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Pine Ridge, USA: A Frontier of the Forgotten
| Length: | 26 min |
| Released: | 2006 |
| Ages: |
High School College Adult |
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The 40,000 Sioux Lakota Native Americans living on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota are the poorest inhabitants in America. In this film, they describe the abysmal conditions there, with neither a bank, a store, an industry or technology of any kind. Unemployment has reached 95%, life expectancy is about 50 years of age and social problems are rife. They are shockingly isolated from the rest of the U.S. More than 90% of the land In Pine Ridge is rented and farmed by non-Indians who do not even live on the reservation.
The closest city offering employment is Rapid City, South Dakota, the economic and financial hub of Western Dakota. It attracts Pine Ridge inhabitants but discrimination, lack of skills and low salaries keep most of them in a state of financial instability. On top of that, they have to endure the humiliation of tourists visiting the site of their historic defeat in the Black Hills.
The closest city offering employment is Rapid City, South Dakota, the economic and financial hub of Western Dakota. It attracts Pine Ridge inhabitants but discrimination, lack of skills and low salaries keep most of them in a state of financial instability. On top of that, they have to endure the humiliation of tourists visiting the site of their historic defeat in the Black Hills.
" An enlightening and sober film at the same time, yet one of the few detailing the current plight of many Native Americans.Highly recommended for American Studies, Area Studies, Drama, Ethics, Human Rights, Multicultural Studies, Native American Studies, Urban Studies" Brad Eden, Ph.D., W University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, for EMRO
