Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (2007)

A historic chronicle based on the book by Dee Brown explains how Native Americans were displaced as the United States expanded west.

Director:

Yves Simoneau

Writers:

Daniel Giat (screenplay), Dee Brown (based on the book by) (as Dee Alexander Brown)

Stars:

Aidan Quinn, Adam Beach, August Schellenberg

Nominated for 3 Golden Globes. Another 29 wins & 27 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Anna Paquin	...	Elaine Goodale
Chevez Ezaneh	...	Ohiyesa / Young Charles
August Schellenberg	...	Sitting Bull
Duane Howard	...	Uncle
Aidan Quinn	...	Henry Dawes
Colm Feore	...	General Sherman
Fred Dalton Thompson	...	President Ulysses S. Grant (as Fred Thompson)
Nathan Lee Chasing His Horse	...	One Bull (as Nathan Chasing Horse)
Wayne Charles Baker	...	Jacob
Brian Stollery	...	Bishop Whipple
Shaun Johnston	...	Col. Nelson Miles
Gordon Tootoosis	...	Chief Red Cloud
Billy Merasty	...	Young Man Afraid
Morris Birdyellowhead	...	American Horse
Eddie Spears	...	Chasing Crane

Storyline

In the 1880s, after the U. S. Army's defeat at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, the government continues to push Sioux Indians off their land. In Washington, D.C., Senator Henry Dawes introduces legislation to protect Native Americans rights. In South Dakota, school teacher Elaine Goodale joins Sioux native and Western-educated Dr. Charles Eastman in working with tribe members. Meanwhile, Lakota Chief Sitting Bull refuses to give into mounting government pressures.

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Plot Keywords:

native american | reservation | massacre | 19th century | lakota tribe | 

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Taglines:

The Epic Fall of the American Indian

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Genres:

Drama | History | Western

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Certificate:

TV-14

Details

Official Sites:

HBO [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 May 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

Untitled Wounded Knee Project

Filming Locations:

Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Company Credits

Production Co:

HBO Films,Wolf Films,Traveler's Rest Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

133 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Originally began development in 1995 as a two-part miniseries for ABC.

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Goofs

The mouse that craws under the blanket is clearly not the same mouse that is hit with the pan by the Indian woman and then removed from under the blanket.

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Quotes

Sitting Bull: You must take them out of our lands.
Col. Nelson Miles: What precisely are your lands?
Sitting Bull: These are the where my people lived before you whites first came.
Col. Nelson Miles: I don't understand. We whites were not your first enemies. Why don't you demand back the land in Minnesota where the Chippewa and others forced you from years before?
Sitting Bull: The Black Hills are a sacred given to my people by Wakan Tanka.
Col. Nelson Miles: How very convenient to cloak your claims in spiritualism. And what would you say to the Mormons and others who believe that their God ...
[...]

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Connections

Referenced in The 66th Annual Golden Globe Awards (2009)

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Soundtracks

Stand with Courage
Written and Performed by Nathan Chasing Horse

User Reviews

A big disappointment

The only reason I'm giving this movie 3 stars is because of the casting and the acting. Both were well done. The movie, however, is a disappointment.

I first read Dee Brown's book, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, when I was 10 years old and found out that I was part Cherokee. It struck a cord with me that continues to resonate today, 30 some years later. Expecting a long overdue movie that would capture the eloquent and heart-breaking words and stories of the book, I was disappointed to find the movie barely resembled the book at all. As a college lecturer who frequently refers to the book in my classes, I am quite familiar with its contents. The movie version was barely recognizable.

Indian heroes such as Sitting Bull and Red Cloud come across as arrogant and foolish in this movie. They are not characters that we can sympathize with; in fact, no one in this movie is. While the story of Charles Eastman is worth telling, it is not part of the book and is sloppily woven into the storyline of the Sioux resistance at the Battle of the Little Bighorn to the massacre at Wounded Knee. That the Wounded Knee massacre should be told in flashbacks rather than as direct action is appalling.

So much has been left out of this movie that it does nothing more than commit a great injustice to both the book and the people whose stories are being told. Hasn't America taken enough away from the Indian? Must another Hollywood movie strip Indian people of yet another aspect of their culture, namely their stories, their history, and their heroes? In this movie, it does all three.