Question 1
The AIM leaders and dissidents of the Oglala took on the US government because the community was being marginalized in their own country. The Oglala people had been tortured and killed by security officials in the US government. They had also been displaced from their own native land that they had connected with for a long period before the arrival of the Europeans in North America. The Aim leaders felt that there culture and spiritual life was being taken away from them by the US government. These leaders were of the view that the Oglala people were being stripped off their own dignity and cultural pride that they had held on to for a long time.
Question 2
The Lakota Chiefs signed the Treaty of Laramie or what is known as Sioux Treaty in the year 1868. The Lakota chiefs were granted the privilege of owning an area called the Black Hills. However, the United States’ government did not uphold the treaty. There was continuous violation of the treaty leading to what was known as Black Hills war.
Question 3
What happened at the Wounded Knee in the winter of 1890 was that the US government military occupied the Wound Knee creek and began a disarmed exercise for Native Americans. In the process, a standoff ensured leading to a fury of shooting that led to an estimated death of 150 people from the Oglala tribe. The dissidents gained strength from the memory of the massacre by staging the Wounded Knee incidence of 1973 on the same place that the Wounded Knee massacre had taken place more than 80 years ago.
Question 4
According the film, we shall remain; The Indian movement differed from other political movements of the time because unlike other movements it was formed to seek political power. The movement was formulated to fight for the rights of American Indian peoples. Therefore, AIM did not perceive itself as being a political outfit, but viewed themselves as a spiritual movement that protected the socio-cultural and spiritual self-pride and dignity of American Indians.
Question 5
The program of Indian termination was introduced by the US Federal government between 1950s and 1960s. This policy was meant to amalgamate American Indians into the larger American society. In this way, their needs and rights would be protected just as those of other American mainstream societies.
Works Cited
Eyre, Chris. "The Films | We Shall Remain | American Experience | PBS." PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. 13 Apr. 2009. Web. 28 May 2013. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/weshallremain/the_films/index>.
