Review of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (2007) by Nadeem A — 07 Aug 2007

History does not repeat itself, or so it is believed, but Yves Simoneu's visual depiction of the Massacre of the Sioux [including Indian Chiefs Sitting Bull and Big Foot] by the 7th Cavalry at Wounded Knee Creek, in 1890, offers a haunting riposte.

Based on Dee Brown's book, this film reveals something of the unconscionable horror and the mealy-mouthed treachery of a 'civilizing force'. The killing of women and babies was not merely 'unnecessary' but deeply symbolic of a distorted and ultimately inverted sense of 'enlightenment' advocated by the 'white man' in his seemingly foolproof subjugation of the American indigenous population.

A tragedy that does not shy away from a thorough examination of the key self-ascription - from the film itself - that reads "The Earth belongs to the white man; there is no future outside his world.

" However, outside of that world, this event remains one of the least pardonable acts of collective genocide in recent memory. The film provides strong historical insight into the generation of flawed'cultural' stereotypes to reveal a standard of ethics as far removed from a genuine 'enlightenment' as can possibly be conceived.