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HBO:
So how did you get involved with this
project?
Daniel Giat:
Well, I had read the book years before, I'd
been very moved by it. And the interesting
thing is, when this book came out in 1971,
it was groundbreaking. It told Native
American history from their point of view,
for the first time. And before that book was
published, I remember what kind of movies
there were, and how the United States
viewed American Indians. Sympathetic, in
one way, but almost in a paternalistic sense,
without a real, deep appreciation for their
culture, and their history, and what had
been done to them; the decimation of them
through war, but also the decimation of
their culture.
And what's so interesting is that although
the book sort of skimmed the surface, in
many ways, it didn't go into a great deal of
detail about each individual event, and it so
changed our view of Native American
history, and was so inspirational, that it
inspired many people to go into the field of
Native American studies. And now there is a
great deal of fantastic scholarship out there,
about Native American history. And I drew
greatly upon that other scholarship, and
that's what made it possible for me to write
this project.
HBO:
In working on this project, what did you
learn about the assimilation of the American
Indian?
Daniel Giat:
Well the US government believed that only
by imposing white education, white religion,
white culture on the reservations, and by,
insuring that the Native Americans on the
reservations became land holders, and US
citizens, that was the best way to insure
their survival. The government wanted to
assimilate the Indians as quickly as possible
into American society.
On the surface that might sound like a very
positive program. But in fact there was
something very arrogant about it. And it
really meant the cultural extermination of
these people, which is what happened on
many reservations.
This isn't to say that many, if not most, on
some reservations, didn't embrace this.
But, to be forced to abandon their way of
life, which they had to do by just settling on
the reservation, living in wood homes, their
diet being changed completely and really
altered their body chemistry. It's the reason
today there is a diabetes epidemic among
the Native American population.
So, on the one hand, what they were
proposing was very positive, but there was
something very insidious about it, as well.
But these were not evil people. They were
people of their time, of their era, and of their
place.
HBO:
Where did you discover Charles Eastman's
story?
Daniel Giat:
I don't remember which book it was, but
when I came across Charles Eastman, it was
an absolute revelation, and it was obvious
this was the story to tell.
Here is a man who had begun as a young
boy, living in Sioux society, was taken away
from that, and for many years, totally
appreciated what white civilization, and
Christianity had afforded him. But once he
came to Pine Ridge, as physician, the only
physician among some 7,000 Sioux, at the
Pine Ridge Reservation, he saw what
conditions were really like. And, when the
Massacre at Wounded Knee took place, it
was a sea change for him. And it shattered
him. And it's something from which he
himself said, he never really fully recovered.
HBO:
Could you briefly talk about the process of
adapting the book to a screenplay? Like, I- I
mean, it's such a huge book, I can't imagine,
you- you chose to focus on the Sioux. Why?
And, I guess, how did you do it?
Daniel Giat:
I had to go way beyond what was written in
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee to tell this
story. I had to read many other books, and
by using those sources collectively, I was
able to adapt the book, and tell a story that I
believe Dee Brown would have been very
proud of.
HBO:
What do you hope audiences leave with after
they see this film?
Daniel Giat:
The story the audience is going to see is
really divided into two parts. They're first
going to see the story, a story of resistance.
Which focuses on Sitting Bull, and the
aftermath of the Battle at Little Bighorn,
which Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, and
other Lakota Sioux leaders resisted
surrender and settlement on the
reservation, as some other Sioux leaders
had done. And they resisted because they
saw the kind of life that their brothers were
leading on the reservation; the change in
diet, but also the annihilation, really, of
their cultural practices.
A very important thing happened when I
visited the Pine Ridge and Standing Rock,
and Rosebud reservations, something was
asked of me which stuck with me, and that
was, please don't end this story at Wounded
Knee. This shouldn't be the story of a
massacre. This should not be the story of
the end of a people. This should be the
story of survival. Because the Sioux did not
cease to exist at Wounded Knee. Hundreds
of people, innocent people were killed there.
But that society exists. And the poverty is
terrible, certainly, on the reservation, but
these people are struggling to survive, and
they are succeeding in a very, very
important way. There have been huge
barriers set against them. But these people
do survive as best they can. Certainly they
need help. They need aid. But they are
alive, they are vital; they have brought back
into their lives many of the customs which
had been eradicated from their daily lives by
the US Government, including dancing,
ritual events; burial customs. There are re-
enactments every year of the trek which was
made to Wounded Knee by Chief Bigfoot and
his people. They have enormous respect for
their own history, and it's important that we
learn that history as well.
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