Natalie Youssef Film Reaction to Wounded Knee: Option 3: How can film teach us about history without being

perfectly accurate? Use specific examples from the film and the primary sources to support your perspective. History is a story about the past that can be told both accurately and with significance. According to Websters Dictionary history is defined as a chronological record of significant events (as affecting a nation or institution) often including an explanation of their causes. There are many different ways the past can be told. Textbooks, secondary and primary sources, and films are all examples of tools that will unfold the past and create a clear understanding of what happened from one perspective of certain events in history. Although films may not be completely accurate, they reconstruct the past more effectively; creating a great intellectual view. While textbooks share a brief summary, a film or a secondary/ primary source will express immediate eyewitness testimony of what happened. Even though a textbook may include correct dates, it does not communicate the human condition as accurately when it comes to clear, visual details and emotions. For example, in the film Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, there were documented moments that showed deep emotion. It was clear that there were many human values and beliefs that were being misunderstood. An example is when the main character was forced to leave the reservation and go to boarding school. The earth belongs to the White man Charles father tells him. In this setting he was forced to change his Indian name to Charles. This was done in order to assimilate him to White culture. After reading a textbook passage about the Wounded Knee Massacre in The American Tradition: A History of the United States, it was unclear that the Whites were taking over the Indians land and were creating treaties that would benefit themselves more than it would the Indians. This passage made it seem as if there was a mutual agreement between the Whites and the Indians. Based off of the Cameron Report written to the President at the time, Cameron stated that the Indians have continued to rove at pleasure, attacking scattered settlements in Nebraska, Wyoming, Montana, and Dakota, stealing horses and cattle, and murdering peaceful inhabitants and travelers after agreeing to a treaty. Whereas in the film it was shown the Indians had no choice but to fall into the Whites way of living and give into what they wanted. The Whites gave them no option to live amongst them unless they agreed to live in designated cabins while using commodity tickets for living supplies and food. In addition, they were only allowed to own one horse per family. From the Indian chiefs perspective, they felt helpless and when they tried to disobey the involuntary rules, White soldiers forced them to participate by coming to their house and threatening them with their lives.

Films show bias and interests from a clear perspective, while textbooks are brief and straight to the point. It is easy to see the bias in a film because of the exposed emotions and the visual primary sources shown, while textbooks cant express that point of view as strongly. As for the film, it left me upset and speechless after seeing and experiencing what the Indians had to go through while making a human connection. Assimilation Charles, or extinction said a white man to the main character, Charles in the film. Even though you may have a clear bias on an event, a film can leave you questioning what you believed because they bring up different viewpoints leaving no questions as to what happened. After watching the film I am now aware of how some of the shooting had begun. In the film the White men got angry at an innocent deaf man when he would not give up his weapons so they shot him and this began the battle. It was eye opening to me after seeing how many innocent women and children that had given up their weapons were killed. This is an example of how a visual, such as a film, is more successful in displaying actual events in history rather than a textbook, which may not be able to communicate the human condition. Overall, history can be told in many different ways. Films are a great way to get a clear perception of the past. Films express what happened, share a clear timeline of events, while stating a certain viewpoint and preference. Without films it would be extremely hard to learn about an event in history without truly understanding what people had to live through and the challenges they faced. To conclude, history may not be completely accurate while told in film, but it can express the emotion or trauma that previously happened.

Bibliography "History in Focus: What Is History?" History in Focus: What Is History? N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Jan. 2014. <http://www.history.ac.uk/ihr/Focus/Whatishistory/marwick1.html>. "WAYS OF SEEING HISTORY." WAYS OF SEEING HISTORY. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Jan. 2014. <http://pages.uoregon.edu/kimball/ways.htm>.