Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee Page #2

to kill our enemies?

And 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 were killing each other

for hundreds of moons

before the first white 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.

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?

Sitting Bull is king

of all the Indians.

Ah, humility.

It'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.

Artillery,

prepare to fire a volley.

Company,

shoulder arms!

Fire at will.

Artillery, reload.

Infantry, prepare to fire.

And fire!

Front line, reload!

Fire.

Fire. Fire.

Front line, reload!

Close ranks!

Platoon...

forward!

Fires are cold, sir.

They left hours ago.

- Burn it all.

- Yes, sir.

Burn it all down-

everything!

Get a torch over here.

I don't want to see one tepee standing.

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.

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.

I know the Grandmother's heart

for the red man.

Now they will learn on the reservation

that we are safe.

And Crazy Horse will come.

- And many more.

- Crazy Horse?

He was the war chief with you

at the Little Bighorn Valley?

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 do your hunting now and

take as much meat and skins as you can.

It's not like the Dakota here.

Our winters can be harsh.

Tomorrow, we will review

fractions and verbs.

Don't forget your homework.

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 want to go.

Excuse me.

The earth belongs

to the white man.

There is no future

outside his world.

You must go.

You must go.

Everything will be fine.

The Indian today is civilized

only in the most elemental sense.

His race wears civilized 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, 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.

A Lakota proverb.

It means...

"Tell me,

and I will listen.

Show me,

and I will understand.

Take me in,

and I will learn. "

Elaine. Mrs. Goodale,

and her daughter Elaine,

neighbors of mine

from Massachusetts.

- Senator Dawes.

- Lovely to see you.

- Pleased to meet you.

- Hello.

Delighted to meet you.

Indeed.

Besides being a student

of Lakota,

Elaine is also a published

poetess, Charles.

- Ohiyesa?

- It means "Winner. "

I won the name in the pony races.

And, where did "Charles"

come from?

Well...

Eastman is my mother's name.

Her father was a white-

don't tell

The Friends of the Indian.

And "Charles"?

I was in school one day

and the teacher was mistaken

about something-

The name of the chief

of my Sioux tribe.

- She called him "Spotted Bear. "

- Chief Spotted Bear...

So, I raised my hand because...

I felt it was a dishonor

to the chief

to misspeak his name.

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 name of this chief

was Little Crow.

"Little Crow. "

I believe you are right,

Charles.

His name was Little Crow.

Thank you...

"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.

It's all right.

She's not getting any better.

You must talk to him.

- 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 the people they must stay,

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