Frontline USA: Politics of Native Americans (Al-Jazeera) 2008 03 01 SoS avi

Frontline USA: Politics of Native Americans (Al-Jazeera) 2008 03 01 SoS avi

98.4 megs

22 min.

This week Frontline USA travels across America to speak to the Lakota Sioux, the Western Shoshone, and the Navajo.

The Native American voting block in swing states like Arizona and New Mexico can be crucial.

But what happens when Native Americans want to opt out of the US altogether?

That's what's happening in South Dakota, where just a few months ago, a group of Lakota Sioux declared independence from the United States, declaring a sovereign "Republic of Lakota."

Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota was the site of the Battle at Wounded Knee - the last major armed conflict between the Lakota Sioux and the United States. For some the wounds of 1890 still run deep.

As do the social problems on the reservation – Many Lakota Sioux say the US government is failing them. They are among the poorest people in the country. Life expectancy for men on the reservation is just 44, the child mortality rate is the highest in the US.

Filmed in Arizona, New Mexico, South Dakota and Nevada, Frontline USA gives a voice to Native Americans, and listens to their views on the presidential election.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/404C0A42-9B23-4011-9273-D463AC74EAF9.htm

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