Dakota 38 Post-Viewing

1.       Dakota 38 helped me show the impact that colonialism has today, to people close by.  It shows the importance of understanding how the past affects the present, and not forgetting it, but reconciling with it and moving onward.  Reading Things Fall Apart brought to my attention the evils of colonialism, but not its impact today.  The way in which colonialism puts a knife on what holds people together and splits it apart (Chinua Achebe) has reverberations generations after the first settlers come.  In the United States, it led to an indigenous population that lost about 15 million people over the course of four centuries.  It also led to a growing disappearance of Native American tradition.  American Indians in Minnesota lost their home, and with it, love, security, and comfort.  They were forced to assimilate into white society, and had to leave their happiness.  Still, today, many American Indian reservations have somber feelings of loss.  Because of colonialism, it is difficult for them to continue their native practices while being successful in society today.  A hatred of white people is another lasting effect that was interesting.  Despite kindness shown in the film, many American Indians, understandably, cannot get over what happened in the past.  Colonialism, at home, has torn at the lives of Native Americans.

2.       The main conflict presented in the movie is that of the struggle of Native Americans to find their place in society today, by upholding their cultural traditions and reconciling with the white people who oppressed them.  Causes of the conflict are broken treaties between colonists and American Indian tribes that unjustly displaced them, actions of the American government to criminalize Native Americans and force their assimilation into white society (boarding schools, etc.), and racist sentiment that perpetuates tension between whites and Native Americans, still boiling over today.  Essentially, the causes of the conflict are the results of colonialism on the part of the United States, and the conflict is recuperation.  Effects of this conflict are poor quality in the lives of many American Indian children, who have the highest suicide rates of any other race in the U.S., but also, healing directed by American Indians like Jim Miller, who are seeking to uphold native tradition, in addition to current efforts of the United States government towards affirmative action, and betterment of the quality of reservations.  To overcome centuries of oppression and loss of identity is a difficult battle, but the American Indian people have always been resilient.

3.       An image from the movie that will stick with me is the riding of the horses against the whipping snow, and really, the music.  This resilience in riding, in upholding Native American tradition to heal is powerful, and the music gives soul to this fight.  I will remember the words of the boy whose brother is moving away, and is losing is family, and how he will take back the strength in his own identity that he received from the ride to his life.  Another is the warfare of Vietnam, which blends in well with the violence at Mankato as senseless and evil.  It shows also how much the film is about the idea of coexistence and peace.  Understanding differences, and respecting them, going along with Dakota values.