Writer/ Director/ Cinematographer: Hillary AbeCamera: Sony HVR-V1U - HDVThe Tetuma people (a.k.a. the Lakota Nation) have been fighting over their lands in the longest legal battle in the history of the United States. Never having ceded land, the Lakota hold legal title to a vast swath of land promised to them by the treaties of 1851 and 1868*. This territory of 'The Great Sioux Nation' encompasses several states including parts of Wyoming, Montana, South Dakota, and North Dakota. At the heart of this land is a sacred space called 'the Black Hills'. Despite being offered millions of dollars in monetary compensation for the illegal taking of the Black Hills, the Lakota have never ceded claim to the heart of their culture and history. At the radix of this clash between Western society and Lakota epistemology, ideas surrounding philosophy unfairly compete for the attention of the dominant culture. Notions of property, history, creation, religion, science, metaphysics, family, economy, government are at the core of this dispute. It is impossible for Native cultures to assert an argument that addresses Western logic because they have not and do not belong to traditional Euro-American thought. Thus, when the Black Hills are said to be 'sacred' in English, perhaps it does not imply the type of relationship the Lakota mean when they say sacred. Just as you'll see in the film, the Lakota way of addressing 'dirt' or 'soil' simply doesn't match up. One word can imply the rift in philosophical logic that exists between two cultures and the politics of translation.In a divide this deep, cultural relativism cannot prevail. Indigenous thought which has evolved and changed throughout the course of thousands of years is not considered legitimate. Understanding the way which Indigenous people have chosen to interact with their surroundings illuminates a sense of deliberate purpose. That is what Western society cannot see or admit - the legitimacy of a body of thought not attributed to the individual but to the collective. This is what drives the landscape - the conflict, found among Indigenous peoples all over the world and the governments that have sought to contain them. At the core is a gap between Western understanding and Indigenous worldviews. The Western hemisphere exemplifies a wealth of knowledge that offers completely different notions of property and space, culture and freedom. Because we cannot see into each other, the problem goes on. These cirumstances dictate the fundamental problem facing the Lakota today. "A Good Way" attempts to show the tip of the iceberg in Indigenous logic - a way of thinking that is not completely understood by Euro-American tradition. That misunderstanding has been used as an excuse to exploit Indigenous peoples all over the globe. We must communicate our message: If one can see through the translation, an understanding can develop that will force us to treat each other with mutual respect. That means the right to adopt the cultural, political and economic means of sovereignty to overcome the colonial project. *Article VI, clause 2 of the U.S. constitution states, "...all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land..." Treaty land cannot be taken by eminent domain or compromised by the powers of states of the union. [More] [Less] |
