlan
the actual translation is; "they took the fat. " From the Joseph M. Marshal lll book; The Day The World Ended At Little Big Horn. ...also, 8 days BEFORE the battle to STOP the attack on their village at Greasy Grass, Crazy Horse led a force of 500+ warriors over the mountain, in the night, and fought General Crook to a standstill at the battle of The Rosebud...then went back over that mountain and 8 days latter, along with Gall and other warier chiefs completed defeated Custer's invasion force,
@Loraguy "Waiting for the world to change in order to succeed is a fool's game." You are right just don't try to change things. "They came first for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for me and by that time no one was left to speak up." Martin Niemöller after the fall of Nazis
The points he makes are all fair, but in all honestly, I don't like some of his photos. I do like most of them, but the ones that are overprocessed HDR ones are just crappy... The rest? Those are actually pretty darn amazing, and it's a shame such a collection of photos is ruined by some overprocessed ones...
Lincoln is no hero of ours. I actually feel good when i think about how he died and suffered.v See how this stuff messes up an Indian's heart? It is sad that I hold such views. After I read about his ordering a mass execution of Lakota men...I seethe with anger. Oh God how am I ever going to get a clean heart. Because we as Indian people know that one day things will be different. The one who takes all the good meat for himself. We used to say a much worse translation but perhaps we should focus on the good. Help. Where do I start?
@ExternalServerError You are right 100% free economy has never existed it is therefore a non sequitur to state that there would be no slave trade. You need to have data to back your asumption up. In fact the data sugests otherwise. In every country where there is a breakdown of the legal system ruthlesness prevails. Somalia would be one example. The american slave trade is one prime example how it is profitable to enslave people.
@GravDiga I would imagine that it is difficult to work where there are no jobs. Nobody has money to create jobs. We (the US) owe it to these people (US citizens) to invest in improving their situations. I doubt that it would cost much at all and, if done correctly, they can be helped to a position of self-reliance and self-sufficiency. Instead of worrying about the rest of the world, maybe we should make the US the best that we can first.
@LogicvsFaith No we can't "right the wrongs".We aren't going to have the Italians pay back the North Africans for what Rome did to the Carthage. Your hippy logic of "we don't own the land dude" doesn't actually wash with reality. The government says we own it and they have tanks. That's the short version of: we own it.
@avok23 See thats the thing...you think you're being compassionate--youre not. You're pitying them and encouraging their self pity, which as I said before, does NOTHING for them. Thats not compassion, thats sympathy. Compassion is realizing that you cant change the past and the best possible thing these people can do for themselves is to move on, assimilate, keep their culture, keep their land, get an education, get some healthcare, get some power, and be productive members of western society.
These photos are almost to hard to look at, but I thank Aaron for leading this talk. I've been following this issue closely and have seen many groups forming in resistance. You all may like this blog and book to learn more: www.mikesteinauthor.com/
I am watching this for my US history class at the moment, I am absolutely flabbergasted at the fact I did not know these vile acts took place. Thank you for expelling at least a bit of my ignorance
I came from Nepal. After 20 years of living in the states I’m learning about the indigenous people of this land. In this processor came across your video. I cried and I have no words.
The best TED Talk I've seen yet. Incredibly moving. This makes me want to travel to Pine Ridge Indian reservation, to get down on my face and ask for God's forgiveness for the sins of America against the native peoples.
The veterans did it for us at Standing Rock. That was a big Amen! Of course, we see now that unfortunately for the rest of the nation that did not happen
Just support what the Lakota people are doing! Lakota photographers, writings, filmmakers, artists, and activists. They can speak on their on behalf and have their own institutions. They don't need white saviours.
Aaron - from my heart to yours. Thank you for speaking truth. Our people have covered up history to avoid the truth of our our US Country was commenced and established. They call the USA the greatest land on earth. Well the Land, yes. But it's people have worlds to catch up and learn. It's a beginning, steps towards knowledge, then the hope of wisdom may arrive in it's own peace.....
He did a wonderful job addressing this issue, I love the effort he put into this. I learned a lot from watching this and this is very distressing, but something that should not be ignored.
How am i ever going to forgive. You American non Native people just do not know how fucked up this history is. My heart bleeds and when I told my daughter about this she was in mourning for a month. She was only 9 years old and that is how we become aware of our 'Indigenousity" by learning about the massacres and the denigration and the destruction of our peoples. When you look at this and you think wow a big nation like the us and they have to do something horrible like this. But you know even Thomas Jefferson massacred Native people. I mean that is the legacy of your country and everybody in the world knows it. When you continue to avoid addressing the Indian issue and yet go all over the world to be the big shots and you are nothing. I remember going through Europe and the American people were hated for that one reason. I mean people would gather around me and be astonished that an Indian was still alive and traveling the world. What do you do? Tell people about all this stuff and focus on just that. It gets depressing. I think that I am going through another paradigm shift within my self and i love all people again. I see the good in the world and I am composing music and will be starting to release it. The music is about forgiveness and reconciliation and restoration. Of relationships especially with the non- Native people in the US and Canada. I think this has to be the way. I cannot abide having hatred in my haert anymore. Cannot do it. So the message is to restore our relationships. I extend the hand of friendship to any and all because you have made it possible for me to change and get a better perspective4. If I teach that to my daughter rather than the story of anger then she will have a good life with all of you. I look forward to that future. The creator did say in our oral history that we would be here in perpetuity. John Five Eagles..
+JohnFive Eagles Szuros thank you for sharing your journey...these truths cannot remain all abstract in the intellect for white america,myself included. it's got to be concrete, in the face, bold, so its seen as important, and just as real as our everyday experiences which are rather rosy. i admire you greatly.
3:18 - 3:37 “1863. An uprising of Santee Sioux in Minnesota ends with the hanging of 38 Sioux men. The largest mass execution in US history. The execution was ordered by president Lincoln only two days (dramatic pause) after he signed the emancipation proclamation.” At your next presentation, try this: 1863. An uprising of Santee Sioux in Minnesota ends with the trial and death sentence of 303 Sioux men. Orders of execution are put on Abraham Lincoln’s desk. Lincoln’s response is a simple, courageous declaration: “I could not afford to hang men for votes.” Lincoln took the politically dangerous action of intervening and pardoning - and thus saving the lives - of 265 Sioux men. 87% of those convicted. It is most fitting that this noble and brave act occurred just two days after he signed the emancipation proclamation. After officially proclaiming that enslaved blacks living on US soil were herby free, the rescuing of 265 Sioux from being lynched by a horde of vengeful whites was the greatest achievement of Abraham Lincoln’s presidency. Thousands of Sioux who are the descendants of those 265 owe him their lives. Don’t ever twist facts and omit truths in order to spit on the greatest president in American history.
As we enter another winter we are reminded of these wonderful horsemen. the book drive for the Wounded Knee Elementary school has been very successful. Our next dream is to provide hay for the ponies and a barn for the children at Wounded Knee Elementary school. Please contact me if you would like to work with ThinLine or Aaron Huey to contribute donations to help the Lakota.
I am Lakota Indian and got out of Pine Ridge when I was a child. I do not have much now, but I can somehow donate clothes for kids. Only thing is I am in Texas. Is there any way you can email me with info on how I can get this to my people? cmo2184@gmail.com
They were barely armed. (One or two people may have been carrying a rifle under their blanket. Or maybe these rifles were planted on dead bodies. All "our" troops were killed or wounded by friendly fire from our high-caliber Gatling guns.) Think of Standing Rock and the heavily militarized police response to a peaceful ceremonial and prayerful demonstrations of water protection
It is important to not be wrong. Anything you do wrong is a strike against your credibility. While it is morally wrong, if I told you that those phots were from India, it would invalidate about half of his argument. (For the record pine ridge is in North America)
Just to enlighten more on the issue: Iwo Jima, 19 February - 26 March 1945, was not a single battle but rather a series of daily battles that lasted one month and one week, whereas the Wounded Knee massacre happened inside one day, in a single shootout on December 29, 1890
It's disgusting knowing that us immigrants, move the people who were here first because of our greed and selfishness. The worst part is that we did it to all of the Native Americans. The trail of tears, for example, we didn't care about the Cherokees wellbeing, we let 4000 out of 12,000 of them die, why? You might ask, because of our greed.
powerful speech!!! this should be heard on the radio and news everyday...such important information/ history to be remembered...it made me cry...you share so much from the heart...Thank you so much Aaron for speaking up for the indiginous people!!
It’s worth adding that the Govt allowed drilling for uranium on land they took from the Lakota north of Pine Ridge and in the Black Hills. When they were done they left the holes and the ground water was polluted and was radioactive . This caused their rivers and water sources to be affected and the people became sick, especially the children. One of the worst areas is a dumping area near Egerton in the southern part of the Black Hills. Nobody is being held accountable for this. The drilling co. should be prosecuted.
Long live Aaron Huey and all the beautiful Natives this country belonged to and always will!!! Long live all those who open their hearts to the truth and take action!!
They seemed to be getting along fine until we annexed what was once theirs through force and coercion. The settlers who arrived at Jamestown brought pretty much no food with them, instead stocking up on copper works. Why? Trade. The Native Americans knew the land much better than the early settlers did. Americans like to tout their sensibilities about "proper" use of the land - sedentary farming is not the model lifestyle.
its just sad blackhills for gold and now middle east for oil?? its heartbreaking that lincoln would actually execute such an act..shame! its not just the native americans but indigenous tribes all over the world are sufferers.
Your heart would break for these people. To see a once proud nation reduced to this is a terrible thing. Why is it that Americans don't feel shame? Why is it that they do nothing to right this wrong? America would do better to look inwards for a change.
I am not proud to be one of those who takes the best meat ... This makes me very ashamed ... Very powerful and moving. I knew some of this, but never was it as clear to me as it is after these 15 minutes. It is shameful that the indigenous peoples should be living in such conditions of lack and scarcity. That they should be the least of these is unforgivable.
Apburner1 demonstrates the minds behind many. For the decendants of those who arrived on this continent history is difficult to absorb. Hiding from their own history is the foundation to the construct of insanity. Russel Means walks with the ancestors now. The Lakota are a sovereign Nation. I have seen many reservations but only a few in corporate USA. The country is a corporation as is canada. Indigenous people know exactly how this happened. The Industrial/Resdential schools.
For me, there is no greater shame of injustice in this world than burying alive the freedom and culture of an entire indigenous population in a land that truly belongs to them.
Words can't express the horrors done to these people, but your presentation was very moving. I could not agree more with your call to action at the end - It isn't any of our business what they do with the land that is rightfully theirs. Thank you.
There’s a lot of blaming against the U.S. government but the speaker doesn’t address why the reservations remain in poverty. He doesn’t offer solutions to better the reservations or point out why federal programs geared to assisting people below the poverty line aren’t working. In other words, he paints the tragic history of the Indians and without really talking about present issues. A lot of problems, no solutions. Just blames the government for violating treaties and massacres.
He is educating, not solving. Few Americans know the true genocidal history of the United States. The nature of US treaties were made just to subjugate Natives, they knowingly made agreements for their well-being so that they can betray them later. This is the definition of a war crime. So yes, the government is to blame.
Nube1oscuras Yes sir. He brought up the question " What now? What do we do to help?" Im sitting here in 2018 asking myself the same question. There was and continues to be tragedies happening on the reservations daily. But if the US govt. wont help( especially under Trump), then what are the Tribal Councils doing to help? The reservations have their own governing bodies within them. They have leaders that can make decisions on their own behalf. Aron did a great thing by educating whites about the issues happening, but he didnt explore enough imo. One positive thing happening on Pine Ridge res. is the Oglala lakota College that helps young people learn trades and go to a 4 year school. Also Tara Houska is a native amercan lawyer and political activist that is taking positive action for her people. Her Ted Talk is interesting too, and explores these topics more indepth. I personally wish I could do something to help, other than just take photographs.
serious questions...where does all that casino money go?...are the tribes that operate profitable casinos banding together to help build reservations and purchase more land in this country?...
+tufftony Each tribe decides how the funds are used. In Taos, the Puebla tribe charges admission. The funds provide for the elderly, healthcare for all, and higher ed for all. There is a tribe in Minnesota (a friend has ongoing legal dealings with the tribe, a member of which raped & murdered her 16 yr old daughter) that runs a casino north of Minneapolis. Each member of the tribe gets an annual payout of around $1.5 M, paid in monthly installments. The money is spent on drugs, bling and whores. The kid who murdered my friend's daughter is a meth freak. As a member of the tribe and a resident of the reservation, he is not subject to U.S. Law. Nor is the tribe bound to the settlement ordered by the courts. The murderer built a $350,000 home, which was foreclosed on 3 months after he moved into it with his now-ex wife. He lives on the Rez in a ratty trailer. He travels around in a limo as he has no license.
+tufftony They own the land contained in the reservation. They are surrounded by ranchers and public land. There is no land to buy. Reservations are vast expanses of fairly rubbish land. As for the casinos, the income is not taxed. Depending on the tribe, its values and ethics, the money can be used for good, or for the pursuit of cheap pleasures. When people feel oppressed, they don't think of the future. They think of now and pleasures.
Thomas Milbourne thanks for your reply...very interesting...i wish they would purchase vast quantities of resource rich fertile public land...and help all ethnic groups within their race...the things that go on in this world makes me shake my head in disgust, anger, and sadness...
The native peoples were fine until our ancestors (Canada and the US) showed up and decimated their culture and stole their land!! I think you ought to take a look into history again.. they had a vast culture, etc and we decimated them and they are understandably PISSED! They knew how to take care of themselves fine... these people are trying to live their lives but we keep forcing them to live them our way then claim to be countries of freedom! We should let them live as they choose!
I weep each time I watch this. I just posted on Twitter, to VP Kamala Harris, asking "how many of those promised 3 Million new homes will be built on Reservation Lands?"
Merci Aaron pour ce document riche d'humilité et pour votre humanité et aussi pour la traduction en français nous avons tellement a apprendre des indiens
Quite a clean edit .. and an example of how TED talks literally masked the original speech .. so while they act as though they are bringing voice , they are in fact editing the message .. the original lecture did not sound like this ..
I lived there 10 years ago in Kyle. I often wonder about outsiders photographing poverty in the aim of "we must do something" ...Is this more exploitation and invasion of privacy? I saw more beauty at Pine Ridge than these photos show.... What if Indian people went to a "white man's reservation" .. a housing development where there are tons of foreclosures and out of work middle class and film them crying and being kicked out of their homes...
@kitsunde Yes, exactly. Both the Turks and the Iranians tried, but ultimately failed to make the land theirs and China has been fighting a loosing battle against a growing number of regions wanting to declare independence from them. The Europeans succeed. There is no talk about giving the native Americans or Australian/New Zealander natives their land back, Europeans have succeeded and it's permanently their lands.
@Loraguy First of all druids where like the priest of the celt so.. Mesopotamia was an area with multiple civilization, Etruscans don't exist anymore they were assimilated to the Roman empire in 500 bc. Let's take an other recent event the "apology to the aboriginal people" in Australia well i didn't see anything close form that in US and Canada, on the contrary those 2 countries are the only one which are against the UN declaration on the rights of indigenious people.
@Loraguy obtuse?, I have lived all my life in poor country and with poor and native people befriending them and discussing with them.. You in the other hand are not seeing the reality of the thing.... Just saying: "Well if they want they can change, assimilate themselves to U.S society" is what most people from US and Canada or the dominant culture think. This just show how little you understand those people and how ethnocentric you are. Not everyone want to adopt the North American life style.
@Loraguy Perhaps there is someone or some group of people willing to help them out, but neither you nor I know this, and maybe this group isn't doing the best that they possibly can. By the way I'm sorry if I offended you. "And if some can do it, then there is nothing holding back the majority but inertia." It's much more difficult to separate yourself from something like this than you obviously know.
@Loraguy Ignorance is like a pit of tar, it sucks everything in and consumes all hope and rationality. Carpe Diem? How can someone seize the day when they don't even know how to spell seize? Or say it for that matter. Now don't get me wrong I completely understand where you're coming from and I believe people should learn from their mistakes and adjust themselves accordingly, but there's a difference between refusing help and that help never being offered. Fact is, the U.S. isn't standing up for
@Loraguy I could say the same about anyone or anything for that matter then couldn't I? No don't avoid running over the dog, it should know better. No don't take the drowning baby out of the water, it should learn from it's mistakes. I understand these may seem extreme but truly think about it. These people parents, their neighbors are probably all incredibly unintelligent, they don't understand or even know how to help themselves. This post is continued....
@Loraguy And? Did you understand what this mean? The key phrase is "Have the courage to use your own intelligence" I wonder,,, are you defining your culture as being the "enlighted" or do you want a course of the context in which this was written (aka European History?), Just that you know "manifest destiny" and "enlightement" are not the same thing and have nothing in common... I make a lot of suppositions, please explain what is the purpose of posting this quotation.
@LogicvsFaith I'm not trying to argue against morality, but the impossible. As important as doing what is right is, when it comes up down to The Right vs Impossibility, The Right MUST lose. What do we give them? Whose land do we take away? Should we also pay trillions to the natives for negligence when we brought European diseases here? It isn't constructive to try and undo the past, but to try and build a future.
@LogicvsFaith Well I didn't want to assume that and attack. If I was wrong, it would be strawmanning you. The entire land was theirs. All the white people are to head back to Europe, the black so Africa, and the Asians to Asia...and leave this huge country to under 3 million people? I'm sorry, but that's nuts. In history, things got conquered. We can't go around undoing it all. Do you intend to give back tribal land that was taken by other tribes? Whites didn't invent war here, we just won it.
Bless our beautiful Native Tribes...give them gifts, give them great honor, give them back their lands..give them respect.. honor what is sacred here. Please rise up America.. too to save our wild horses, they are facing their last stand. Wild Horse Protection Act Facebook Action: Use this tag line or create your own..and post every where, go viral with this.."Rise up America, stop BLM wild horse genocide NOW! Cut off their funding, no tax dollars to the BLM."
@LogicvsFaith I don't lack basic logic. I think that trying to uproot the millions of non-native ethnicities of this country is insane. You're speaking in very large generalities without any specifics. Do we give montana back, or don't we? do we give mississippi back, or don't we? If we can't own land, how do we have large farms and agribusiness? Oh I guess we're going to feed 7 billion people with organic farms and hunter-gathering...
@ExternalServerError Still today people are forced to work under horrible conditions for the profit of others. Slavery is the most severe in countrys with bad protection of individual freedoms and widespread corruption (like Pakistan). In a freemarket anarchism protection of the weak is not guaranteed. Just look up Bhopal if you think cooperations would not do harm because tht would lessen their profit. Of course genocide isn´t profitable and a totalitaryan state makes it easy to execute.
@ExternalServerError If there was no goverment cooperations would enslave people. Power likes to agregate and as we all no power corupts - total power corrupts totaly. What we have to do is finde a way to organize our society in a way that prevents the concentration of power while at the same time empowering every individual. There might be the need for a state or some construction of that kind to achieve this.
Oh sheesh.... another whining liberal lamenting about his guilt. Let's not forget the Sioux migrated to the Dakotas from northeast in the late 1600's - 1700's. By the mid 1700's they had driven out other tribes like the Cheyenne and Kiowa out of the Black Hills and were expanding, attacking other tribes. What happened in the 1800's is one empire, the U.S., encountered another empire, the Sioux. Neither was innocent.
@NiamhIronside Agreed, alcohol and apathy are no excuse to waste potential, but it wasn't alcohol and apathy that extinguished it. The younger generation don't see the benefits of free education because they see it as hopeless to try. This issue has been created by bigotry and isolation. Also, its hard to enter college with the stigma that they are lazy bums. It takes generations upon generations to heal these wounds and you can look else where in the world to see similar effects.
@ThoughtfulAtheist I agree with you completely but you assume i am that familiar with their history. The first time you see the full magnitude all that hits you first is some kind of shock. Hopefully they are as ready to change as you are willing to help. This has been the most sane debate i have ever had on youtube :P
@LogicvsFaith Honestly I'd do what I have to. You still aren't answering my question about what to actually DO. You keep saying the land was stolen...ok. Do we give it back or don't we? Your refusal to make a tough choice (impossible and insane vs immoral) doesn't do anything for anyone, least of all the native americans.
@ExternalServerError I didn´t say we should carry on like in the past. Finding the right organization for society isn´t easy and there are more possibileties than just getting rid of every institution. The elite will not just disapear with goverment. In the contrary it will have even more opportuneties to kick us while we are down.
You know what would be the most American thing to do for these people? Make them a sovereign state of the USA. Let them govern themselves the way they want to but also include them in national affairs. Is that really hard to do?
I am Oglala. My grandmother was born on the rez and moved later to Seattle. We are from Wounded Knee and Rosebud. What you are doing moves me and makes me both happy and sad. To see the conditions my family lives in to this day moved me to tears in the middle of class when I first discovered your photographs and this speech. But to see a Wa'sichu devoting his life to our cause makes my heart soar. You are not a wa'sichu as your skin leads us to believe. You are a brother. Thank you.
My grandfather was from Porcupine Creek, and pretty much SOLD to a farmer in Nebraska for a farm hand at 5 years old.
Lol
Aloha oglala
Just... thank you Aaron Huey's. With love,peace and respect. Thank you.
It was law that Lakota could not leave the reservation. That law no longer exists, but the mindset remains. Not to mention that our faith was outlawed for decades and still faces discrimination. We can leave the reservation, but it is not the intention to permanently leave the Sacred Black Hills forever. It is okay to learn outside as long as the traditions are intact, as that is a way to preserve our sacred way of life.
Point in Fact: The Black Hills legally and morally belong to the Lakota!
Just finished the book "The Earth is Weeping" by Peter Cozzens. It is what lead me to watch this video. Anyway, just wanted to recommend the book.
Amazing and powerful. Thank you Aaron.
i highly recommend to all natives and all white people to listen to the podcast "all my relations" hosted by Matika Wilbur (Swinomish and Tulalip) and Adrienne Keene (Cherokee Nation) they "explore our relationships- relationships to land, to our creatural relatives, and to one another."
That would be SO, SO, SO, much better if it was delivered by a Native American. When delivered by a white man it's no different than the freeing of Iraq. It means less. Red Cloud... now THAT meant something. Also instead of showing their current plight, show the service and accomplishment of those who chose not to play the victim card. Show their value and successes. I'm 1/32 Cherokee and I'm proud of it for the stories of my great, great, grandpa.
This was AMAZINGly sad. My Grandmother was on that POW camp.
All or None, For All is One.
Peace and Love the day will come.
When the War is Over and You know it's done.
Then once and for all, All will be One.
Honoring fort Laramie treaty of 1868
What did Indians do to each other for centuries before Europeans arrived? Hasn't conquering been part of history for ages. How many Indians today want to live like there forbears did? Assimilation happens in many conquered places.
Not so! Their idea of war was -- according to de las Casas -- was like children playing cowboys and indians (haha) compared to the most highly war-oriented militarized invasion performing total torture-murder genocide. Of course the Indians want to live like their forbears. If we lived their democratic egalitarian way of life, the life on Earth could go on like it had been for millions of years more
A compelling story. Thanks for sharing Aaron!!
English Australian colonists did pretty much the same things here; though treaties were never signed because the British considered them part of Australia's flora and fauna (ie animals).
Very moving talk!
My soul is crying for you my Indian Brothers and Sisters.But your spirit is now beginning to gain white man and woman. We own you so much in a spiritual way.
Where is our humanity...? :( Thank you Aaron for stating out the truth
1/12/2011 ~ Yes. Honor the Treaties! Give Back the Black Hills! Let all Americans and all humane beings witness this Video, share it with others who have a good heart and a sound mind.
Blessings to Our Brother Aaron Huey! We need to come together as one humane family because all of us are of an endangered species!
~Namaste, Che Peta_de_Aztlan
What! No comments? Loved it.
Rip brothers and sisters. 🙏🏼
the actual translation is; "they took the fat. "
From the Joseph M. Marshal lll book; The Day The World Ended At Little Big Horn.
...also, 8 days BEFORE the battle to STOP the attack on their village at Greasy Grass, Crazy Horse led a force of 500+ warriors over the mountain, in the night, and fought General Crook to a standstill at the battle of The Rosebud...then went back over that mountain and 8 days latter, along with Gall and other warier chiefs completed defeated Custer's invasion force,
@Loraguy "Waiting for the world to change in order to succeed is a fool's game." You are right just don't try to change things.
"They came first for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for me
and by that time no one was left to speak up."
Martin Niemöller after the fall of Nazis
The points he makes are all fair, but in all honestly, I don't like some of his photos. I do like most of them, but the ones that are overprocessed HDR ones are just crappy... The rest? Those are actually pretty darn amazing, and it's a shame such a collection of photos is ruined by some overprocessed ones...
@tyrbolo
Good answer
we stand strong just like the buffalo
@sulyncedar And the photos are splendid, sad sad sad and so poignant.
Lincoln is no hero of ours. I actually feel good when i think about how he died and suffered.v See how this stuff messes up an Indian's heart? It is sad that I hold such views. After I read about his ordering a mass execution of Lakota men...I seethe with anger. Oh God how am I ever going to get a clean heart. Because we as Indian people know that one day things will be different. The one who takes all the good meat for himself. We used to say a much worse translation but perhaps we should focus on the good. Help. Where do I start?
May i take your hurt upon me, may you have my good meat
Ah, Lincoln! What a peach!
@ExternalServerError You are right 100% free economy has never existed it is therefore a non sequitur to state that there would be no slave trade. You need to have data to back your asumption up. In fact the data sugests otherwise. In every country where there is a breakdown of the legal system ruthlesness prevails. Somalia would be one example. The american slave trade is one prime example how it is profitable to enslave people.
So sad!
@GravDiga I would imagine that it is difficult to work where there are no jobs. Nobody has money to create jobs.
We (the US) owe it to these people (US citizens) to invest in improving their situations. I doubt that it would cost much at all and, if done correctly, they can be helped to a position of self-reliance and self-sufficiency.
Instead of worrying about the rest of the world, maybe we should make the US the best that we can first.
@Kieku66 that's not how the american natives feel buddy just look at them
@megjett The rules of war don't apply to raising children. But I agree most adults today are overgrown children.
To help fix the problem, it is crucial that both sides try and remedy the problem.
@M1ST3RHYDE I'm not sure what that entails. Any specifics?
@LogicvsFaith No we can't "right the wrongs".We aren't going to have the Italians pay back the North Africans for what Rome did to the Carthage. Your hippy logic of "we don't own the land dude" doesn't actually wash with reality. The government says we own it and they have tanks. That's the short version of: we own it.
@andid Maybe you didn't sign up for it, but you sure are taking advantage of it
@avok23 See thats the thing...you think you're being compassionate--youre not. You're pitying them and encouraging their self pity, which as I said before, does NOTHING for them. Thats not compassion, thats sympathy. Compassion is realizing that you cant change the past and the best possible thing these people can do for themselves is to move on, assimilate, keep their culture, keep their land, get an education, get some healthcare, get some power, and be productive members of western society.
These photos are almost to hard to look at, but I thank Aaron for leading this talk. I've been following this issue closely and have seen many groups forming in resistance. You all may like this blog and book to learn more: www.mikesteinauthor.com/
He's talking about my People!
I am watching this for my US history class at the moment, I am absolutely flabbergasted at the fact I did not know these vile acts took place. Thank you for expelling at least a bit of my ignorance
I can help you see more if you dare
This rabbit holes goes much deeper.
Discussion tab of Wabanaki holds far more.
Me too
I came from Nepal. After 20 years of living in the states I’m learning about the indigenous people of this land. In this processor came across your video. I cried and I have no words.
The best TED Talk I've seen yet. Incredibly moving.
This makes me want to travel to Pine Ridge Indian reservation, to get down on my face and ask for God's forgiveness for the sins of America against the native peoples.
The veterans did it for us at Standing Rock. That was a big Amen! Of course, we see now that unfortunately for the rest of the nation that did not happen
Rosebud is second to pine ridge poverty. pray for us too please
Just support what the Lakota people are doing! Lakota photographers, writings, filmmakers, artists, and activists. They can speak on their on behalf and have their own institutions. They don't need white saviours.
Aaron - from my heart to yours. Thank you for speaking truth. Our people have covered up history to avoid the truth of our our US Country was commenced and established. They call the USA the greatest land on earth. Well the Land, yes. But it's people have worlds to catch up and learn. It's a beginning, steps towards knowledge, then the hope of wisdom may arrive in it's own peace.....
He did a wonderful job addressing this issue, I love the effort he put into this. I learned a lot from watching this and this is very distressing, but something that should not be ignored.
Honor the Treaties! Thank You Aaron.
absolutely amazing ted talk this deserves so much more recognition
How am i ever going to forgive. You American non Native people just do not know how fucked up this history is. My heart bleeds and when I told my daughter about this she was in mourning for a month. She was only 9 years old and that is how we become aware of our 'Indigenousity" by learning about the massacres and the denigration and the destruction of our peoples. When you look at this and you think wow a big nation like the us and they have to do something horrible like this. But you know even Thomas Jefferson massacred Native people. I mean that is the legacy of your country and everybody in the world knows it. When you continue to avoid addressing the Indian issue and yet go all over the world to be the big shots and you are nothing. I remember going through Europe and the American people were hated for that one reason. I mean people would gather around me and be astonished that an Indian was still alive and traveling the world. What do you do? Tell people about all this stuff and focus on just that. It gets depressing. I think that I am going through another paradigm shift within my self and i love all people again. I see the good in the world and I am composing music and will be starting to release it. The music is about forgiveness and reconciliation and restoration. Of relationships especially with the non- Native people in the US and Canada. I think this has to be the way. I cannot abide having hatred in my haert anymore. Cannot do it. So the message is to restore our relationships. I extend the hand of friendship to any and all because you have made it possible for me to change and get a better perspective4. If I teach that to my daughter rather than the story of anger then she will have a good life with all of you. I look forward to that future. The creator did say in our oral history that we would be here in perpetuity. John Five Eagles..
+JohnFive Eagles Szuros thank you for sharing your journey...these truths cannot remain all abstract in the intellect for white america,myself included. it's got to be concrete, in the face, bold, so its seen as important, and just as real as our everyday experiences which are rather rosy. i admire you greatly.
3:18 - 3:37 “1863. An uprising of Santee Sioux in Minnesota ends with the hanging of 38 Sioux men. The largest mass execution in US history. The execution was ordered by president Lincoln only two days (dramatic pause) after he signed the emancipation proclamation.”
At your next presentation, try this:
1863. An uprising of Santee Sioux in Minnesota ends with the trial and death sentence of 303 Sioux men. Orders of execution are put on Abraham Lincoln’s desk. Lincoln’s response is a simple, courageous declaration: “I could not afford to hang men for votes.” Lincoln took the politically dangerous action of intervening and pardoning - and thus saving the lives - of 265 Sioux men. 87% of those convicted. It is most fitting that this noble and brave act occurred just two days after he signed the emancipation proclamation. After officially proclaiming that enslaved blacks living on US soil were herby free, the rescuing of 265 Sioux from being lynched by a horde of vengeful whites was the greatest achievement of Abraham Lincoln’s presidency. Thousands of Sioux who are the descendants of those 265 owe him their lives.
Don’t ever twist facts and omit truths in order to spit on the greatest president in American history.
As we enter another winter we are reminded of these wonderful horsemen. the book drive for the Wounded Knee Elementary school has been very successful. Our next dream is to provide hay for the ponies and a barn for the children at Wounded Knee Elementary school. Please contact me if you would like to work with ThinLine or Aaron Huey to contribute donations to help the Lakota.
I am Lakota Indian and got out of Pine Ridge when I was a child. I do not have much now, but I can somehow donate clothes for kids. Only thing is I am in Texas. Is there any way you can email me with info on how I can get this to my people? cmo2184@gmail.com
This is touching and beautiful. I hope that someone is listening!
Aaron is incorrect. The highest number of Medals of Honor ever award was Iwo Jima at 27.
They were barely armed. (One or two people may have been carrying a rifle under their blanket. Or maybe these rifles were planted on dead bodies. All "our" troops were killed or wounded by friendly fire from our high-caliber Gatling guns.) Think of Standing Rock and the heavily militarized police response to a peaceful ceremonial and prayerful demonstrations of water protection
I think you’re missing the message here.
It is important to not be wrong. Anything you do wrong is a strike against your credibility. While it is morally wrong, if I told you that those phots were from India, it would invalidate about half of his argument. (For the record pine ridge is in North America)
Just nitpicking lmao
Just to enlighten more on the issue: Iwo Jima, 19 February - 26 March 1945, was not a single battle but rather a series of daily battles that lasted one month and one week, whereas the Wounded Knee massacre happened inside one day, in a single shootout on December 29, 1890
It's disgusting knowing that us immigrants, move the people who were here first because of our greed and selfishness.
The worst part is that we did it to all of the Native Americans. The trail of tears, for example, we didn't care about the Cherokees wellbeing, we let 4000 out of 12,000 of them die, why? You might ask, because of our greed.
powerful speech!!! this should be heard on the radio and news everyday...such important information/ history to be remembered...it made me cry...you share so much from the heart...Thank you so much Aaron for speaking up for the indiginous people!!
It’s worth adding that the Govt allowed drilling for uranium on land they took from the Lakota north of Pine Ridge and in the Black Hills. When they were done they left the holes and the ground water was polluted and was radioactive . This caused their rivers and water sources to be affected and the people became sick, especially the children. One of the worst areas is a dumping area near Egerton in the southern part of the Black Hills. Nobody is being held accountable for this. The drilling co. should be prosecuted.
black elk quote was deep 😭
Long live Aaron Huey and all the beautiful Natives this country belonged to and always will!!! Long live all those who open their hearts to the truth and take action!!
Thank you😉
Thank you Aaron Huey's
Thank you Aaron Huey's
Thank you Aaron Huey's
They seemed to be getting along fine until we annexed what was once theirs through force and coercion. The settlers who arrived at Jamestown brought pretty much no food with them, instead stocking up on copper works. Why? Trade. The Native Americans knew the land much better than the early settlers did. Americans like to tout their sensibilities about "proper" use of the land - sedentary farming is not the model lifestyle.
its just sad blackhills for gold and now middle east for oil?? its heartbreaking that lincoln would actually execute such an act..shame! its not just the native americans but indigenous tribes all over the world are sufferers.
Your heart would break for these people. To see a once proud nation reduced to this is a terrible thing. Why is it that Americans don't feel shame? Why is it that they do nothing to right this wrong? America would do better to look inwards for a change.
I am not proud to be one of those who takes the best meat ... This makes me very ashamed ... Very powerful and moving. I knew some of this, but never was it as clear to me as it is after these 15 minutes. It is shameful that the indigenous peoples should be living in such conditions of lack and scarcity. That they should be the least of these is unforgivable.
Apburner1 demonstrates the minds behind many. For the decendants of those who arrived on this continent history is difficult to absorb. Hiding from their own history is the foundation to the construct of insanity.
Russel Means walks with the ancestors now. The Lakota are a sovereign Nation. I have seen many reservations but only a few in corporate USA. The country is a corporation as is canada. Indigenous people know exactly how this happened. The Industrial/Resdential schools.
I agree with the desire to educate, but guilt is a barrier and impeeds/blocks sympathy.
For me, there is no greater shame of injustice in this world than burying alive the freedom and culture of an entire indigenous population in a land that truly belongs to them.
What goes around comes around!
Lol alvin and the chipmunks guy
?
Words can't express the horrors done to these people, but your presentation was very moving. I could not agree more with your call to action at the end - It isn't any of our business what they do with the land that is rightfully theirs. Thank you.
If we give the black hills back, what next? Do we give Florida to the Seminoles? Missisippi to the Cherokee? I'm not going back to England, dammit.
People like you are the solution to the problem.
There’s a lot of blaming against the U.S. government but the speaker doesn’t address why the reservations remain in poverty. He doesn’t offer solutions to better the reservations or point out why federal programs geared to assisting people below the poverty line aren’t working. In other words, he paints the tragic history of the Indians and without really talking about present issues. A lot of problems, no solutions. Just blames the government for violating treaties and massacres.
He is educating, not solving. Few Americans know the true genocidal history of the United States. The nature of US treaties were made just to subjugate Natives, they knowingly made agreements for their well-being so that they can betray them later. This is the definition of a war crime. So yes, the government is to blame.
Nube1oscuras Yes sir. He brought up the question " What now? What do we do to help?" Im sitting here in 2018 asking myself the same question. There was and continues to be tragedies happening on the reservations daily. But if the US govt. wont help( especially under Trump), then what are the Tribal Councils doing to help? The reservations have their own governing bodies within them. They have leaders that can make decisions on their own behalf. Aron did a great thing by educating whites about the issues happening, but he didnt explore enough imo. One positive thing happening on Pine Ridge res. is the Oglala lakota College that helps young people learn trades and go to a 4 year school. Also Tara Houska is a native amercan lawyer and political activist that is taking positive action for her people. Her Ted Talk is interesting too, and explores these topics more indepth. I personally wish I could do something to help, other than just take photographs.
I have tears in my eyes, sorrow in my heart, I'm sorry!
Respect friend. Big respect. I married into a Dene family and i know exactly where you are coming from. Merci cho.
This is why I am not a patriot. I refuse to ignore the blood on this country's hands.
serious questions...where does all that casino money go?...are the tribes that operate profitable casinos banding together to help build reservations and purchase more land in this country?...
There aren't enough at all. Why don't the top 1% do something to help poor people? People like to avoid reality
Liam Prendergast
that doesn't answer my questions...
+tufftony Each tribe decides how the funds are used. In Taos, the Puebla tribe charges admission. The funds provide for the elderly, healthcare for all, and higher ed for all. There is a tribe in Minnesota (a friend has ongoing legal dealings with the tribe, a member of which raped & murdered her 16 yr old daughter) that runs a casino north of Minneapolis. Each member of the tribe gets an annual payout of around $1.5 M, paid in monthly installments. The money is spent on drugs, bling and whores. The kid who murdered my friend's daughter is a meth freak. As a member of the tribe and a resident of the reservation, he is not subject to U.S. Law. Nor is the tribe bound to the settlement ordered by the courts. The murderer built a $350,000 home, which was foreclosed on 3 months after he moved into it with his now-ex wife. He lives on the Rez in a ratty trailer. He travels around in a limo as he has no license.
+tufftony They own the land contained in the reservation. They are surrounded by ranchers and public land. There is no land to buy. Reservations are vast expanses of fairly rubbish land. As for the casinos, the income is not taxed. Depending on the tribe, its values and ethics, the money can be used for good, or for the pursuit of cheap pleasures. When people feel oppressed, they don't think of the future. They think of now and pleasures.
Thomas Milbourne
thanks for your reply...very interesting...i wish they would purchase vast quantities of resource rich fertile public land...and help all ethnic groups within their race...the things that go on in this world makes me shake my head in disgust, anger, and sadness...
The native peoples were fine until our ancestors (Canada and the US) showed up and decimated their culture and stole their land!! I think you ought to take a look into history again.. they had a vast culture, etc and we decimated them and they are understandably PISSED! They knew how to take care of themselves fine... these people are trying to live their lives but we keep forcing them to live them our way then claim to be countries of freedom! We should let them live as they choose!
I weep each time I watch this. I just posted on Twitter, to VP Kamala Harris, asking "how many of those promised 3 Million new homes will be built on Reservation Lands?"
Merci Aaron pour ce document riche d'humilité et pour votre humanité et aussi pour la traduction en français nous avons tellement a apprendre des indiens
Quite a clean edit .. and an example of how TED talks literally masked the original speech .. so while they act as though they are bringing voice , they are in fact editing the message .. the original lecture did not sound like this ..
@hyperseauton - Ayn Rand, haha ... thank god she's long gone.
I'm crying! How cruel can we be and still call us human?
Korea's Wa'sichu is also very sorry. And I respect you. I pray for Mr Huey's future
I lived there 10 years ago in Kyle. I often wonder about outsiders photographing poverty in the aim of "we must do something" ...Is this more exploitation and invasion of privacy? I saw more beauty at Pine Ridge than these photos show.... What if Indian people went to a "white man's reservation" .. a housing development where there are tons of foreclosures and out of work middle class and film them crying and being kicked out of their homes...
@kitsunde Yes, exactly. Both the Turks and the Iranians tried, but ultimately failed to make the land theirs and China has been fighting a loosing battle against a growing number of regions wanting to declare independence from them. The Europeans succeed. There is no talk about giving the native Americans or Australian/New Zealander natives their land back, Europeans have succeeded and it's permanently their lands.
@Loraguy
First of all druids where like the priest of the celt so..
Mesopotamia was an area with multiple civilization, Etruscans don't exist anymore they were assimilated to the Roman empire in 500 bc.
Let's take an other recent event the "apology to the aboriginal people" in Australia well i didn't see anything close form that in US and Canada, on the contrary those 2 countries are the only one which are against the UN declaration on the rights of indigenious people.
@Loraguy obtuse?, I have lived all my life in poor country and with poor and native people befriending them and discussing with them..
You in the other hand are not seeing the reality of the thing.... Just saying: "Well if they want they can change, assimilate themselves to U.S society" is what most people from US and Canada or the dominant culture think. This just show how little you understand those people and how ethnocentric you are. Not everyone want to adopt the North American life style.
@Loraguy Perhaps there is someone or some group of people willing to help them out, but neither you nor I know this, and maybe this group isn't doing the best that they possibly can. By the way I'm sorry if I offended you. "And if some can do it, then there is nothing holding back the majority but inertia." It's much more difficult to separate yourself from something like this than you obviously know.
@Loraguy Ignorance is like a pit of tar, it sucks everything in and consumes all hope and rationality. Carpe Diem? How can someone seize the day when they don't even know how to spell seize? Or say it for that matter. Now don't get me wrong I completely understand where you're coming from and I believe people should learn from their mistakes and adjust themselves accordingly, but there's a difference between refusing help and that help never being offered. Fact is, the U.S. isn't standing up for
@Loraguy I could say the same about anyone or anything for that matter then couldn't I? No don't avoid running over the dog, it should know better. No don't take the drowning baby out of the water, it should learn from it's mistakes. I understand these may seem extreme but truly think about it. These people parents, their neighbors are probably all incredibly unintelligent, they don't understand or even know how to help themselves. This post is continued....
@Loraguy And? Did you understand what this mean? The key phrase is "Have the courage to use your own intelligence"
I wonder,,, are you defining your culture as being the "enlighted" or do you want a course of the context in which this was written (aka European History?),
Just that you know "manifest destiny" and "enlightement" are not the same thing and have nothing in common...
I make a lot of suppositions, please explain what is the purpose of posting this quotation.
@LogicvsFaith I'm not trying to argue against morality, but the impossible. As important as doing what is right is, when it comes up down to The Right vs Impossibility, The Right MUST lose.
What do we give them? Whose land do we take away? Should we also pay trillions to the natives for negligence when we brought European diseases here?
It isn't constructive to try and undo the past, but to try and build a future.
@LogicvsFaith Well I didn't want to assume that and attack. If I was wrong, it would be strawmanning you.
The entire land was theirs. All the white people are to head back to Europe, the black so Africa, and the Asians to Asia...and leave this huge country to under 3 million people? I'm sorry, but that's nuts. In history, things got conquered. We can't go around undoing it all. Do you intend to give back tribal land that was taken by other tribes? Whites didn't invent war here, we just won it.
Bless our beautiful Native Tribes...give them gifts, give them great honor, give them back their lands..give them respect.. honor what is sacred here.
Please rise up America.. too to save our wild horses, they are facing their last stand.
Wild Horse Protection Act Facebook
Action: Use this tag line or create your own..and post every where, go viral with this.."Rise up America, stop BLM wild horse genocide NOW! Cut off their funding, no tax dollars to the BLM."
@LogicvsFaith I don't lack basic logic. I think that trying to uproot the millions of non-native ethnicities of this country is insane. You're speaking in very large generalities without any specifics. Do we give montana back, or don't we? do we give mississippi back, or don't we? If we can't own land, how do we have large farms and agribusiness? Oh I guess we're going to feed 7 billion people with organic farms and hunter-gathering...
@ExternalServerError Still today people are forced to work under horrible conditions for the profit of others. Slavery is the most severe in countrys with bad protection of individual freedoms and widespread corruption (like Pakistan). In a freemarket anarchism protection of the weak is not guaranteed. Just look up Bhopal if you think cooperations would not do harm because tht would lessen their profit.
Of course genocide isn´t profitable and a totalitaryan state makes it easy to execute.
@ExternalServerError If there was no goverment cooperations would enslave people. Power likes to agregate and as we all no power corupts - total power corrupts totaly. What we have to do is finde a way to organize our society in a way that prevents the concentration of power while at the same time empowering every individual. There might be the need for a state or some construction of that kind to achieve this.
Oh sheesh.... another whining liberal lamenting about his guilt.
Let's not forget the Sioux migrated to the Dakotas from northeast in the late 1600's - 1700's. By the mid 1700's they had driven out other tribes like the Cheyenne and Kiowa out of the Black Hills and were expanding, attacking other tribes.
What happened in the 1800's is one empire, the U.S., encountered another empire, the Sioux. Neither was innocent.
@NiamhIronside Agreed, alcohol and apathy are no excuse to waste potential, but it wasn't alcohol and apathy that extinguished it. The younger generation don't see the benefits of free education because they see it as hopeless to try. This issue has been created by bigotry and isolation. Also, its hard to enter college with the stigma that they are lazy bums. It takes generations upon generations to heal these wounds and you can look else where in the world to see similar effects.
@ThoughtfulAtheist I agree with you completely but you assume i am that familiar with their history. The first time you see the full magnitude all that hits you first is some kind of shock. Hopefully they are as ready to change as you are willing to help. This has been the most sane debate i have ever had on youtube :P
@LogicvsFaith Honestly I'd do what I have to. You still aren't answering my question about what to actually DO. You keep saying the land was stolen...ok. Do we give it back or don't we? Your refusal to make a tough choice (impossible and insane vs immoral) doesn't do anything for anyone, least of all the native americans.
@ExternalServerError I didn´t say we should carry on like in the past. Finding the right organization for society isn´t easy and there are more possibileties than just getting rid of every institution. The elite will not just disapear with goverment. In the contrary it will have even more opportuneties to kick us while we are down.
@majinspy
Nope, Cant help you there without getn all metaphisically bumbo Jumbo, That of which I dont do. I mostly know you gotta wing it.
You know what would be the most American thing to do for these people? Make them a sovereign state of the USA. Let them govern themselves the way they want to but also include them in national affairs. Is that really hard to do?