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Aaron Huey's effort to photograph poverty in America led him to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, where the struggle of the native Lakota people -- appalling, and largely ignored -- compelled him to refocus. Five years of work later, his haunting photos intertwine with a shocking history lesson in this bold, courageous talk from TEDxDU.

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Showing Revision 5 created 10/05/2016 by Krystian Aparta.

Title:
America's native prisoners of war
Description:

Aaron Huey's effort to photograph poverty in America led him to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, where the struggle of the native Lakota people -- appalling, and largely ignored -- compelled him to refocus. Five years of work later, his haunting photos intertwine with a shocking history lesson in this bold, courageous talk from TEDxDU.
Speaker:
Aaron Huey
754 0:01 - 0:04

I'm here today to show
my photographs of the Lakota.
4404 0:04 - 0:07

Many of you may have heard of the Lakota,
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or at least the larger group of tribes,
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called the Sioux.
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The Lakota are one of many tribes
that were moved off their land
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to prisoner-of-war camps,
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now called reservations.
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The Pine Ridge Reservation,
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the subject of today's slide show,
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is located about 75 miles southeast
of the Black Hills in South Dakota.
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It is sometimes referred to
as Prisoner of War Camp Number 334,
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and it is where the Lakota now live.
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Now, if any of you have ever heard of AIM,
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the American Indian Movement,
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or of Russell Means,
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or Leonard Peltier,
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or of the standoff at Oglala,
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then you know Pine Ridge is ground zero
for Native issues in the US.
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So I've been asked to talk
a little bit today
¶
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about my relationship with the Lakota,
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and that's a very difficult one for me,
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because, if you haven't
noticed from my skin color,
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I'm white,
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and that is a huge barrier
on a Native reservation.
64113 1:04 - 1:07

You'll see a lot of people
in my photographs today.
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I've become very close with them,
and they've welcomed me like family.
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They've called me "brother" and "uncle,"
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and invited me again and again
over five years.
74178 1:14 - 1:15

But on Pine Ridge,
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I will always be what is called "wasichu."
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"Wasichu" is a Lakota word
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that means "non-Indian,"
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but another version of this word
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means "the one who takes
the best meat for himself."
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And that's what I want to focus on --
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the one who takes
the best part of the meat.
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It means "greedy."
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So take a look around
this auditorium today.
¶
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We are at a private school
in the American West,
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sitting in red velvet chairs
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with money in our pockets.
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And if we look at our lives,
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we have indeed taken
the best part of the meat.
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So let's look today
at a set of photographs
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of a people who lost
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so that we could gain,
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and know that when you see
these people's faces,
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that these are not just
images of the Lakota;
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they stand for all indigenous people.
130360 2:10 - 2:12

On this piece of paper
¶
132039 2:12 - 2:16

is the history the way I learned it
from my Lakota friends and family.
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The following is a time line
of treaties made, treaties broken
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and massacres disguised as battles.
144668 2:25 - 2:26

I'll begin in 1824.
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What is known as
the Bureau of Indian Affairs
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was created within the War Department,
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setting an early tone of aggression
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in our dealings with the Native Americans.
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1851:
¶
156235 2:36 - 2:38

The first treaty of Fort Laramie was made,
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clearly marking the boundaries
of the Lakota Nation.
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According to the treaty,
those lands are a sovereign nation.
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If the boundaries
of this treaty had held --
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and there is a legal basis
that they should --
170171 2:50 - 2:53

then this is what the US
would look like today.
175755 2:56 - 2:57

Ten years later.
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The Homestead Act,
signed by President Lincoln,
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unleashed a flood of white settlers
into Native lands.
183345 3:03 - 3:05

1863:
¶
185048 3:05 - 3:08

An uprising of Santee Sioux in Minnesota
187570 3:08 - 3:10

ends with the hanging of 38 Sioux men,
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the largest mass execution in US history.
194035 3:14 - 3:16

The execution was ordered
by President Lincoln,
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only two days after he signed
the Emancipation Proclamation.
202569 3:23 - 3:26

1866: The beginning
of the Transcontinental Railroad --
¶
206165 3:26 - 3:27

a new era.
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We appropriated land for trails and trains
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to shortcut through the heart
of the Lakota Nation.
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The treaties were out the window.
214240 3:34 - 3:38

In response, three tribes led
by the Lakota chief Red Cloud
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attacked and defeated the US army,
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many times over.
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I want to repeat that part:
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The Lakota defeat the US army.
225770 3:46 - 3:50

1868: The second Fort Laramie Treaty
clearly guarantees
¶
229643 3:50 - 3:52

the sovereignty of the Great Sioux Nation
231683 3:52 - 3:54

and the Lakotas' ownership
of the sacred Black Hills.
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The government also promises
land and hunting rights
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in the surrounding states.
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We promise that the Powder River country
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will henceforth be closed to all whites.
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The treaty seemed to be a complete victory
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for Red Cloud and the Sioux.
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In fact, this is the only war
in American history
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in which the government negotiated a peace
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by conceding everything
demanded by the enemy.
258753 4:19 - 4:22

1869: The Transcontinental
Railroad was completed.
¶
262519 4:23 - 4:26

It began carrying, among other things,
large numbers of hunters,
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who began the wholesale
killing of buffalo,
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eliminating a source of food,
clothing and shelter for the Sioux.
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1871:
¶
273677 4:34 - 4:35

The Indian Appropriation Act
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makes all Indians
wards of the federal government.
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In addition, the military issued orders
280474 4:40 - 4:43

forbidding western Indians
from leaving reservations.
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All western Indians at that point in time
were now prisoners of war.
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Also in 1871,
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we ended the time of treaty-making.
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The problem with treaties is they allow
tribes to exist as sovereign nations,
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and we can't have that.
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We had plans.
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1874:
¶
300801 5:01 - 5:04

General George Custer announced
the discovery of gold in Lakota territory,
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specifically the Black Hills.
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The news of gold creates
a massive influx of white settlers
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into Lakota Nation.
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Custer recommends that Congress find a way
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to end the treaties with the Lakota
as soon as possible.
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1875: The Lakota war begins
¶
319105 5:19 - 5:22

over the violation
of the Fort Laramie Treaty.
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1876:
324322 5:24 - 5:26

On July 26th,
326004 5:26 - 5:28

on its way to attack a Lakota village,
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Custer's 7th Cavalry was crushed
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at the battle of Little Big Horn.
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1877:
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The great Lakota warrior
and chief named Crazy Horse
337653 5:38 - 5:39

surrendered at Fort Robinson.
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He was later killed while in custody.
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1877 is also the year we found a way
to get around the Fort Laramie Treaties.
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A new agreement was presented
to Sioux chiefs and their leading men,
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under a campaign known
as "Sell or Starve" --
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sign the paper, or no food for your tribe.
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Only 10 percent of the adult
male population signed.
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The Fort Laramie Treaty called
for at least three-quarters of the tribe
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to sign away land.
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That clause was obviously ignored.
370709 6:11 - 6:13

1887: The Dawes Act.
¶
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Communal ownership
of reservation lands ends.
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Reservations are cut up
into 160-acre sections,
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and distributed to individual Indians
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with the surplus disposed of.
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Tribes lost millions of acres.
386322 6:26 - 6:29

The American dream
of individual land ownership
388593 6:29 - 6:31

turned out to be a very clever way
390612 6:31 - 6:34

to divide the reservation
until nothing was left.
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The move destroyed the reservations,
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making it easier
to further subdivide and to sell
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with every passing generation.
401155 6:41 - 6:43

Most of the surplus land
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and many of the plots
within reservation boundaries
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are now in the hands of white ranchers.
408034 6:48 - 6:51

Once again, the fat of the land
goes to wasichu.
412161 6:52 - 6:57

1890: A date I believe to be
the most important in this slide show.
¶
417168 6:57 - 7:00

This is the year
of the Wounded Knee Massacre.
420237 7:00 - 7:02

On December 29,
421682 7:02 - 7:05

US troops surrounded a Sioux
encampment at Wounded Knee Creek,
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and massacred Chief Big Foot
and 300 prisoners of war,
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using a new rapid-fire weapon
that fired exploding shells,
432487 7:12 - 7:14

called a Hotchkiss gun.
434550 7:15 - 7:16

For this so-called "battle,"
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20 Congressional Medals of Honor for Valor
439181 7:19 - 7:21

were given to the 7th Cavalry.
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To this day,
445005 7:25 - 7:29

this is the most Medals of Honor
ever awarded for a single battle.
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More Medals of Honor were given
451663 7:32 - 7:34

for the indiscriminate slaughter
of women and children
454217 7:34 - 7:37

than for any battle in World War One,
457113 7:37 - 7:38

World War Two,
458478 7:38 - 7:41

Korea, Vietnam,
460813 7:41 - 7:43

Iraq or Afghanistan.
464811 7:45 - 7:48

The Wounded Knee Massacre
is considered the end of the Indian wars.
¶
469842 7:50 - 7:53

Whenever I visit the site
of the mass grave at Wounded Knee,
473326 7:53 - 7:58

I see it not just as a grave
for the Lakota or for the Sioux,
477752 7:58 - 8:00

but as a grave for all indigenous peoples.
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The holy man Black Elk, said,
485794 8:06 - 8:08

"I did not know then how much was ended.
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When I look back now
from this high hill of my old age,
493178 8:13 - 8:16

I can still see
the butchered women and children
495783 8:16 - 8:20

lying heaped and scattered
all along the crooked gulch,
503751 8:24 - 8:26

as plain as when I saw them
505710 8:26 - 8:27

with eyes still young.
511002 8:31 - 8:34

And I can see that something else
died there in the bloody mud
515975 8:36 - 8:38

and was buried in the blizzard.
519383 8:39 - 8:41

A people's dream died there.
522523 8:43 - 8:44

And it was a beautiful dream."
527078 8:47 - 8:49

With this event,
¶
528558 8:49 - 8:52

a new era in Native American
history began.
532400 8:52 - 8:57

Everything can be measured
before Wounded Knee and after,
537400 8:57 - 8:59

because it was in this moment,
539191 8:59 - 9:02

with the fingers on the triggers
of the Hotchkiss guns,
542502 9:03 - 9:06

that the US government openly
declared its position on Native rights.
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They were tired of treaties.
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They were tired of sacred hills.
550787 9:11 - 9:13

They were tired of ghost dances.
553676 9:14 - 9:17

And they were tired of all
the inconveniences of the Sioux.
557295 9:17 - 9:19

So they brought out their cannons.
560713 9:21 - 9:23

"You want to be an Indian now?" they said,
563064 9:23 - 9:24

finger on the trigger.
570556 9:31 - 9:32

1900:
¶
572548 9:33 - 9:36

the US Indian population
reached its low point --
576042 9:36 - 9:39

less than 250,000,
578598 9:39 - 9:42

compared to an estimated
eight million in 1492.
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Fast-forward.
¶
586400 9:46 - 9:48

1980:
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The longest-running
court case in US history,
590956 9:51 - 9:54

the Sioux Nation versus the United States,
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was ruled upon by the US Supreme Court.
597273 9:57 - 10:01

The court determined that when the Sioux
were resettled onto reservations
600820 10:01 - 10:04

and seven million acres
of their land were opened up
603931 10:04 - 10:06

to prospectors and homesteaders,
606005 10:06 - 10:09

the terms of the second
Fort Laramie Treaty
608592 10:09 - 10:10

had been violated.
610532 10:11 - 10:14

The court stated that the Black Hills
were illegally taken,
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and that the initial
offering price, plus interest,
616935 10:17 - 10:19

should be paid to the Sioux Nation.
619300 10:19 - 10:21

As payment for the Black Hills,
620876 10:21 - 10:25

the court awarded only 106 million dollars
to the Sioux Nation.
625332 10:25 - 10:28

The Sioux refused the money
with the rallying cry,
628400 10:28 - 10:30

"The Black Hills are not for sale."
631630 10:32 - 10:33

2010:
¶
633329 10:33 - 10:36

Statistics about Native population today,
636145 10:36 - 10:39

more than a century
after the massacre at Wounded Knee,
639400 10:39 - 10:42

reveal the legacy of colonization,
642009 10:42 - 10:43

forced migration
643301 10:43 - 10:45

and treaty violations.
645895 10:46 - 10:48

Unemployment on the Pine Ridge
Indian Reservation
648349 10:48 - 10:51

fluctuates between 85 and 90 percent.
651689 10:52 - 10:55

The housing office is unable
to build new structures,
654562 10:55 - 10:57

and existing structures are falling apart.
657030 10:57 - 10:58

Many are homeless,
658223 10:58 - 11:01

and those with homes
are packed into rotting buildings
660806 11:01 - 11:02

with up to five families.
662598 11:03 - 11:05

Thirty-nine percent of homes on Pine Ridge
664829 11:05 - 11:06

have no electricity.
666524 11:07 - 11:09

At least 60 percent
of the homes on the reservation
669217 11:09 - 11:11

are infested with black mold.
671740 11:12 - 11:16

More than 90 percent of the population
lives below the federal poverty line.
676814 11:17 - 11:19

The tuberculosis rate on Pine Ridge
678998 11:19 - 11:22

is approximately eight times higher
than the US national average.
682615 11:23 - 11:26

The infant mortality rate
is the highest on this continent,
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and is about three times higher
than the US national average.
689201 11:29 - 11:32

Cervical cancer is five times higher
691620 11:32 - 11:33

than the US national average.
693455 11:33 - 11:36

The school dropout rate
is up to 70 percent.
696799 11:37 - 11:41

Teacher turnover is eight times higher
than the US national average.
701400 11:41 - 11:45

Frequently, grandparents
are raising their grandchildren
704793 11:45 - 11:47

because parents, due to alcoholism,
707135 11:47 - 11:50

domestic violence and general apathy,
709884 11:50 - 11:51

cannot raise them.
712082 11:52 - 11:55

Fifty percent of the population
over the age of 40
715177 11:55 - 11:57

suffers from diabetes.
717634 11:58 - 12:04

The life expectancy for men
is between 46 and 48 years old --
724265 12:04 - 12:08

roughly the same
as in Afghanistan and Somalia.
730138 12:10 - 12:14

The last chapter
in any successful genocide
¶
733702 12:14 - 12:16

is the one in which the oppressor
735703 12:16 - 12:18

can remove their hands and say,
738267 12:18 - 12:22

"My god -- what are these people
doing to themselves?
741753 12:22 - 12:23

They're killing each other.
743473 12:23 - 12:25

They're killing themselves
745400 12:25 - 12:27

while we watch them die."
748241 12:28 - 12:31

This is how we came to own
these United States.
751700 12:32 - 12:33

This is the legacy
753019 12:33 - 12:35

of Manifest Destiny.
755453 12:35 - 12:40

Prisoners are still born
into prisoner of war camps,
759704 12:40 - 12:42

long after the guards are gone.
764449 12:44 - 12:49

These are the bones
left after the best meat has been taken.
771891 12:52 - 12:53

A long time ago,
¶
773233 12:53 - 12:55

a series of events was set in motion
775234 12:55 - 12:59

by a people who look like me, by wasichu,
778760 12:59 - 13:02

eager to take the land and the water
and the gold in the hills.
783202 13:03 - 13:06

Those events led to a domino effect
that has yet to end.
787328 13:07 - 13:11

As removed as we,
the dominant society, may feel
¶
792154 13:12 - 13:15

from a massacre in 1890,
794771 13:15 - 13:18

or a series of broken
treaties 150 years ago,
798971 13:19 - 13:21

I still have to ask you the question:
802084 13:22 - 13:25

How should you feel
about the statistics of today?
805878 13:26 - 13:29

What is the connection
between these images of suffering
809066 13:29 - 13:31

and the history that I just read to you?
811930 13:32 - 13:35

And how much of this history
do you need to own, even?
815479 13:35 - 13:38

Is any of this your responsibility today?
819273 13:39 - 13:42

I have been told that there must be
something we can do.
821990 13:42 - 13:44

There must be some call to action.
825697 13:46 - 13:49

Because for so long,
I've been standing on the sidelines,
829209 13:49 - 13:51

content to be a witness,
830859 13:51 - 13:53

just taking photographs.
833661 13:54 - 13:56

Because the solutions
seem so far in the past,
836284 13:56 - 14:00

I needed nothing short
of a time machine to access them.
840680 14:01 - 14:06

The suffering of indigenous peoples
is not a simple issue to fix.
¶
846640 14:07 - 14:09

It's not something everyone can get behind
848680 14:09 - 14:11

the way they get behind helping Haiti,
850553 14:11 - 14:13

or ending AIDS, or fighting a famine.
853739 14:14 - 14:16

The "fix," as it's called,
855729 14:16 - 14:18

may be much more difficult
for the dominant society
858400 14:18 - 14:21

than, say, a $50 check
860721 14:21 - 14:24

or a church trip to paint
some graffiti-covered houses,
864042 14:24 - 14:26

or a suburban family
865677 14:26 - 14:29

donating a box of clothes
they don't even want anymore.
869296 14:29 - 14:31

So where does that leave us?
871176 14:31 - 14:33

Shrugging our shoulders in the dark?
875010 14:35 - 14:40

The United States continues
on a daily basis to violate the terms
¶
879714 14:40 - 14:44

of the 1851 and 1868
Fort Laramie Treaties with the Lakota.
884723 14:45 - 14:47

The call to action I offer today --
887892 14:48 - 14:50

my TED wish -- is this:
891351 14:51 - 14:53

Honor the treaties.
893225 14:53 - 14:55

Give back the Black Hills.
895319 14:55 - 14:58

It's not your business
what they do with them.
899898 15:00 - 15:07

(Applause)
¶

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