Native American rights at heart of documentary
Thursday, September 24, 2009
“American Outrage” directed by Beth Gage & George Gage; written by Beth Gage; narrated by Mary Steenburgen, First Run Features, 2008 (released 2009), 56 minutes plus special features, $24.95.
By Diana Staresinic-Deane
Special to The Gazette In 1863, the U.S. government, seeking safe passage across Native American lands to the West, signed a treaty of peace and friendship with the Western Shoshone. The Treaty of Ruby Valley granted the U.S. the right to cross Western Shoshone territory without requiring the Western Shoshone to relinquish their land.
The interpretation of this treaty is at the heart of “American Outrage,” a film documenting the Western Shoshone’s 36-year struggle to maintain ownership of and rights to their traditional sacred lands.
At the center of this battle are sisters Carrie and Mary Dann, a pair of Western Shoshone grandmothers who have ranched near the Crescent Valley in Nevada for their entire lives. In 1973, a representative of the Bureau of Land Management informed the Danns that their animals were trespassing on government land. Consulting a map of Western Shoshone land as outlined by the Treaty of Ruby Valley, the Danns insisted they were within their rights.
The conflict between the Danns and the U.S. government escalated. The United States argued that the Western Shoshone had lost their land rights because of non-Native American “encroachment.”
In 1979, the Department of the Interior, the assigned trustee for the Western Shoshone, accepted a settlement on their behalf based on 1872 prices: $26 million for 24 million acres of land. The Western Shoshone, who were not allowed to testify at the hearings, refused to accept payment for their sacred land.
The Danns refused to acquire grazing permits for land they believe has always belonged to their people. The BLM argued the Danns degraded the land by grazing too many animals on government property, and launched three separate round-ups to confiscate hundreds of horses and cattle.
Five months later, the Cortez Mine announced that the hills previously occupied by the Dann sisters’ horses sheltered more than 4.5 million tons of gold. Corporations were granted the right to open pit mine sacred Western Shoshone land, desecrating the land and ground water.
Even without the human element, viewers will find it very hard to watch footage of beautiful, wild land being stripped away at such accelerated rates. But it is especially heartbreaking to watch an entire culture that has peacefully coexisted with the U.S. government for more than a century fight to protect their sacred lands.
“American Outrage” is not a happy documentary, but it is an important one, forcing the viewer to consider whether what is legal and what is just are one and the same. What’s more, issues of land ownership and the rights of indigenous peoples will continue to be an important part of U.S. legislation.
Although “American Outrage” has won numerous film festival awards and is endorsed by the Human Rights Watch organization, some video content is graphic and may not be appropriate for all audiences.
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jamesbordonaro (James Bordonaro) says...
$24.95 is a lot of money for a video. Perhaps the reporter can inform in a follow up piece where the video might be rented or if the public could find it at the local library or intra-library loan.
September 25, 2009 at 9:21 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
gazette_reader (anonymous) says...
The Emporia Public Library carries this title. Check it out for a week for free!
September 25, 2009 at 3:47 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )