Lakota Woman: Siege at Wounded Knee

Mary learns from her grandfather Fool Bull about the traumatic 1890 massacre at Wounded Knee, which shapes her understanding of Lakota history. The tale ties family experience to a long history of external violence and cultural suppression on the Rosebud Reservation. It sets the historical frame for the rest of her life.

Mary grows up in a poor Lakota family on the Rosebud Reservation. The film sketches daily life, community ties, and the pressures of poverty and assimilation. This early life lays the groundwork for her later identity struggles.

Mary and her sister Barbra are sent to St. Tristan Boarding School, beginning years of forced cultural assimilation. The school erodes Lakota language and elders' memories, trying to remake them in white society. The experience leaves them feeling hollow and disconnected from their roots.

Barbra runs away from the boarding school, leaving Mary behind and facing the system alone. The separation destabilizes Mary and underscores the cost of assimilation on families. The boarding school years become a turning point for her sense of belonging.

Mary reads a newspaper titled Americans Before Columbus! given by a white girl named Nadine, which describes the rape and looting of Indian lands. The article stirs a sense of historical injustice and Lakota resistance within her. It plants the seed for a more politicized understanding of her identity.

Inspired by the article, Mary prints out papers urging Indian people in boarding schools to reject assimilation and reclaim their land. She challenges the school's narrative, even as teachers intervene. The act leads to her expulsion and marks a turning point in her life.

After expulsion, Mary travels to Pine Ridge to find work at the Oglala Tribal Office and to reconnect with her aunt Elsie Flood. She encounters overt racism as managers refuse to hire Native Americans. The scene highlights the prejudice faced by Native people in the 1970s.

Mary discovers her mother living with a white man and immersed in white society. This encounter deepens her sense of divided identity and pushes her to seek another path forward. The conflict between worlds becomes a central tension in her life.

Unable to secure work, Mary hitches a ride with two Indian men, hoping for safety and opportunity. A passenger in the car tries to rape her, and she escapes by jumping out. The incident underscores the danger she faces while navigating precarious life.

Webster finds Mary wandering on the road and invites her to join his crew of drifters. They drink and drift across the countryside, surviving by luck and shared funds. The temporary solidarity gives Mary a sense of belonging she had not felt in years.

After a near-death collision with a train, Mary decides to join the American Indian Movement (AIM). The experience reorients her toward collective struggle rather than isolated drift. She begins to seek a purpose beyond personal survival.

Mary participates in the 1973 Occupation of Wounded Knee, gaining support from tribal members and Vietnam veterans while facing police pressure and sniper fire. The occupation is a dramatic assertion of indigenous rights, with Mary playing a role alongside others under constant danger. The siege brings both solidarity and peril to those involved.

During the siege, Mary learns she is pregnant, adding personal stakes to the protest. She continues to stand with the activists despite the risk to herself and her unborn child.

The siege ends with authorities reclaiming Wounded Knee and arresting Mary along with other activists. Despite the arrests, the occupation is remembered as a bold assertion of Native sovereignty and community strength.