In an attempt to grow a sustainable farm crop on the Pine Ridge
Reservation in South Dakota, Alex White Plume's family planted
industrial hemp, the non-psychoactive relative of marijuana -
legally grown under tribal law. Armed and armored federal agents
subsequently raided and destroyed the crop and served White Plume
with federal civil charges. Filmed over four years, Standing
Silent Nations tells the story of this Lakota family's struggle
to retain tribal identity and tribal sovereignty against the odds
of history and current government policy.
Image credit: Audience at Club Red Radio,
2000 Native American Film and Video Festival - photograph by Amalia Córdova,
NMAI
