HBO's 'Wounded Knee' ignites controversy: Stories altered to fit plotlines
S.P. Sullivan, Collegian Staff
Issue date: 10/1/07 Section: Arts & Living
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Brown's book, released in 1970, is a history of Native Americans in the late nineteenth century - a time during which throngs of white Americans were moving westward, and tensions between settlers and natives were high.
The book "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" presents a chapter-by-chapter account of the effects of American expansion on native peoples - from the Apache and Diné of the Southwest to the Sioux in the Black Hills. It provides factual evidence, first-person narratives and written accounts and was given much praise for its reference-laden description of events that went long-undiscussed in American history.
Along with Vine Deloria's "Custer Died for Your Sins: an Indian Manifesto" and Leslie Marmon Silko's "Ceremony," "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" instantly became required reading for anyone interested in American Indian studies.
The film however, being a fictionalized adaptation, has raised more than a few eyebrows among natives and purveyors of Native American studies. While the book is an expansive history of the purported genocide of indigenous peoples, HBO's adaptation focuses primarily on the Sioux, introducing characters not mentioned in Brown's account and altering historical events to better fit the plot.
And although Hollywood adaptations of historical events are rarely left unskewed, what makes Bury My Heart's distortion all the more contentious is the opinion of an overwhelming majority of historians and native peoples that the history we're taught in school is equally inaccurate. So while Mel Gibson's romanticizing of William Wallace in the 1995 film "Braveheart" can be written off as 'movie-magic' because the actual account is relatively well-known, the same can't be said for this Emmy-award winning film.
Many Native Americans, however, didn't have high hopes for Hollywood to begin with, as it doesn't have the best track record in the portrayal of indigenous peoples.
Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 3
Rob Schmidt
posted 10/01/07 @ 7:17 PM EST
Good article, but it covers only the major mistakes. The show had a lot more problems than the ones listed. See http://www.bluecorncomics.com/burymyht. (Continued…)
CHELE JOHNSON
posted 10/02/07 @ 12:18 PM EST
I thought this movie was very emotional, sure maybe some stuff were not true, but still it brought tears to my eyes throughout the movie and you know what i thought about this is still going on today. (Continued…)
lii-lii kingbird
posted 10/02/07 @ 5:22 PM EST
i think this was also a very good movie and didnot dosplay most of the true facts of history. the 'true' facts need to be spoken, on how my native ancestors were treated during this time of war. (Continued…)
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