LAKOTA NATION Vs UNITED STATES – Review by Nikki Fowler

Lakota Nation vs The United States is a poignant documentary showing how calculated white supremacy led to and aided in the abuse, disenfranchisement and theft surrounding the Lakota people, their culture and their traditional land. The abuse of Native Americans began at the time of the founding of the United States and it still affects these US citizens today. The American Dream is not a dream if it is achieved off the backs of rape, theft, dehumanization and murder and this documentary explores every facet of the abuse and expresses the spirit of the Lakota people that flourishes to bring accountability for these atrocities. Directors Jesse Short Bull, Laura Tomaselli and writer Layli Long Soldier give an exquisite and accurate account of how land treaties have been broken and Native Americans have been physically and verbally bullied and belittled and met with horrific stereotyping and lies promoted by colonizing attitudes and greed. Whether seen in the context of the struggle to retain rights to the Black Hills region that that rightfully belongs to the Lakota people, it’s clear that the influx of settlers from the east looking to strike it rich with gold in the west had no compunction about violating land treaties, sending kids to dehumanizing boarding schools, disrupting tribal culture. This documentary is a must watch that speaks truth to how calculated the systematic oppression is and how generation after generation continues to suffer from it. With current events such as the denial of the last three survivors of the Tulsa Race Massacre for a trial with prejudice and with directors like Martin Scorsese touching on the same disenfranchisement in Killers of The Flower Moon, one can only hope that the activism and protests continue and make an impact, and that filmmakers continue to use the power of cinema to help bring change.