Remove the Stain Act film crew travels to SD Lakota Country

On Wednesday, June 14, through Saturday, June 17, 2023, members of the HAWK 1890 Wounded Knee Descendants Group from Cheyenne River, members of the Sitanka Takini (Chief Bigfoot) Wounded Knee Descendants Group of Oglala, SD, and a 5-man crew from Filmcreek Productions of North Branford, CT, collaborated in the development of a documentary film about the Remove the Stain Act with the first on-sight visit from Filmcreek since work on the project began months ago. From all reports, the collaboration made the trip a great success for the film makers, thanks to generous community cooperation and support.

After the infamous Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890 which resulted in the deaths of over 300 unarmed Lakota, the majority being women and children, Congress awarded twenty Medals of Honor to the U.S. Army 7th Calvary for the vicious atrocity that occurred there. The Medal of Honor is the highest military honor bestowed in the United States. The Remove the Stain Act now before the U.S. Congress would revoke those medals.

The Remove the Stain Act states, “Allowing any Medal of Honor …to recognize a member of the Armed Forces … for participating in the massacre of hundreds of unarmed Native Americans is a disservice to the integrity of the United States and its citizens and impinges on the integrity of the award and those who have earned the Medal since.”

The documentary film is tentatively titled Disputed Honor and will examine the efforts of Lakota Wounded Knee descendants to have the Remove the Stain Act passed by Congress and signed into law.

On Wednesday morning, June 14, the Filmcreek crew interviewed O.J. Semans with office space provided by Clay Colombe, president of the Rosebud Economic Development Corporation (REDCO). Semans is a consultant working with Congress advocating for the Remove the Stain Act.

On Wednesday evening, June 14, about 30 HAWK 1890 members gathered in Eagle Butte for a working dinner meeting with the film crew. According to Manny Iron Hawk (Titunwan Okowozu), spokesperson for the HAWK 1890 group, “It went well.”

According to Stephen Curran, founder and Executive Producer of Filmcreek Productions, “(The film) will include an independent review of the Army’s investigations that exonerated soldiers and officers of any wrongdoing, as well as an investigation into the supporting evidence used to justify each medal awarded. We’ll also hear the views of descendants of the 7th Cavalry, as well as historians and experts on the Medal of Honor.”

“On Wednesday (June 14), it was great to meet with the descendants in person, share a meal, and hear their relatives’ stories firsthand,” said Curran.

Those attending the dinner enjoyed a traditional Lakota meal prepared by Joy Circle Eagle consisting of vegetable beef soup, frybread, and wojapi. The film makers brought gifts of Vermont Maple Syrup for all who attended. The HAWK 1890 group brought a Lakota beaded bolo tie as a gift for Curran as well as sweet grass and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe coffee mugs for the entire crew.

Violet Catches (Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe) attended the dinner and said, “This film is a good thing. It will help bring publicity to our story. The Remove the Stain Act is part of bringing justice for our relatives who died at Wounded Knee and to those (like my great-grandparents) who survived it.

“I hope that some of our older elders now in nursing homes can be interviewed. They aren’t able to travel and come to meetings but their minds are still sharp. They remember.”

 

Curran said, “We’d like to thank Manny and Renee Iron Hawk and Marlis Afraid of Hawk for organizing the meeting (on Wednesday night), Joy Circle Eagle for preparing the meal and Dawn LeBeau for capturing the evening with her camera.

“It was also a pleasure meeting CRST Chairman Ryan LeBeau. We were so glad that he could attend.”

Curran also noted, “We’d like to thank Clay Colombe and OJ Semans for their time and use of their (REDCO) Rapid City office.

“We’d also like to thank Alec Knight, (director) of the Cheyenne River College Center for letting us transform one of his classrooms into a pop-up studio…” for filming interviews on Thursday, May 15.

Curran continued, “Seeing the raw emotions (at the meeting on Wednesday evening) that exist to this day just reinforced the fact that they must be included in the documentary as the catalyst for their efforts to have the Medals of Honor revoked. We saw this the next day, Thursday, as well when we sat down for the on-camera, one-on-one interviews.”

Marlis Afraid of Hawk (Mnicoujou/CRST) and Manny Iron Hawk sat for interviews, telling why they are dedicated to seeing the Remove the Stain Act passed and the medals revoked.

Afraid of Hawk’s grandfather Richard was a survivor of the Wounded Knee Massacre who spent his life advocating for the revocation of Medals of Honor. She says she became emotional during the interview as she told her grandfather’s story.

In her heart, she said, the Wounded Knee story and the Native American boarding school story are connected and equally painful. With sadness she sees Lakota relatives self-medicating with alcohol and drugs to numb their emotional and spiritual selves in an effort to manage the intergenerational trauma of both boarding school history and Wounded Knee history. “The cold-blooded massacre…We are yet to heal and process it.”

When asked what she would say to descendants of the 7th Calvary, Afraid of Hawk remembered a visit to Cheyenne River in November 2019 from Brad Upton, whose ancestor commanded the 7th Calvary at Wounded Knee. Upton came to offer seemingly sincere apologies for the actions of his ancestor and to make amends as much as possible for the commander’s part in the massacre.

After the visit, Upton wrote in a guest column published in the local press, “I am committed to supporting the Remove the Stain Act and rescinding the Medals of Honor that were scandalously awarded to sanitize the massacre. I understand how important it is to rescind the medals in order for healing to begin. … I also support reparations from the U.S. Government for the Wounded Knee Massacre, for the multiple treaty violations against the Lakota, Nakota, Dakota people, and for 130 years of intergenerational trauma that continues its toxic effects.”

Afraid of Hawk says that Upton “touched my heart… I told him ‘I forgive you and your ancestor.’ …I don’t want to have a black heart. … Jesus said at the Crucifixion, ‘Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.’”

Iron Hawk said sitting for the interview was “a little difficult…. (Talking about the Massacre) brings out a lot of emotion after so many years of seeking justice for our relatives who died there. … Hopefully the film will shed light on the fact that Wounded Knee was not a battle, but a massacre.”

Iron Hawk referred to the fact that some historians call the Wounded Knee incident a battle, when in fact there was no battle. The Lakota were unarmed and totally defenseless.

Iron Hawk said his highest hope is that the film will help to bring justice for those who died at Wounded Knee and their descendants who live with the historical intergenerational trauma of Wounded Knee every day.

According to Curran, “On Friday we traveled to Pine Ridge and conducted additional descendant interviews at the Red Cloud Indian School, where we once again witnessed the daily generational trauma. And as we did at Cheyenne River, we also saw the determination to continue the fight for historical justice. Many thanks to Jennifer Irving for arranging the interview location, and to the staff of the Heritage Center for providing items.”

Cedric Broken Nose (Oglala Lakota) of the Lakeside Community is an active member of the Sitanka Takini (Chief Bigfoot) Wounded Knee Descendants Group of Oglala, South Dakota. He said he welcomes the efforts of Filmcreek to tell the entire Wounded Knee story and generate support for the Remove the Stain Act.

According to Curran, “On Saturday (June 24), our last day, we arrived at the massacre site at sunrise to film key locations, including the ravine, where our producer, David Trapasso, took his camera to capture firsthand the spot where so many lost their lives. Thanks to Wendell Yellow Bull for the escort and providing a running narrative.”

Curran says this trip in June to South Dakota is only the first. More visits will be scheduled in the future to complete this film project. He said, “We’re looking forward to our next trip!”

CRST Chairman Ryman LeBeau (left) speaks to a gathering of Wounded Knee Descendants and film makers who came from Connecticut to develop a documentary film about the Remove the Stain Act. Stephen Curran (right) is founder and Executive Director of Filmcreek Productions and wears a beaded bolo tie gifted to him by the Descendants.

 

 

 

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