American Experience: We Shall Remain DVD

Factual history of Native Americans

Ever since I was 7 years old, I admired our Native Americans even though I never had any contact with any growing up in a Norwegian city. In High School I wrote an essay ...Read complete review

Ever since I was 7 years old, I admired our Native Americans even though I never had any contact with any growing up in a Norwegian city. In High School I wrote an essay for English titled, "The White Man's Injustice to the Indians." As years passed, I read a lot about these people and my feelings for them grew. I was horrified and greatly angered by the horrible treatment of these people by our government just to enable white settlers to illegally claim the lands of the American Indians and often in very cruel ways. The Trail of Tears, ordered by our government, was the climax that proportionately, by population, equals the Nazi's treatment of the Jews.

Bad treatment in many regards by our government still continues.

I appreciated the factual history of our Native Americans without vilifying them or presenting them as though they had halos over their heads. These should be seen by all school children as well as adults. When I was in school none of this was taught.

My one complaint is with Wounded Knee. A major event was omitted. Rev. Paul Boe, Minneapolis, had worked with the Am. Indians for 5 years and gained their trust and love. They invited Rev. Boe to come to Wounded knee to council with them. He lived with them for 10 days while it was under siege by armed forces. When he left he was arrested and ordered to tell who was there, how many guns and how much ammunition they had etc. He refused to break the trust and the confidence between a pastor and a confessor. The Judge gave him 14 days to prepare to be incarcerated until he would give testimony to the Grand Jury.

Pastor Paul Boe, 58 years old, returned to Sioux Falls, SD and prepared to go to jail. When he and his family arrived at the airport, 30 Indians surrounded him, singing Indian Songs.

The Boe and 500 others went to a church for a service before Rev. Boe was to turn him self in. There news arrived that 2 of the 3 judges in the 8th U.S.Dist. Court of Appeals in St. Louis held that Rev. Boe had been denied his rights in the First Amendment of Constitution to present his defense and the free practice practice of his religion, so he did not have to go to jail.

After the service 300, including many Indians, walked with Rev. Boe to The Marshall's Office to be sure that he did not have to go to jail.

Although Rev. Boe was happy that he didn't have to go to jail, he said he was disappointed that court didn't help the cause of injustice to the Indians and that his case was dropped merely on a technicality and said nothing about the clergy's rights to maintain confidentiality with a confessor.

To the Indians of Wounded Knee, Pastor Boe was a hero, championing their cause against negative governmental treatment. (You need to read the details involved in their complaints to appreciate the myriad of problems.)

Every other white man in that documentary were enemies of the Indians at Wounded knee. This one white man who understood their problems and was willing to go to jail to protect these people was totally left out of the documentary.To me this is outrageous.