In the Light of Reverence was the PBS special that we watched in class about the 3 different tribes struggling with keeping their sacred lands. The Lakota, Hopi, and Wintu tribes are being persecuted in the way that they are being pushed out of their sacred places. As a religious pluralist I found this video to be painful to watch as to the ignorance of some of the people in the film. The non-Indian and non-park rangers interviewees showed absolutely no respect for the the Native American desires. These sacred places held a special significance to each and every member with those tribes, but these significance are slowly and surely being destroyed.
The hypocrisy of the american people showed to be the most horrifying aspect of the film in my opinion. Devil's tower, the sacred place for the Lakota, is now in a national park and the Government could not rule in favor of the Lakota, thus allowing people to climb on the mountain against the Lakota's wishes. But yet Mount Rushmore does not allow for any kind of climbing. To me this kind of hypocrisy and ignorance makes me ashamed to be associated as American with the people that were prejudice against the Indians in the film.
Hunter
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