0:00:00.754,0:00:03.754 I'm here today to show[br]my photographs of the Lakota. 0:00:04.404,0:00:06.555 Many of you may have heard of the Lakota, 0:00:06.579,0:00:08.519 or at least the larger group of tribes, 0:00:08.543,0:00:09.999 called the Sioux. 0:00:10.668,0:00:13.803 The Lakota are one of many tribes[br]that were moved off their land 0:00:13.827,0:00:15.232 to prisoner-of-war camps, 0:00:15.256,0:00:16.778 now called reservations. 0:00:17.497,0:00:19.584 The Pine Ridge Reservation, 0:00:19.608,0:00:21.740 the subject of today's slide show, 0:00:21.764,0:00:26.066 is located about 75 miles southeast[br]of the Black Hills in South Dakota. 0:00:26.090,0:00:31.017 It is sometimes referred to[br]as Prisoner of War Camp Number 334, 0:00:31.041,0:00:33.167 and it is where the Lakota now live. 0:00:33.191,0:00:35.377 Now, if any of you have ever heard of AIM, 0:00:35.401,0:00:37.321 the American Indian Movement, 0:00:37.345,0:00:39.187 or of Russell Means, 0:00:39.211,0:00:40.623 or Leonard Peltier, 0:00:41.623,0:00:43.710 or of the standoff at Oglala, 0:00:43.734,0:00:47.871 then you know Pine Ridge is ground zero[br]for Native issues in the US. 0:00:49.257,0:00:51.415 So I've been asked to talk[br]a little bit today 0:00:51.439,0:00:53.607 about my relationship with the Lakota, 0:00:53.631,0:00:55.607 and that's a very difficult one for me, 0:00:55.631,0:00:58.089 because, if you haven't[br]noticed from my skin color, 0:00:58.113,0:00:59.502 I'm white, 0:00:59.526,0:01:02.526 and that is a huge barrier[br]on a Native reservation. 0:01:04.113,0:01:06.543 You'll see a lot of people[br]in my photographs today. 0:01:06.567,0:01:09.884 I've become very close with them,[br]and they've welcomed me like family. 0:01:09.908,0:01:11.826 They've called me "brother" and "uncle," 0:01:11.850,0:01:14.154 and invited me again and again[br]over five years. 0:01:14.178,0:01:15.376 But on Pine Ridge, 0:01:15.400,0:01:18.376 I will always be what is called "wasichu." 0:01:18.400,0:01:21.566 "Wasichu" is a Lakota word 0:01:21.590,0:01:23.691 that means "non-Indian," 0:01:23.715,0:01:25.794 but another version of this word 0:01:25.818,0:01:29.038 means "the one who takes[br]the best meat for himself." 0:01:29.407,0:01:31.228 And that's what I want to focus on -- 0:01:31.252,0:01:33.348 the one who takes[br]the best part of the meat. 0:01:33.853,0:01:35.033 It means "greedy." 0:01:36.058,0:01:38.154 So take a look around[br]this auditorium today. 0:01:38.870,0:01:41.930 We are at a private school[br]in the American West, 0:01:41.954,0:01:44.376 sitting in red velvet chairs 0:01:44.400,0:01:45.812 with money in our pockets. 0:01:46.701,0:01:48.447 And if we look at our lives, 0:01:48.471,0:01:51.349 we have indeed taken[br]the best part of the meat. 0:01:52.336,0:01:55.376 So let's look today[br]at a set of photographs 0:01:55.400,0:01:57.038 of a people who lost 0:01:57.062,0:01:59.039 so that we could gain, 0:01:59.063,0:02:01.569 and know that when you see[br]these people's faces, 0:02:02.304,0:02:04.908 that these are not just[br]images of the Lakota; 0:02:04.932,0:02:07.256 they stand for all indigenous people. 0:02:10.360,0:02:12.015 On this piece of paper 0:02:12.039,0:02:15.752 is the history the way I learned it[br]from my Lakota friends and family. 0:02:17.623,0:02:21.886 The following is a time line[br]of treaties made, treaties broken 0:02:21.910,0:02:24.192 and massacres disguised as battles. 0:02:24.668,0:02:26.375 I'll begin in 1824. 0:02:26.901,0:02:29.013 What is known as[br]the Bureau of Indian Affairs 0:02:29.037,0:02:30.867 was created within the War Department, 0:02:30.891,0:02:32.581 setting an early tone of aggression 0:02:32.605,0:02:34.644 in our dealings with the Native Americans. 0:02:34.668,0:02:36.211 1851: 0:02:36.235,0:02:38.400 The first treaty of Fort Laramie was made, 0:02:38.424,0:02:41.162 clearly marking the boundaries[br]of the Lakota Nation. 0:02:41.757,0:02:44.836 According to the treaty,[br]those lands are a sovereign nation. 0:02:45.400,0:02:47.496 If the boundaries[br]of this treaty had held -- 0:02:47.520,0:02:50.147 and there is a legal basis[br]that they should -- 0:02:50.171,0:02:52.926 then this is what the US[br]would look like today. 0:02:55.755,0:02:56.926 Ten years later. 0:02:57.320,0:03:00.042 The Homestead Act,[br]signed by President Lincoln, 0:03:00.066,0:03:02.745 unleashed a flood of white settlers[br]into Native lands. 0:03:03.345,0:03:05.024 1863: 0:03:05.048,0:03:07.546 An uprising of Santee Sioux in Minnesota 0:03:07.570,0:03:10.478 ends with the hanging of 38 Sioux men, 0:03:10.502,0:03:13.502 the largest mass execution in US history. 0:03:14.035,0:03:16.274 The execution was ordered[br]by President Lincoln, 0:03:16.298,0:03:20.993 only two days after he signed[br]the Emancipation Proclamation. 0:03:22.569,0:03:26.141 1866: The beginning[br]of the Transcontinental Railroad -- 0:03:26.165,0:03:27.376 a new era. 0:03:27.763,0:03:29.953 We appropriated land for trails and trains 0:03:29.977,0:03:32.376 to shortcut through the heart[br]of the Lakota Nation. 0:03:32.400,0:03:34.216 The treaties were out the window. 0:03:34.240,0:03:37.707 In response, three tribes led[br]by the Lakota chief Red Cloud 0:03:37.731,0:03:39.437 attacked and defeated the US army, 0:03:39.461,0:03:40.659 many times over. 0:03:40.683,0:03:42.008 I want to repeat that part: 0:03:42.032,0:03:44.064 The Lakota defeat the US army. 0:03:45.770,0:03:49.619 1868: The second Fort Laramie Treaty[br]clearly guarantees 0:03:49.643,0:03:51.659 the sovereignty of the Great Sioux Nation 0:03:51.683,0:03:54.500 and the Lakotas' ownership[br]of the sacred Black Hills. 0:03:54.830,0:03:57.284 The government also promises[br]land and hunting rights 0:03:57.308,0:03:58.632 in the surrounding states. 0:03:58.656,0:04:00.719 We promise that the Powder River country 0:04:00.743,0:04:02.882 will henceforth be closed to all whites. 0:04:03.501,0:04:05.559 The treaty seemed to be a complete victory 0:04:05.583,0:04:07.043 for Red Cloud and the Sioux. 0:04:07.067,0:04:09.979 In fact, this is the only war[br]in American history 0:04:10.812,0:04:13.048 in which the government negotiated a peace 0:04:13.072,0:04:15.743 by conceding everything[br]demanded by the enemy. 0:04:18.753,0:04:22.495 1869: The Transcontinental[br]Railroad was completed. 0:04:22.519,0:04:25.906 It began carrying, among other things,[br]large numbers of hunters, 0:04:25.930,0:04:28.276 who began the wholesale[br]killing of buffalo, 0:04:28.300,0:04:31.858 eliminating a source of food,[br]clothing and shelter for the Sioux. 0:04:31.882,0:04:33.098 1871: 0:04:33.677,0:04:35.337 The Indian Appropriation Act 0:04:35.361,0:04:37.700 makes all Indians[br]wards of the federal government. 0:04:38.299,0:04:40.450 In addition, the military issued orders 0:04:40.474,0:04:43.338 forbidding western Indians[br]from leaving reservations. 0:04:44.154,0:04:48.238 All western Indians at that point in time[br]were now prisoners of war. 0:04:48.903,0:04:50.350 Also in 1871, 0:04:50.374,0:04:52.351 we ended the time of treaty-making. 0:04:52.375,0:04:56.067 The problem with treaties is they allow[br]tribes to exist as sovereign nations, 0:04:56.091,0:04:57.261 and we can't have that. 0:04:57.285,0:04:58.482 We had plans. 0:04:59.554,0:05:00.777 1874: 0:05:00.801,0:05:04.357 General George Custer announced[br]the discovery of gold in Lakota territory, 0:05:04.381,0:05:06.066 specifically the Black Hills. 0:05:06.090,0:05:08.901 The news of gold creates[br]a massive influx of white settlers 0:05:08.925,0:05:10.110 into Lakota Nation. 0:05:10.714,0:05:12.747 Custer recommends that Congress find a way 0:05:12.771,0:05:15.691 to end the treaties with the Lakota[br]as soon as possible. 0:05:16.048,0:05:19.081 1875: The Lakota war begins 0:05:19.105,0:05:21.757 over the violation[br]of the Fort Laramie Treaty. 0:05:22.551,0:05:23.752 1876: 0:05:24.322,0:05:25.980 On July 26th, 0:05:26.004,0:05:28.223 on its way to attack a Lakota village, 0:05:28.247,0:05:30.311 Custer's 7th Cavalry was crushed 0:05:30.335,0:05:31.984 at the battle of Little Big Horn. 0:05:32.746,0:05:33.942 1877: 0:05:34.585,0:05:37.629 The great Lakota warrior[br]and chief named Crazy Horse 0:05:37.653,0:05:39.376 surrendered at Fort Robinson. 0:05:39.843,0:05:41.859 He was later killed while in custody. 0:05:45.935,0:05:50.623 1877 is also the year we found a way[br]to get around the Fort Laramie Treaties. 0:05:50.647,0:05:53.940 A new agreement was presented[br]to Sioux chiefs and their leading men, 0:05:53.964,0:05:56.376 under a campaign known[br]as "Sell or Starve" -- 0:05:56.400,0:05:58.705 sign the paper, or no food for your tribe. 0:05:59.156,0:06:01.872 Only 10 percent of the adult[br]male population signed. 0:06:02.586,0:06:06.305 The Fort Laramie Treaty called[br]for at least three-quarters of the tribe 0:06:06.329,0:06:07.488 to sign away land. 0:06:08.254,0:06:10.082 That clause was obviously ignored. 0:06:10.709,0:06:13.261 1887: The Dawes Act. 0:06:13.811,0:06:16.376 Communal ownership[br]of reservation lands ends. 0:06:16.400,0:06:19.491 Reservations are cut up[br]into 160-acre sections, 0:06:19.515,0:06:21.496 and distributed to individual Indians 0:06:21.520,0:06:23.376 with the surplus disposed of. 0:06:23.400,0:06:25.219 Tribes lost millions of acres. 0:06:26.322,0:06:28.569 The American dream[br]of individual land ownership 0:06:28.593,0:06:30.588 turned out to be a very clever way 0:06:30.612,0:06:33.534 to divide the reservation[br]until nothing was left. 0:06:34.041,0:06:35.887 The move destroyed the reservations, 0:06:35.911,0:06:38.861 making it easier[br]to further subdivide and to sell 0:06:38.885,0:06:40.806 with every passing generation. 0:06:41.155,0:06:42.870 Most of the surplus land 0:06:42.894,0:06:45.530 and many of the plots[br]within reservation boundaries 0:06:45.554,0:06:47.520 are now in the hands of white ranchers. 0:06:48.034,0:06:51.207 Once again, the fat of the land[br]goes to wasichu. 0:06:52.161,0:06:56.787 1890: A date I believe to be[br]the most important in this slide show. 0:06:57.168,0:06:59.591 This is the year[br]of the Wounded Knee Massacre. 0:07:00.237,0:07:01.658 On December 29, 0:07:01.682,0:07:04.864 US troops surrounded a Sioux[br]encampment at Wounded Knee Creek, 0:07:04.888,0:07:08.937 and massacred Chief Big Foot[br]and 300 prisoners of war, 0:07:08.961,0:07:12.463 using a new rapid-fire weapon[br]that fired exploding shells, 0:07:12.487,0:07:13.645 called a Hotchkiss gun. 0:07:14.550,0:07:16.130 For this so-called "battle," 0:07:16.154,0:07:19.157 20 Congressional Medals of Honor for Valor 0:07:19.181,0:07:21.013 were given to the 7th Cavalry. 0:07:22.400,0:07:23.703 To this day, 0:07:25.005,0:07:29.113 this is the most Medals of Honor[br]ever awarded for a single battle. 0:07:30.019,0:07:31.639 More Medals of Honor were given 0:07:31.663,0:07:34.193 for the indiscriminate slaughter[br]of women and children 0:07:34.217,0:07:37.089 than for any battle in World War One, 0:07:37.113,0:07:38.454 World War Two, 0:07:38.478,0:07:40.789 Korea, Vietnam, 0:07:40.813,0:07:42.890 Iraq or Afghanistan. 0:07:44.811,0:07:48.479 The Wounded Knee Massacre[br]is considered the end of the Indian wars. 0:07:49.842,0:07:53.302 Whenever I visit the site[br]of the mass grave at Wounded Knee, 0:07:53.326,0:07:57.728 I see it not just as a grave[br]for the Lakota or for the Sioux, 0:07:57.752,0:08:00.143 but as a grave for all indigenous peoples. 0:08:03.230,0:08:05.770 The holy man Black Elk, said, 0:08:05.794,0:08:08.187 "I did not know then how much was ended. 0:08:09.737,0:08:13.154 When I look back now[br]from this high hill of my old age, 0:08:13.178,0:08:15.759 I can still see[br]the butchered women and children 0:08:15.783,0:08:19.854 lying heaped and scattered[br]all along the crooked gulch, 0:08:23.751,0:08:25.686 as plain as when I saw them 0:08:25.710,0:08:27.147 with eyes still young. 0:08:31.002,0:08:34.317 And I can see that something else[br]died there in the bloody mud 0:08:35.975,0:08:37.671 and was buried in the blizzard. 0:08:39.383,0:08:41.340 A people's dream died there. 0:08:42.523,0:08:44.332 And it was a beautiful dream." 0:08:47.078,0:08:48.534 With this event, 0:08:48.558,0:08:51.558 a new era in Native American[br]history began. 0:08:52.400,0:08:57.376 Everything can be measured[br]before Wounded Knee and after, 0:08:57.400,0:08:59.167 because it was in this moment, 0:08:59.191,0:09:02.478 with the fingers on the triggers[br]of the Hotchkiss guns, 0:09:02.502,0:09:06.376 that the US government openly[br]declared its position on Native rights. 0:09:06.859,0:09:08.376 They were tired of treaties. 0:09:08.795,0:09:10.763 They were tired of sacred hills. 0:09:10.787,0:09:12.620 They were tired of ghost dances. 0:09:13.676,0:09:16.691 And they were tired of all[br]the inconveniences of the Sioux. 0:09:17.295,0:09:18.930 So they brought out their cannons. 0:09:20.713,0:09:23.040 "You want to be an Indian now?" they said, 0:09:23.064,0:09:24.326 finger on the trigger. 0:09:30.556,0:09:31.722 1900: 0:09:32.548,0:09:36.018 the US Indian population[br]reached its low point -- 0:09:36.042,0:09:38.574 less than 250,000, 0:09:38.598,0:09:42.400 compared to an estimated[br]eight million in 1492. 0:09:44.496,0:09:45.679 Fast-forward. 0:09:46.400,0:09:47.607 1980: 0:09:48.233,0:09:50.932 The longest-running[br]court case in US history, 0:09:50.956,0:09:53.537 the Sioux Nation versus the United States, 0:09:53.561,0:09:56.227 was ruled upon by the US Supreme Court. 0:09:57.273,0:10:00.796 The court determined that when the Sioux[br]were resettled onto reservations 0:10:00.820,0:10:03.907 and seven million acres[br]of their land were opened up 0:10:03.931,0:10:05.981 to prospectors and homesteaders, 0:10:06.005,0:10:08.568 the terms of the second[br]Fort Laramie Treaty 0:10:08.592,0:10:09.799 had been violated. 0:10:10.532,0:10:14.272 The court stated that the Black Hills[br]were illegally taken, 0:10:14.296,0:10:16.911 and that the initial[br]offering price, plus interest, 0:10:16.935,0:10:18.729 should be paid to the Sioux Nation. 0:10:19.300,0:10:20.852 As payment for the Black Hills, 0:10:20.876,0:10:25.308 the court awarded only 106 million dollars[br]to the Sioux Nation. 0:10:25.332,0:10:28.376 The Sioux refused the money[br]with the rallying cry, 0:10:28.400,0:10:30.376 "The Black Hills are not for sale." 0:10:31.630,0:10:32.789 2010: 0:10:33.329,0:10:36.121 Statistics about Native population today, 0:10:36.145,0:10:39.376 more than a century[br]after the massacre at Wounded Knee, 0:10:39.400,0:10:41.985 reveal the legacy of colonization, 0:10:42.009,0:10:43.277 forced migration 0:10:43.301,0:10:44.744 and treaty violations. 0:10:45.895,0:10:48.325 Unemployment on the Pine Ridge[br]Indian Reservation 0:10:48.349,0:10:50.927 fluctuates between 85 and 90 percent. 0:10:51.689,0:10:54.538 The housing office is unable[br]to build new structures, 0:10:54.562,0:10:56.698 and existing structures are falling apart. 0:10:57.030,0:10:58.199 Many are homeless, 0:10:58.223,0:11:00.782 and those with homes[br]are packed into rotting buildings 0:11:00.806,0:11:02.151 with up to five families. 0:11:02.598,0:11:04.805 Thirty-nine percent of homes on Pine Ridge 0:11:04.829,0:11:06.066 have no electricity. 0:11:06.524,0:11:09.193 At least 60 percent[br]of the homes on the reservation 0:11:09.217,0:11:11.034 are infested with black mold. 0:11:11.740,0:11:16.005 More than 90 percent of the population[br]lives below the federal poverty line. 0:11:16.814,0:11:18.974 The tuberculosis rate on Pine Ridge 0:11:18.998,0:11:22.189 is approximately eight times higher[br]than the US national average. 0:11:22.615,0:11:25.845 The infant mortality rate[br]is the highest on this continent, 0:11:25.869,0:11:29.177 and is about three times higher[br]than the US national average. 0:11:29.201,0:11:31.596 Cervical cancer is five times higher 0:11:31.620,0:11:33.431 than the US national average. 0:11:33.455,0:11:36.208 The school dropout rate[br]is up to 70 percent. 0:11:36.799,0:11:40.904 Teacher turnover is eight times higher[br]than the US national average. 0:11:41.400,0:11:44.769 Frequently, grandparents[br]are raising their grandchildren 0:11:44.793,0:11:47.111 because parents, due to alcoholism, 0:11:47.135,0:11:49.860 domestic violence and general apathy, 0:11:49.884,0:11:51.082 cannot raise them. 0:11:52.082,0:11:55.153 Fifty percent of the population[br]over the age of 40 0:11:55.177,0:11:56.653 suffers from diabetes. 0:11:57.634,0:12:03.503 The life expectancy for men[br]is between 46 and 48 years old -- 0:12:04.265,0:12:08.268 roughly the same[br]as in Afghanistan and Somalia. 0:12:10.138,0:12:13.678 The last chapter[br]in any successful genocide 0:12:13.702,0:12:15.679 is the one in which the oppressor 0:12:15.703,0:12:18.243 can remove their hands and say, 0:12:18.267,0:12:21.729 "My god -- what are these people[br]doing to themselves? 0:12:21.753,0:12:23.449 They're killing each other. 0:12:23.473,0:12:25.376 They're killing themselves 0:12:25.400,0:12:27.049 while we watch them die." 0:12:28.241,0:12:31.217 This is how we came to own[br]these United States. 0:12:31.700,0:12:32.994 This is the legacy 0:12:33.019,0:12:34.645 of Manifest Destiny. 0:12:35.453,0:12:39.680 Prisoners are still born[br]into prisoner of war camps, 0:12:39.704,0:12:41.666 long after the guards are gone. 0:12:44.449,0:12:49.092 These are the bones[br]left after the best meat has been taken. 0:12:51.891,0:12:53.209 A long time ago, 0:12:53.233,0:12:55.210 a series of events was set in motion 0:12:55.234,0:12:58.736 by a people who look like me, by wasichu, 0:12:58.760,0:13:02.219 eager to take the land and the water[br]and the gold in the hills. 0:13:03.202,0:13:06.286 Those events led to a domino effect[br]that has yet to end. 0:13:07.328,0:13:10.767 As removed as we,[br]the dominant society, may feel 0:13:12.154,0:13:14.747 from a massacre in 1890, 0:13:14.771,0:13:18.497 or a series of broken[br]treaties 150 years ago, 0:13:18.971,0:13:21.132 I still have to ask you the question: 0:13:22.084,0:13:24.711 How should you feel[br]about the statistics of today? 0:13:25.878,0:13:29.042 What is the connection[br]between these images of suffering 0:13:29.066,0:13:31.042 and the history that I just read to you? 0:13:31.930,0:13:34.780 And how much of this history[br]do you need to own, even? 0:13:35.479,0:13:37.730 Is any of this your responsibility today? 0:13:39.273,0:13:41.966 I have been told that there must be[br]something we can do. 0:13:41.990,0:13:44.416 There must be some call to action. 0:13:45.697,0:13:48.772 Because for so long,[br]I've been standing on the sidelines, 0:13:49.209,0:13:50.835 content to be a witness, 0:13:50.859,0:13:52.723 just taking photographs. 0:13:53.661,0:13:56.260 Because the solutions[br]seem so far in the past, 0:13:56.284,0:13:59.617 I needed nothing short[br]of a time machine to access them. 0:14:00.680,0:14:05.788 The suffering of indigenous peoples[br]is not a simple issue to fix. 0:14:06.640,0:14:08.656 It's not something everyone can get behind 0:14:08.680,0:14:10.529 the way they get behind helping Haiti, 0:14:10.553,0:14:12.956 or ending AIDS, or fighting a famine. 0:14:13.739,0:14:15.705 The "fix," as it's called, 0:14:15.729,0:14:18.376 may be much more difficult[br]for the dominant society 0:14:18.400,0:14:20.697 than, say, a $50 check 0:14:20.721,0:14:24.018 or a church trip to paint[br]some graffiti-covered houses, 0:14:24.042,0:14:25.653 or a suburban family 0:14:25.677,0:14:28.653 donating a box of clothes[br]they don't even want anymore. 0:14:29.296,0:14:30.691 So where does that leave us? 0:14:31.176,0:14:33.240 Shrugging our shoulders in the dark? 0:14:35.010,0:14:39.690 The United States continues[br]on a daily basis to violate the terms 0:14:39.714,0:14:44.163 of the 1851 and 1868[br]Fort Laramie Treaties with the Lakota. 0:14:44.723,0:14:47.055 The call to action I offer today -- 0:14:47.892,0:14:49.941 my TED wish -- is this: 0:14:51.351,0:14:52.632 Honor the treaties. 0:14:53.225,0:14:54.922 Give back the Black Hills. 0:14:55.319,0:14:57.561 It's not your business[br]what they do with them. 0:14:59.898,0:15:06.777 (Applause)