PAHA SAPA: STRUGGLE FOR THE BLACK HILLS

The Black Hills of South Dakota are to the Lakota Sioux and Cheyenne Indians what Mount Sinai is to the Jews, the Vatican is to Roman Catholics, and Mecca is to Muslims. Sacred to the Indian - but not to the white man - the Black Hills have come to symbolize the misappropriation of Indian lands by the U.S. government. This film tells the story of their struggle to get their sacred lands back.

The story of Paha Sapa ("Black Hills" in the Lakota language) is told entirely by members of the Lakota and Cheyenne tribes, including descendents of legendary chiefs like Red Cloud, Sitting Bull and Black Elk. With the arrival of white settlers in the early 1800's, the Indians saw their land "raped" first by Buffalo hunters, then by gold miners, then by the government, which confiscated the Hills in 1876 following a series of broken treaties and promises, exiling the Indians to squalid reservations.

In 1980, after 117 years of legal battles through congress and the courts, the Supreme Court awarded the Sioux nation $105 million as settlement for their Black Hills claim. But the Sioux refused to touch the U.S. government's money. They want their sacred land back. The award has since grown to $350 million, and they continue to refuse the money.

This powerful, Emmy nominated, award winning film is not only about what the Indian lost and is fighting to regain. It is also about what the white man lost, and may never regain: a primal sacred connection to the land.