Johnny Depp reportedly interested in buying Wounded Knee land, returning it to tribe

[Omaha Steve]

Source: Omaha World Herald

Actor Johnny Depp, who plays Tonto in the new film version of "The Lone Ranger," is reportedly interested in buying land at Wounded Knee in South Dakota and returning it to the Oglala Sioux Tribe.

Depp made the comments in a wide-ranging interview with the British tabloid the Daily Mail.

Wounded Knee is the site of an 1890 massacre. The 7th Cavalry killed about 150 Native American men, women and children in the final battle of the American Indian Wars. Some estimates put the Native American casualties from the battle as high as 300.

'It's very sacred ground and many atrocities were committed against the Sioux there," the Daily Mail quoted Depp as saying. "And in the 1970s there was a stand-off between the Feds (federal government) and the people who should own that land. This historical land is so important to the Sioux culture and all I want to do is buy it and give it back. Why doesn't the government do that?''

FULL story at link.


Read more: http://www.omaha.com/article/20130711/NEWS/130719900/1685#johnny-depp-reportedly-interested-in-buying-wounded-knee-land-returning-it-to-tribe

[SamKnause]

1. Sacred Ground

I have commented to several of my family members, that I wish I had the financial means to buy and return the land to the Oglala Sioux Tribe.

[FailureToCommunicate]

2. The land is assessed at $14,000 and the owner wants $4.9 MILLION for it?

[Volaris]

3. Now that's just being a dick cause you don't like the "injuns"....

People like THIS guy is what Imminent Domain is for. Fucker.

[hamsterjill]

7. And the price just jumped even higher, of course.

Because Johnny Depp has made it public that he wants to buy it.

I wish Johnny well. It would be the RIGHT thing to do.

[Posteritatis]

12. It's a weirdly specific number for a huge markup too. Wonder how he reached that figure. (nt)

[Baitball Blogger]

4. What a wonderful person.

I hope he puts in all the appropriate conditions into that bill of sale.

[catchnrelease]

5. Am I understanding this right?

Part of the article says following:

Landowner James Czywczynski, whose family has owned the property since 1968, put a 40-acre parcel of the Wounded Knee National Historic Landmark and another 40-acre parcel on the open market for $4.9 million in May. The Wounded Knee landmark is on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

If the landmark is on the reservation, how does this guy own it? I know that non Indians can live there, but they can own a historical piece of the reservation? It's not like his family was settled there before the res was set up. More BS.

[dflprincess]

15. It's all thanks to the Dawes Act of 1887 (or 88, I forget)

It was yet another attempt to "assimilate" Native Americans by breaking up the communal ownership of land and alloting parcels to individual tribal members. The bill also let the Bureau of Indian Affairs to sell and land "left over" after each tribal member received an allotment to outside people. And, it also made it easier to cheat individuals out of their allotment. The Indian Reorganizaion Act of 1934 tried to correct some of the harm this law did.

Reservations that were affected by the Dawes Act were (are?) sometimes referred to as "checkboards" because you can one parcel of land belonging to a tribal member with parcels around it belonging to outsiders. If I recall correctly the only "closed" reservations (meaning the reservation land is held entirely by the tribe or tribal members) are the Red Lake Reservation in Minnesota and the Navajo Reservation.

[catchnrelease]

16. Thanks for the explanation n/t

[Ash_F]

6. FYI the White owner says the Sioux "have been handed everything their entire life"

http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/04/30/conversation-wounded-knee-owner-james-czywczynski-149122

That's why he wants 4.9 million.

[AZ Progressive]

13. What an asshole

Like the Southern Plantation Owners worked hard for their money...

[Zoeisright]

17. Says the white guy who has been handed everything his entire life.

Seriously, any white man who whines about something like that is a complete pussy. I assume he's at least middle aged, which means he lived through a time when white men had everything - and I mean everything.

[Dreamer Tatum]

8. What's sacred about it?

If it's theirs, give it back. Spare me the mystical sacred bullshit.

[LanternWaste]

9. Seems an accurate usage of the word...

Seems a rather accurate usage of the word...

"reverently dedicated to some person, purpose, or object"

"regarded with reverence"

"Spare me the mystical sacred bullshit." I imagine you'll be given all the credibility by the relevant parties you in fact, warrant...

[FailureToCommunicate]

10. "If it's theirs, give it back" Be careful what you suggest...

[iamthebandfanman]

11. shouldnt have made this public...

now the guy is going to make it hell to purchase....

should have gone about this in private and through a third party so the guy didn't know it was Debb..

sounds like the guy who 'owns' the land is an asshole who hates non-whites..

would have been best to have had a third party pose as someone with the same feelings ...

[Nevernose]

14. I was only recently exposed to anti-Native bigotry

I guess I knew it intellectually, but it's not like these bigots have a large Internet presence or flood Treyvon Martin message boards with wildly racist rantings.

Then I got married to a woman from North Dakota. I went to that frozen hellhole. Her family, luckily, grew up riding their horses to the reservation school and were therefore not racists, but I was shocked at the casual racism towards these people that was being thrown around. I'm from the South originally. I've seen nasty racism up close and personal, but in 2013 I've never seen it so virulent and casual.

The few I talked about it with (I turned on the Southern drawl that I lost when I was 13) didn't even seem to have a reason. They just knew that Indians weren't as good as whites and hated them for it. Living in the southwest I see a lot of accidental racism -- pure ignorance -- but nothing like I saw up north.