Original subtitles

ELAINE: There is an Indian proverb:

[SPEAKING IN NATIVE LANGUAGE]

"It is easy to be brave from a distance.

ELAINE [IN VOICEOVER]: Easy, and often quite safe."

[SINGING IN NATIVE LANGUAGE]

Once, there was no honour in killing...

[BLOWS]

...only necessity.

[CHUCKLES]

Honour came with true courage.

But that day...

...is long gone.

Woo!

[WINGS FLUTTERING]

[BIRDS CAWING]

[HORSES NEIGHING IN DISTANCE]

[RUSTLING]

[GUNSHOTS]

[GRUNTS]

[INDIANS SCREAMING]

[GRUNTS]

[GUNSHOT]

[GRUNTING]

[SCREAMING CONTINUES]

Ohiyesa, go with the others!

[YELLS]

[GRUNTS]

[GASPS]

[GRUNTS]

I said, go! Go!

[WOMAN SOBBING]

Aieee!

[HORSE NEIGHING]

[SCREAMING CONTINUES]

[MEN YELLING]

[INDISTINCT YELLING]

[GUNSHOTS]

[HORSE NEIGHS]

MAN: The man was a fucking idiot.

Splits his forces, daylight raid, high noon.

An idiot, perhaps, but he had his orders, Mr. President.

"Drive the Sioux out of the Black Hills, onto the ration rolls"...

...so that we could get to that damn gold.

The Sioux resisted.

Resisted? Bullshit.

They resisted, General Sherman.

Blocking a roundhouse to the chin is resistance, Henry.

Massacring five companies of cavalry...

I am not defending their brutality, Mr. President.

The Sioux resisted because by the '68 treaty...

...this land is theirs...

...and we had no legal...

That treaty was also only supposed to feed them for four years...

...and yet here we are eight years later...

...and you senators are passing a million-a-year appropriation...

...to keep filling their bellies. Why?

To keep them from starving, general.

GRANT: And tha�s all i�s done, made them beggars.

Hasn't advanced them one bit.

- And those smart enough not to sign... - Do this.

They were attacked by us first.

[CHUCKLES]

And what would you have us do, Dawes? Cut and run?

Mr. President, this is a senseless argument.

A senseless argument?

You know what they did to those men on that hill?

They did things even I've never seen before.

Henry, the survival of the Indian is your deepest concern, isn't that so?

You know it is.

I thought it was yours.

And it still is.

I appointed an Indian to the head of Indian Affairs, I'll remind you.

Another decision that your colleagues were so fond of.

Another knot in the noose of this administration.

Along with a three-year depression and a bankrupt treasury.

This isn't about money, this is about human beings.

And when you make an agreement, you have a solemn obligation to fulfil...

In spite of this atrocity...

...I still believe that setting the Indians on the course to civilisation...

...best ensures their survival. Now, do you or do you not agree?

Yes, sir. I do.

Then you can't deny that there's no saving the Sioux...

...unless we compel them to give up their way of life...

...and settle on the reservation.

I'll say it till my tongue bleeds:

If we're ever going to claim what we bought from the French...

...and whooped the Mexicans for...

...i�s going to mean killing Indians.

[INDIANS YELLING]

Whoa.

Your father.

[INDISTINCT CHATTERING IN NATIVE LANGUAGE]

[SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY]

[HORSE NEIGHING IN DISTANCE]

- Did you win this feather? - Yes.

In the fight at the Little Bighorn.

MAN: Three hundred of us were to be hanged.

I killed two whites, but the Great Father Lincoln saved me.

He sent me to prison, where my heart was made free.

- Free? - Yes.

Because I have learned there is another road that runs beside the warpath.

A secret road...

...only known to the Christ worshippers.

[CROWD MURMURING]

And you came back to make us Christ worshippers?

No. I have come for my son.

[SINGING "JESUS, LOVER OF MY SOUL"]

PRIEST: O Lord, grant us the wisdom and strength...

...to come to a peaceful accord with our red brothers here today.

Great Chief of the Oglala Sioux, Red Cloud.

His head men:

Young Man Afraid of His Horses...

...American Horse and others.

We beseech you, O Lord...

...in the name of your son and our saviour, Jesus Christ.

PRIEST: Amen. ALL: Amen.

RED CLOUD: I want to know to which god the white robe is praying.

The same god whom you deceived when you made treaty with us...

...and broke it?

We come to you once again, to negotiate...

...for your rights to the Black Hills and your hunting ground.

I am speaking. Or has my medicine made us invisible to you?

If so, you will not notice when I lead my people out of here...

...back to our lands.

[CROWD CHUCKLING]

I would like to know how many of Red Clou�s young bucks...

...were at Little Bighorn with Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse.

Those men were hunting, as the agent permitted.

MILES: Indeed they were hunting.

They were hunting for white scalps.

I am a friend of the great father, President Grant.

And I want to tell you, he did not wish...

...for there to be war between us again.

The great father is the chief of all your people, chosen by them.

Did he not order those soldiers to attack?

Yes, it was the great father's order.

But it did not come from his heart.

Then I don't understand how you whites do things.

And now you will place a paper before us that says:

"Give the Black Hills and your old hunting lands to us...

...or we will no longer feed you...

...and we will kill Sitting Bull and all those who continue to fight."

RED CLOUD: Is that not so? - All right.

Red Cloud has had his say.

This new agreement will ensure your continued support...

...and a new home at an agency to be known as Pine Ridge.

We no longer wish your support.

We wish to hunt on the lands, which the treaty said we may keep.

MILES: Only as long as the game abounds. The game is scarce now.

Because of your hunting for amusement.

The paper you signed allows for us to lay rail.

You agreed to this when you touched the pen.

I touched the pen because I wanted peace.

For the past eight snows...

...my people have been living like the poorest of whites.

Where are the fine things you promised?

The kind you lavish on us when you want our mark on your paper?

Chief Red Cloud, did you or did you not...

...sign the paper and advise your people to do the same?

Am I invisible now? I am speaking to you.

Colonel Miles, enough.

I will speak straight to you because these are the words...

...of the great father and his people.

You must touch pen to this paper...

...or you and your people will perish.

[SCRIBBLES]

[WOMEN GIGGLING]

MAN: Soldiers!

Soldiers!

[INDISTINCT YELLING]

Bear Coat.

They say he was fearless in the whites' big war against themselves.

Bear Coat was a friend of Longhair Custer.

He comes for revenge.

[YELLING IN DISTANCE]

MILES: Sitting Bull requested this council.

We await his words.

Take your soldiers out of here, they scare the game away.

Very well, sir.

Tell me, then, howfar away should I take my men?

You must take them out of our lands.

What precisely are your lands?

These are the lands where my people lived before you whites first came.

I don't understand. We whites were not your first enemies.

Why don't you demand back the land in Minnesota...

...the Chippewa forced you from years before?

The Black Hills are a sacred land given to my people by Wakan Tanka.

How very convenient to cloak your claims in spiritualism.

And what would you say to the Mormons and others...

...who believe their god has given them Indian lands in the West?

I would say they should listen to Wakan Tanka.

[ALL CHUCKLING]

[HORSES WHINNYING]

No matter what your legends say...

...you didn't sprout from the plains like the spring grasses.

And you didn't coalesce out of the ether.

You came out of the Minnesota woodlands armed to the teeth...

...and set upon your fellow man.

You massacred the Kiowa, the Omaha...

...the Ponca, the Oto and the Pawnee without mercy.

And yet you claim the Black Hills as a private preserve...

...bequeathed to you by the Great Spirit.

And who gave us the guns and powder to kill our enemies?

Who traded weapons to the Chippewa and others...

...who drove us from our home?

Chief Sitting Bull, the proposition that you were a peaceable people...

...before the appearance of the white man is the most fanciful legend of all.

You killed each other for hundreds of moons...

...before whites stepped foot on this continent.

You conquered those tribes, lusting for their game and their lands...

...just as we have now conquered you for no less noble a cause.

This is your story of my people!

This is the truth, not legend.

[GUN COCKS]

Crazy Horse has surrendered...

...with his entire band.

And by his surrender, he says to you and your people...

...that you are defeated.

And by ceding the Black Hills to us...

...so say Red Cloud and the other chiefs...

...who demand that you end this war and take your place on the reservation.

Red Cloud is no longer a chief.

He is a woman you have mounted and had your way with.

Do not speak to me of Red Cloud!

I suppose you are the only chief, then.

MILES: Sitting Bull is king of all the Indians.

Humility.

I�s one of the four virtues of a Sioux chief.

Sitting Bull shows his true nature now.

I have had my say with you.

And I have had my say with you.

Then we will have a fight.

So be it.

[CHANTING IN NATIVE LANGUAGE]

[GUN COCKS]

[RUMBLING]

[ALL YELLING]

Artillery, prepare to fire a volley.

[CRANK]

SOLDIER: Company, shoulder arms!

[GUNSHOTS]

Fire at will.

Artillery, reload.

[GUNSHOTS]

Infantry, prepare to fire.

And fire!

SOLDIER: Front line, reload!

Fire.

Fire. Fire.

[HORSE NEIGHS]

[HORSES NEIGHING]

[YELLING CONTINUES]

[YELLING INTENSIFIES]

SOLDIER: Front line, reload!

[RELOADING]

[WARRIORS SHOUTING IN NATIVE LANGUAGE]

MILES: Close ranks!

Platoon...

...forward!

SOLDIER 1: Fires are cold, sir. They left hours ago.

- Burn it all. SOLDIER 1: Yes, sir.

SOLDIER 1: Burn it all down, everything!

Get a torch over here. I don't wanna see one tepee standing.

[PLAYING MELANCHOLY TUNE]

Canada.

Who can give me the names of the last four presidents?

I would call on you, Ohiyesa, but it must be by a white name.

Have you chosen one from your book?

No, missus.

Shall I choose one for you?

No, missus.

Raise your hand only if you can name all four.

If just one student can name all four...

...I will dismiss you early.

[CHILDREN LAUGHING, DOG BARKING]

[CHATTERING IN NATIVE LANGUAGE]

[GUN COCKS]

OFFICER: Morning, sir.

Major Walsh, Northwest Mounted Police.

People of Canada have heard of your victory over the soldiers in Montana.

Queen Victoria believes the American government is to blame for this trouble.

So you and your people...

...you're welcome here.

[CROWD MURMURING]

I knowthe grandmother's heart for the red man.

Nowthey will learn on the reservation that we are safe.

And Crazy Horse will come.

SITTING BULL: And many more. - Crazy Horse?

He was the war chiefwith you at Little Bighorn?

He was made to surrender, but that life is not worth living.

No, apparently not, sir.

Crazy Horse is dead.

He resisted while they were locking him up for some trouble.

If others join you, they're welcome here.

But you cannot use our land as a base from which to attack the United States.

Nor can you make raids on other tribes here or interfere with their hunting.

If you do, I'll have to bring our own soldiers...

...and force you all to leave.

Now, we've brought you some food and supplies.

You'll find buffalo in the valleys to the north and to the east.

I suggest you hunt now and take as much meat and skins as you can.

I�s not like the Dakota here.

Our winters can be harsh.

[INDISTINCT CHATTERING]

Tomorrow, we will review fractions and verbs.

Don't forget your homework.

[STUDENTS CHATTERING]

You have been chosen from all the children on the settlement.

This woman has come to take you to a new school in Illinois.

Illinois?

If you study as hard there as you did here, child...

...you will go on to college and study even further.

And learn the trade of the white man.

I don't wanna go.

Excuse me.

[SIGHS]

The earth belongs to the white man.

There is no future outside his world.

You must go.

You must go.

[TRAIN HORN BLOWING]

[SINGING "JESUS, LOVER OF MY SOUL"]

[CHANTING]

Everything will be fine.

DAWES: The Indian today is civilised only in the most elemental sense.

His race wears civilised clothes, live in wood houses.

They send their children to schools.

We have reached the point where the Indian problem...

...should be no different than the Irish problem...

...or the German problem.

Like them, the Indian has been absorbed.

But, unlike them...

...he has not yet been assimilated.

This can only come...

...when he is educated to so high a plane of thought and aspiration...

...as to render his former savage way of life intolerable to him.

Ladies and gentlemen...

...on a late June day in 1876...

...the young man I'm about to present to you...

...was nearly killed by Arikara scouts attached to the Seventh Cavalry...

...of General George Armstrong Custer.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I am referring to the Battle of Little Bighorn.

Once destined for death at the hands of enemy tribes or U.S. Soldiers...

...he has flourished as a recipient of the Friends of the Indian scholarship.

From Dartmouth College, where he is soon to graduate...

...he will, with your continued support...

...matriculate at Boston University Medical School.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you...

...Ohiyesa of the Sioux...

...and Mr. Charles Eastman of the United States of America.

[APPLAUSE]

[SPEAKING IN NATIVE LANGUAGE]

A Lakota proverb. It means:

"Tell me, and I will listen.

Show me...

...and I will understand.

Take me in...

...and I will learn."

[APPLAUSE]

Elaine. Mrs. Goodale and her daughter Elaine.

Neighbours of mine from Massachusetts.

- Senator Dawes. - Lovely to see you.

- Pleased to meet you. - Hello.

Delighted to meet you.

[SPEAKING IN NATIVE LANGUAGE]

[SPEAKING IN NATIVE LANGUAGE]

[CHUCKLES]

Indeed.

Besides being a student of Lakota...

...Elaine is also a published poetess, Charles.

ELAINE: Ohiyesa? CHARLES: It means "winner."

I won the name in the pony races.

And where did "Charles" come from?

Well, Eastman is my mother's name.

[WHISPERS] Her father was a white.

Don't tell the Friends of the Indian.

[BOTH CHUCKLE]

And "Charles"?

I was in school one day and the teacher was mistaken about something.

The name of the chief of my Sioux tribe.

CHARLES: She called him Spotted Bear.

Chief Spotted Bear...

So I raised my hand because...

...I felt it was a dishonour to the chief to misspeak his name.

TEACHER: I would call on you...

CHARLES: But she wouldn't call on me...

...because I hadn't taken a white name.

I just couldn't do it.

And I remember her words as if it were moments ago.

Chief Spotted Bear could have saved his people.

But he chose war instead.

"Missus," I cried...

I believe you are mistaken.

And she turned to me.

How shall I address you?

Quickly, the children are waiting.

"Charles," I replied.

Charles.

Charles.

Yes, Charles, what is it you would like to say?

"Excuse me, missus, I am certain..."

I am certain the chief's name was Little Crow.

"Little Crow."

I believe you are right, Charles.

His name was Little Crow. Thank you, Charles.

"Thank you...

...Charles."

And he did not want war.

"He did not want war."

And this is how I came to be called...

...Charles.

Elaine?

I'm sorry.

Did I upset you?

No.

I'm all right.

[SIGHS]

ELAINE [WHISPERS]: I�s all right.

[GIRL COUGHING]

[COUGHS THEN CLEARS THROAT]

MOTHER: She's not getting any better.

You must talk to him.

[CONTINUES COUGHING]

[CHATTERING]

- Our daughter's getting worse. - Bring her to me.

The cures have not worked. We need to go back home.

You cannot leave.

If you leave, others will follow.

If you tell people they must stay, they will stay.

Tha�s what I'm telling you. You must stay.

[GIRL COUGHING]

[HORSES NEIGHING]

[INDISTINCT CHATTERING]

[GUN COCKS]

[HORSE GRUNTS, THUDS]

[MOTHER CRYING]

[CHANTING]

[CHANTING CONTINUES]

[WOMEN SOBBING]

Morning, sir.

These Crow are from the camp on the Poplar River.

They say they've seen your men on their hunting ground.

Crow are liars and they hate us.

They've always hated the Sioux. They are liars!

[GUNS COCK]

There's another problem. They're missing horses.

WALSH: And they say i�s your men who raided their camp two nights ago.

I must ask that you allowthem to look in your corral.

Sir, I must report this. And when I return next...

...it may be with men to take you back across the border.

Who stole these ponies?

Who would see us die like slaves on the reservation?

Who?

Who?!

You will see how I deal with this thing.

WALSH: Please, don't do this. - You must knowthat I did not know.

We cannot be sent back.

[GRUNTING]

[WHIPPING CONTINUES]

Enough!

[RUSTLING]

[HORSE NEIGHING]

[DOGS BARKING]

Brother, these men will fight if they are stopped.

I can't let that happen.

Then leave, brother.

I won't stop you.

Elaine Goodale was up the other day...

...to meet the Commissioner of Indian Affairs.

She made quite an impression, as you'd expect.

But I'm afraid you're gonna have to outdo even her.

- That would be impossible. - Ha-ha.

Remarkable young woman.

And quite an ally in our cause.

She completes her teacher's training...

...and she'll be on the Sioux reservation within months.

I know, sir, we've been corresponding for some time.

Have you? Have you indeed?

DAWES: All right, let us begin.

Northern boundary of the new Pine Ridge Reservation...

...south fork of the Cheyenne River...

...downstream to the mouth of Battle Creek.

The Indian must have full citisenship...

...and a deed in his hands like any white man.

Assimilation, Charles, or extinction.

DAWES: Gentlemen, the plan we put before you for the Sioux...

...will be a model for Indians from the Pequot in Connecticut...

...to the Pomo in California.

Now, step one is the division of Sioux land into six distinct reservations:

Pine Ridge, Rosebud...

...Cheyenne River...

...Standing Rock, Crow Creek...

DAWES: And then, due west to the 102nd meridian.

DAWES: Step two is the division of each new reservation...

...into individual tracts.

One hundred sixty acres to each man...

...to farm, to feed his family, to market his crops...

...to earn a living.

DAWES: Step three. Thus apportioned...

...excess lands will be sold to white settlers.

CHARLES: The Sioux and the white man.

Neighbours. Partners in business.

Friends.

And with white settlement of central Dakota, what follows?

The railroads, gentlemen.

DAWES: Straight through from Pierre to Rapid City...

...rail service to the Black Hills mines.

And...

...at long last...

...the Northern Pacific will see completion.

CHARLES: The Sioux will travel, be exposed to white society...

...and be influenced by it as I was.

And finally, statehood for the Dakotas.

Representation, governance, business.

With your vote on this bill, gentlemen...

...America will be built.

[APPLAUSE]

[PEOPLE CHANTING IN NATIVE LANGUAGE]

[GASPS]

[PANTING]

MAN: Mr. Naylor ofWest Virginia. NAYLOR: Nay.

MAN: Mr. Allison ofWest Virginia. ALLISON: Aye.

MAN: All gentlemen accounted for.

MAN: The bill has passed.

DAWES: Charles. Charles.

- Congratulations, sir. - We did it. We did it.

This could never have happened without your help.

Thank you. Thank you, my boy.

These are the borders of your reservation...

...as set out in the Black Hills Agreement of 1876.

Now, once each parcel is assigned...

...you will have a great deal of unused land.

When this land was first set aside...

...you could not have sold that for 10 cents an acre.

However...

...the great council in Washington has authorised me...

...to offer you 50 cents an acre.

Those excess lands will yield you...

...5 and a half million dollars.

Five and a half million dollars that will go right into your pocket...

...as these lands are sold to whites.

Your map does not showthe land we would be giving back to you.

Oh.

This area in red.

[ALL MURMURING INDISTINCTLY]

Now, this offer is only possible...

...because the Dakota Southern would be able to lay rail...

...south of the Cheyenne River into the Black Hills mines.

So you admit this land has no value except to lay iron through?

No, I do not admit that.

These are not my words.

Chief Red Cloud?

I would like to know what Chief Red Cloud has to say.

Do you believe this proposal is in the best interest of...?

Every man is a chief here. You wanted it so.

We do not need to hear his words.

[CROWD MURMURING]

How will this money be paid?

For every acre of land the government sells, the money is yours.

The money is not ours, then...

...until you sell the land you have taken that is ours.

[CROWD CHATTERING]

This land is not to farm.

This land is to graze...

...and we do not eat grass.

If we are to take this chance that whites may be foolish enough...

...to make their home here...

...then you must get us more of this money we may never see.

Come back when you have done this.

Have you any notion the efforts I have expended on your behalf?

Do you have any idea?

I can't simply come back!

There'll be a new Congress.

A new Congress may not authorise any offer at all.

[CROWD CHATTERING]

Tunkashila...

...hear my voice today.

Sitting Bull is a great leader of the Lakota.

There is no greater.

Thank you for letting us go, Father.

Keep me in your prayers.

[CHANTING IN NATIVE LANGUAGE]

[WOMAN COUGHING]

[WIND WHISTLING]

[CHILD COUGHING]

[CONTINUES COUGHING]

Finally. It arrived.

[CHUCKLES]

[MEN YELLING]

[EXCITED CHATTERING IN NATIVE LANGUAGE]

What is this?

Father, I'm a policeman.

Where's the person in charge? I'll see him now.

I'll take you to him.

[DOOR OPENS]

[DOOR CLOSES]

He's here, sir.

Yes, I know.

[INDISTINCT CHATTERING]

[DOOR OPENS]

Good day, sir.

I'm James McLaughlin, agent here at Standing Rock.

Let it be known that I...

...Tatanka Yotanka, Sitting Bull...

...was the last chief to give up his rifle.

Now...

...the great father has sent me a letter saying that if I came in...

...I would be big chief of this agency...

...that you would build me a fine house on a stream.

Do not give me ration tickets, I will not touch them.

I will take all supplies for all my people and hand them out myself.

I will not put in crops.

Those things that grow in the ground, my people and I will gather wild...

...as we always have.

Is this all you wish to say, sir?

I have said all the words I wish to say for now.

I see.

First of all, the great father sent no such letter to you.

You will not be a big chief...

...a medium-sized chief, nor any sort of chief.

Here, you will be the same as any other man.

That is to say, you will be given materials...

...and loaned men to build a cabin.

You will have a horse and waggon.

If you do not put in crops, you will live on your bimonthly rations...

...and if you do not accept ration tickets...

...you and your family will either be beggars or you will starve.

My clerk will add you to the rolls.

And those are all the words I wish to say.

[CROWD CHATTERING]

Good day, sir.

[DOOR CLOSES]

[MEN SHOUTING INDISTINCTLY]

MAN 1: Beans. One blanket.

Flour. One shawl. Seeds.

"Pawnee Killer."

MAN 1: "Crow Killer."

CLERK: One blanket. MAN 1: One coat, large.

A suit of clothes, medium-large.

Here's your flour ration, chief.

You'll fill it out soon enough.

MAN 1: Coffee. Two blankets. Matches.

"Little Feather." One coat, small-medium.

"Sitting Bull."

Tatanka Yotanka, they're calling your name.

Sitting Bull.

- Never mind, moving on. - I'll accept his issue.

You can't do that, Miss Goodale.

I was told by the commissioner...

...that I may assist these people in any way I see fit.

One blanket.

One blanket.

Without holes.

Thank you.

Father.

We are lucky. Here the agent lets us hunt for our meat.

Watch.

One Bull.

[BELL RINGS]

[ONE BULL YELLING]

[BULL LOWING]

[ONE BULL YELLING]

[CONTINUES YELLING]

[YELLS]

ELAINE: "My dear Charles...

...the great Sioux reservation is no longer great in size alone.

It is now home to a great celebrity.

Sitting Bull has arrived.

But the sorrow in his eyes...

It is the image of all I have seen, and not only at Standing Rock...

...but at all the agencies.

At Pine Ridge, a drought destroyed the late summer crops...

...and made for underweight cattle.

And then there are the epidemics.

Measles, influenza, whooping cough.

Have you seen a dying child with whooping cough?

There is little that can be done...

...except to prepare the families for the inevitable.

This has become my avocation.

Sincerely, Elaine."

DAWES: There's a fine line between incentive and coercion.

And if we have to cross that line in pursuit of the Indians' betterment...

...then so be it. MEN: Hear, hear.

- Charles. - May I speak with you a moment, sir?

Yes. I want to introduce you to a few new people.

Yes, wait. I received this letter from Miss Goodale.

That can wait. Charles, with this resolution...

...the Senate will authorise a new offering for the Sioux. One...

Do you know about this measles epidemic?

[PAPERS RUSTLING]

And whooping cough and influenza?

The agen�s official reports are somewhat different.

I haven't known Elaine to exaggerate.

She's an inspector of schools, Charles. She's not a physician.

She's an advocate for their cause, as you are.

And now you speak of coercion. I don't understand.

If we don't put that land into the hands of individual Indians...

...in five years... Less!

- Homesteaders and ranchers will demand it all...

...for nothing.

The Indian must own his own piece of earth, Charles.

Did you knowthat there is no word in the Sioux language for that, sir?

- For what? - To "own the earth."

Not in any native language.

Well, then perhaps you should invent one.

Come on.

I am sorry. The road is not good for wheels.

I�s all right. I'll get some help.

I'm your assistant, doctor.

- I'll take your things. - No no, please.

Take care of your son and watch over our things.

Little Hawk, keep an eye on your father.

[CLANKING]

[GRUNTS]

[SIGHS]

[GRUNTS]

There.

[VILLAGERS CHATTERING]

CHARLES: Good morning.

[INDISTINCT CHATTERING]

WOMAN: He wants to mend the waggon.

ROYER: You must be Dr. Eastman.

I'm Agent Royer.

- Welcome to Pine Ridge. - A pleasure.

- Right this way. - All right.

Here it is.

Where's the examination table?

Last fellow managed with a chair.

What is that, Mr. Royer?

Tha�s how you dispense your medicines, of course.

[MAN COUGHING]

Without examination?

- Well, l... - I'm sick.

I need a brown bottle. A brown bottle, please.

Me too, a brown bottle.

Cod-liver oil. Shipmen�s late.

When you're ready, I'll show you around.

I'm sorry, but there's none left.

If you men are sick, please, come in.

[KNOCKS ON DOOR]

Elaine.

Elaine.

You wrote you'd be inspecting the schools at Rosebud.

I doubt I'll be missed.

Not by the teachers, in any event.

- I'm so happy you're here. - Me too.

What do you think? Needs a lot of work.

I�s going to be great.

[BOTTLES CLINKING]

[CLANG]

[INDISTINCT CHATTERING]

All right, we're just gonna shift the shoulders a little bit.

And chin up, please.

PHOTOGRAPHER: Wonderful, Chief Sitting Bull.

Very still now, please.

Very still.

Thank you. $2.50.

[COINS CLINKING]

PHOTOGRAPHER: It would also be an honour for me to have your autograph.

Turn around.

It would be an honour for me to take more of your money.

[ALL CHUCKLING]

Thank you.

MEN: Whoo-hoo!

Whoo-hoo-ho!

McLAUGHLIN: Morning.

Nice hat.

- Wild West Show? - Mm.

And the horse.

You must be looking forward to joining Bill Cody again.

- What is that you're making? - When I am finished, I will know.

If we get enough rain, you could raise corn.

Grasshoppers eat corn.

Let them plant it.

I will live as I please.

No, you will not.

Do you understand?

I'm told you squandered Cody's pay on friends and fancy dinners.

And you come back with tall tales.

You did not meet President Cleveland...

...yet you go around boasting that he called you "the greatest living Indian."

These things do not advance your people's cause.

Nor does posing for portraits...

...autographs for money.

Now, I have had very good compliance here at Standing Rock.

The best of all the agencies.

Farming, school enrolment, church.

And I will not see that jeopardised...

...by the poor example of a respected man like yourself.

You will farm...

...and you will enrol your son here in school...

...and see that he attends church.

Now I am finished.

- And what is that? - To my ears...

...your words seem to come out of your rear end.

This is to silence you.

[CROW FOOT CHUCKLING]

This is what is left of the great tree that was my people.

Take it and you would have it all.

I'm allowing 12 Standing Rock Sioux to go with Cody again this fall.

You will not be among them.

[CHANTING IN NATIVE LANGUAGE]

CHARLES: "My dear Senator Dawes...

...as I believed you sincere in asking me to keep you informed...

...I write you again in an appeal for your assistance.

With no medical equipment here worthy of the name...

...and understocked in medicines...

...there has been little reason for the sick...

...to risk thejourney to the agency for treatment.

I bought a horse and a waggon with my own salary...

...and havejust now returned from several weeks in the villages.

[COUGHING]

It is a mistake to trust the official reports.

Measles, influenza and whooping cough...

...have ascended from hell all at once.

[LABOURED COUGHING]

My own assistan�s child has been taken.

[SNIFFLING]

The agent here, Royer, has no experience...

...and even less inclination to help these people.

Of equal concern is the epidemic of hopelessness...

...that has overtaken the reservation."

[KNOCKING]

I'm sick, doctor. Brown bottle, please.

"That the Sioux would bear the wretched taste of cod-liver oil...

...for the ounce of spirits contained in the bottle...

...is, to me, the whole of their experience in a nutshell."

Thank you, doctor.

"I no longer deny them.

[PEOPLE CHANTING IN NATIVE LANGUAGE]

Many here fear a return to the old ways.

The prophecy of a Paiute shaman called Wovoka...

...has spread from tribe to tribe faster than a telegraph signal...

...rekindling old superstitions among the Sioux...

...and old apprehensions among the whites...

...who are sure to mistake desperation for hostility.

As conditions worsen...

...the church can provide little solace beyond a Christian burial.

Sincerely yours, Charles Eastman."

[PEOPLE SINGING "JESUS, LOVER OF MY SOUL"]

[PEOPLE SOBBING, SNIFFLING]

[NO AUDIBLE DIALOGUE]

Avision came to me...

...when the sun went into shadow...

...and I lay dying.

And in my death...

...I sawthe heavens...

...of the white robes.

And, yes...

...it is as they describe it.

But also there, my children...

...all the Indians that ever roamed this earth.

All your beloved ancestors, and mine...

...and those young ones...

...who were taken by the white man's diseases.

Do not grieve for them.

They want you to know...

...that they are happy.

Yes.

And you should not grieve for yourselves...

...because here is what the white robes did not tell you:

The white man...

...my children...

...will soon be no more.

[LAUGHING]

[ALL LAUGHING]

Now, you must not hate the white man.

This will only delay his end.

But if you will do the dance...

...that I will teach you...

...all the ancestors will return.

And the buffalo...

...will be renewed.

And you shall all live...

...forever.

Forever...

...in the freedom...

...that we, as Indian people, once knew.

[DRUMS BEATING, CHANTING]

[BELL RINGS]

CRIER: Lone Wolf!

SITTING BULL: I called to the trader:

[GUNSHOT]

"Give me a red shirt to wear so the soldiers will know me."

SITTING BULL: Though there were hundreds of soldiers...

...not one bullet touched me, because of my strong medicine.

MAN: Not one bullet found you on the Little Bighorn.

Yes, this is so. But I wore no red shirt that day.

There was no time to dress.

[CROWD CHUCKLING]

I mean it is said that you were hiding under your blanket the entire fight.

Tha�s not true. Who says this?

We all heard it. Everyone knows it.

CRIER: Sitting Bull!

Don't believe this.

My father saved many lives. He is a great leader.

- Oh. - Great leader, hiding in his tepee.

- Sitting Bull. - Go on...

[SARCASTICALLY] ..."greatest living Indian."

Get your meat.

[COCKS GUN]

[LAYS DOWN PARCEL]

[HORSE APPROACHING]

- Hey, little brother. - Hey.

- Where is the old man? - He's inside.

[HORSE WHINNIES]

[SITTING BULL CHANTING]

Hello, Father.

Men from Washington are coming for a big council soon.

Will you go?

No one has ears for my words...

...and I have no ears for theirs.

If you go, you can have your say like any other man.

Then let any other man take my place...

...since one man is as important as another here.

Father...

...I know who started speaking the lies against you.

[PEOPLE CHATTERING]

DAWES: The last time I came before you...

...it was with an offer of 50 cents an acre for your excess lands.

It has been very difficult...

...to renegotiate in Washington on your behalf...

...with men who believe that to have been a very generous offer.

But I have done so, in your interest.

And I return to you...

...today...

...with what I must tell you is a final offer.

If refused, the government may take these lands...

...for whatever they wish to pay...

...which may be less than what you were first offered.

In fact, it may be nothing.

I return, however...

...with authorisation to offer you...

...$1.25 an acre.

If these lands are sold, by this agreement, my friends...

...this would put more than 12 million dollars in your pockets.

Twelve million dollars.

[PEOPLE MURMURING]

And remember, each head of the household will still receive...

...the 160-acre parcel to do with what he wishes.

We give you this, and we take nothing more away.

You will continue to receive the same rations and annuities...

...that you do at present...

...until you have achieved full self-sufficiency.

Now...

...as we discuss this over the next couple of days...

...let us not retread old trails.

The mistakes of the past are in the past...

...on both sides.

We have a chance now to correct them.

For we believe in your very wise saying:

[SPEAKING IN NATIVE LANGUAGE]

"We will be known forever...

...by the tracks we leave behind."

[PEOPLE MURMURING]

Senator...

...are you threatening to take their land if they don't sign?

That is no threat, Charles. That is the reality.

Would you permit this land to be stolen from them...

...to see your plan succeed?

My plan? You mean "our plan."

You played no small hand.

One I've come to question.

Don't worry, Charles. They will vote for it.

There were no early crops.

Nowthere will be no late crops.

Does it seem to you that our coffee rations are smaller?

Why do you tell lies about my part in the fight at the Little Bighorn?

It was Agent McLaughlin.

You angered him.

He made me say these things against you.

How can this be?

All our lives, we were like brothers...

...sharing meat when we had it.

When we had no meat...

...and when food was but a day's ride to an agency...

...we could not be made to take from the whites!

I will go and speak straight...

...and set things right.

These words cannot be put back. I have said all I have to say.

My brother, listen to me.

Many would have taken from the whites those years...

...but they did not because you did not.

I did not because you did not.

Before you came...

...I was big man here.

But now you've come and you do nothing.

You sit and tell stories while I work my fields.

You go with Cody, you write your name on a piece of paper...

...and you take money.

Money that I must sweat for.

I do not understand why you feel so honoured by these things.

I do not understand why you've come...

...because to me you are Sitting Bull...

...our leader who would never surrender.

That is all I have to say.

[GASPS, PANTING]

Because of confusion in the past...

...you will put your marks on one of the two papers here.

You will sign the red paper if you agree...

Which we hope that you do.

- And the black if you don't.

So they will know who is a friend and who is not.

So they will know who to take rations from.

[CROWD MURMURING]

What is this?

McLAUGHLIN: Sir, this is not your agency.

The council at Standing Rock is next week.

You have no place here.

MAN: Do you not recognise who this man is?

I know. He is Sitting Bull.

But I do not recognise him as having any more a voice...

...than any other Indian here.

Hear me, then, for one last time.

They mean to take our land away from us.

You may say, "They wish to give us land.

This patch to you, this patch to you."

But here is the truth:

Each patch is for a man and all generations that follow him.

And they knowthat this land cannot feed but one generation...

...not even so much as that.

All right, you've had your say.

Do not interrupt.

SITTING BULL: You teach our children the words of your God:

"Be fruitful and multiply."

But it seems these words are not meant for the Indian.

For what kind of man would take a wife...

...and have children he cannot feed?

No Indian man.

Not a Lakota, not an Arikara...

...not a Crow.

You would have us cut off our balls...

...and end our race right here...

...on a patch of land on which nothing can live...

...and that will not happen!

[CROWD CHATTERING]

I have spoken.

We did not put you on this land.

Red Cloud surrendered.

He made peace with the government.

Have you forgotten the bloodshed that came before?

Sitting Bull is a great leader.

I believe this, no matter that the whites...

...see us men all as the same.

But he did not sit with us in the council...

...those many snows ago, when our reservation was made.

He did not sit with us in the next council...

...when these borders...

...that we were told were like marks in stone, were moved...

...and the Black Hills...

...and our hunting lands were taken from us.

Sitting Bull might have had his say...

...but such was his suspicion of the whites...

...such was his pride.

I say today...

...for all ears within hearing...

...that if Sitting Bull had spoken...

...the way he speaks today...

...I would not have touched that pen.

I will not touch your pen...

...to your paper.

I will not touch it to your red paper...

...I will not touch it to your black paper.

The white man...

...will not see my mark again on his paper...

...for the rest of my days on this earth.

[CROWD CHEERING, YELLING]

DAWES: We cannot allow a return to incivility.

Incivility?

And what has civility earned them, might I ask?

Trained nurses? Even one hospital?

All things the Sioux will provide for themselves, Charles...

...once this plan has passed.

As you yourself agreed...

...they must adapt.

Must they adapt, sir, to the point of their own extermination?

Extermination?

I suppose you say we've exterminated your Indian heritage...

...rather than provided to you the benefits of an entire civilisation?

Senator, please sit.

Sir, if every individual were taken personally under your care...

...as was my good fortune...

...I admit, the outcome might be what you seek.

But I am not the example you held up to the Friends of the Indian.

I am the example...

...of nothing.

I simply do not see how placing each Indian man...

...on a desolate, 160-acre parcel of land...

...is gonna lead his children to medical school.

It will, in time.

But first, this must pass.

Or I guarantee you...

...destitution is all the Sioux will ever know.

I have many opponents, Charles.

In the press, in Congress...

You have an opponent before you, sir.

Yes.

I see that clearly now.

DAWES: This explains the tone of your letters.

CHARLES: Drought, disease, hunger, year in and year out.

DAWES: You think you are the first one to decry these things?

This looks all very grim to you, of course...

...having been spared all this yourself.

CHARLES: Children have died in my arms.

I have not been spared!

I devoted the larger part of my career...

...to the betterment of your race...

...with you as the principal beneficiary.

Is this your gratitude?

I am acting in the interest of my people...

...following the example you set for me.

Do you really think you know better than I...

...what is in the interest of these people?

Yes.

I am one of them, Senator.

[DAWES SCOFFS SOFTLY]

You're no more a Sioux Indian...

...than I am.

ELAINE: Charles?

Did you knowthere was a moment...

...on the train to Illinois where I was sent away to school...

...when I might have returned home to my old land?

I nearly jumped.

ELAINE: Jumped? What do you mean?

From that train.

I nearly did, Elaine.

I very nearly jumped.

[DOOR OPENS]

[CHILDREN CHATTERING]

[PEOPLE CHANTING]

[MAN CHANTING]

[ALL CHANTING]

[FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING]

ELAINE: Charles! Charles, you have to wake up.

- What? - I�s Royer.

He's ordered all the Sioux to the agency.

- He wants them all here. - Why?

There's been trouble. They heard about the ration cuts.

He says they have guns at the dance camp. He's wired for troops.

Just read it for yourself.

"Uprising of the whole Indian race is imminent."

I've got people to protect. You're damn right I'm getting troops.

I�s a stupid prophecy.

[SCOFFS]

L�ll pass if you let it. I've been to these camps.

[CHUCKLES] I�s harmless dancing.

Harmless? Preaching death to all whites is harmless?

If soldiers come to this reservation...

...you'll have more dead Indians than any disease has ever taken.

CHARLES: You'd better leave like the others.

With the threat of troops...

...maybe holdouts will be frightened enough to see reason.

Why should they? The land deal was shoved down their throats...

...and still they're punished with ration cuts.

A million pounds of beef. A million.

It has to have been a mistake. They were promised.

You've been here longer than I. You knowthese are never mistakes.

To provoke the Sioux further in this panic, does that make sense?

Yes, knowing the whites.

MAN: Hyah!

I think you should go.

We're still needed here.

As what, witnesses?

It won't come to that.

[PEOPLE CHANTING, DRUM BEATING]

What are you doing here? What do you want?

Why haven't you brought these people in?

For what? Another council? More rotten meat?

[CHUCKLES] This is nonsense.

You're a Christian.

You don't believe in this.

Then tell me what to believe.

Tell me what to believe in, white medicine man.

[INDISTINCT CHATTERING]

I ordered you to shut down these dance camps.

- I can't. - Why not?

Sitting Bull permits the dancing.

The people listen to him again.

- Bring him in. - What if there's trouble?

There is already trouble.

Soldiers are riding for Pine Ridge, and I'll be damned if they'll ride in here.

[BARKING]

The agent has sent for you. Dress.

I said, dress.

CHARLES: Your eyes are getting worse.

[YELLING IN DISTANCE]

[WOMAN SCREAMING]

Quick, somebody get Dr. Eastman!

[PANICKED CHATTERING]

ELAINE: Hurry!

[PEOPLE SCREAMING]

CHARLES: Easy, easy. Careful. ELAINE: This way.

[WOMAN SPEAKING IN NATIVE LANGUAGE]

MAN 1: Where do you want her? MAN 2: Right here!

Here.

[MAN 3 GROANING]

MAN 1: Behind you. MAN 2: Easy, easy.

[WOMAN SPEAKS IN NATIVE LANGUAGE]

[PANICKED CHATTERING]

ELAINE: Charles! Charles, hurry!

[WOMAN SOBBING]

- What happened? - She's been shot.

MAN: Help! Somebody help!

[MAN GASPING]

[TEARFULLY] Where are my children?

MAN: Help me!

[GRUNTING]

What happened?

Where are my children?

Tell me what happened.

They came for my father-in-law.

They came to arrest Sitting Bull.

They came to take him away.

WOMAN: What is going on?

[PEOPLE SCREAMING]

We tried to stop them.

- Where are you taking him? - Don't let them take you without a fight!

SOLDIER: Be quiet! - I won't go, I won't go!

Stay back! Stay back, or we will arrest you all.

[WOMAN SOBBING]

CHARLES: I got it.

The horse.

[HORSE NEIGHING]

The white horse.

[WHINNYING]

[EXHALES]

It danced.

We all turned to look at it.

[NEIGHING]

And he fired.

[GRUNTS]

[ALL SCREAMING]

MAN: No. - Oh...

They killed him!

They killed Sitting Bull!

[SOBBING]

No!

SOLDIER: His boy's over here!

They shot Crow Foot.

He wasjust a boy.

They killed him too.

[PEOPLE SOBBING]

[GASPING]

We ran away...

[ALL SCREAMING]

...but the soldiers found us.

[PEOPLE SOBBING]

They took us to Wounded Knee Creek.

No! No!

[PANTING] Where are my children?

Where are my children?

MAN: Doctor! Doctor!

[GRUNTING]

It was at Wounded Knee, near where we were dancing.

Elaine, bag!

They tried to take our weapons.

You had more than this.

You had Winchesters and Henrys.

I know you had Winchesters and Henrys. Where are your weapons?

"Where are your weapons?" He shouted.

Search the tepees.

[ALL SCREAMING]

Have heart, men.

The messiah's promise will come true.

The bullets will not harm you.

Their bullets...

...will not harm you.

Search all of them!

They tried to take a gun from a deaf man!

He couldn't hear, they didn't care.

Leave him alone! He can't hear you!

SOLDIER: Let go!

[GUNSHOTS]

[ALL SCREAMING]

And then the cannons came.

[INDIANS YELLING, CRYING]

[GRUNTS]

[YELLING INDISTINCTLY]

[SCREAMING CONTINUES]

SOLDIER: Go after them!

[GUNSHOTS CONTINUE]

MOTHER: Go! Fast!

[SCREAMING]

[GRUNTS]

[SOLDIERS YELLING, GUNSHOTS CONTINUE]

[GASPS]

[SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY, BABY CRYING]

[WHIMPERING]

[SOBBING]

I cannot mend the leg.

[PANTING]

No.

You will not take it.

Please. You have no choice.

There is a choice.

[GRUNTS]

[EXHALES]

[PEOPLE SOBBING]

[PEOPLE CHATTERING]

We didn't fire first.

I swear to almighty God, we did not fire first.

Blue coat...

...you whites use many weapons against us.

Do not have such a bad heart about it.

We have always feared your guns the least.

For two days, the snow prevented a search for survivors...

...and the burial of the dead.

ELAINE: From that day on...

...nothing would be the same.

Not for the Sioux as a people...

...and not for Charles.

[INAUDIBLE DIALOGUE]

Tell me what you see.

I'm the one who told our people to stay.

Tell me straight. I have the ears for it.

ELAINE: Witnesses.

I�s notwhatwe set out to be.

But in the end, i�s whatwe were.

Charles would practise medicine again only briefly.

A succession of positions always seemed to end...

...in voluntary resignation or dismissal...

...and eventually, financial hardship.

Soon he had nowhere to turn.

Charles?

ELAINE: And we needed money.

Well, how are you?

I'm fine.

I'm sorry to hear about your resignation, and your wife's.

Great loss to the reservation.

You're awaiting the commissioner?

Yes.

We would be very grateful to have your services again...

...for the renaming project.

- Renaming project? - Yes.

I only knowthere's a position available.

Yes, I put you up for it myself...

...knowing your circumstances.

I�s the individual deeds to the land.

They've been impossible to assign...

...with each Indian going by so many tribal names...

...so much confusion.

So, what we need is a single name...

...a Christian name, for each Sioux...

...assigned by you, randomly or at your discretion...

...working from the last census.

MAN: Doctor? Dr. Eastman?

We're ready for you now.

- Good luck. - Senator.

Charles.

Give my best to your wife.

I won't do this!

[CHARLES EXHALES]

Charles?

Should have jumped.

What?

Should have jumped from the train.

Might have got off...

Might have got off in Sioux City.

Yes, tha�s what I would have done.

I would have walked...

...till I reached the Red River...

...which I would have followed to the North Woods.

Tha�s how I will find my way home.

By the Red River.

By the Red River.