In an interview with The Daily Mail on Sunday, well-known actor Johnny Depp disclosed that he intends to buy Wounded Knee, a national historic landmark, and gift it back to the Indian people. He shared that he is ready to spend millions in order to give control back to those that should have inherited the land, and help make right what went so wrong back in 1890.
“It’s very sacred ground and many atrocities were committed against the Sioux there,” he said. “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?”
Perhaps it was Depp’s stint playing the role of Tonto in the box office production The Lone Ranger that inspired him to pursue such action; whatever the inspiration, the activism will most certainly be appreciated by many.
“The idea was to give back to them and to make sure that we got it right,” he said in the lengthy interview.
According to the news source, Depp is intent on following through with the aforementioned plan. The asking price for Wound Knee is $3.9 million, which is a fraction of what Depp makes from one production. That said, there is little standing in the way of him keeping true to his promise.
“I am doing my best to make that happen. It’s land they were pushed on to and then they were massacred there. It really saddens me,” he stated.
The book “Wind on the Buffalo Grass: The Indian’s Own Account of the Battle at the Little Big Horn River, & the Death of Their Life on the Plains” by Leslie Tillett states that “One Indian’s gun was fired by accident. I heard that later it belonged to Sitting Bull’s deaf-mute son, who couldn’t hear the order to disarm. After that shot, the soldiers let loose with everything they had.” This account given by Dewey Beard.
“The next day, December 29, 1890, the Army demanded the Lakota turn in their weapons. All did, except for a deaf man named Black Coyote, who it is assumed did not understand what was at stake. He refused to give up his weapon, insisting he had paid a lot for the gun.
“The old man couldn’t hear and he hid his rifle under a blanket,” Day recalled. “He wouldn’t give up his gun, so a soldier wrestled for it and a shot went off. They all scattered and ran.”
However, honoring the Native American culture by purchasing the historical location will be a major step in helping to make right what went so wrong over a hundred years ago. The event has caused outrage from historians as at least 20 American soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor for their role in the massacre. Now, at least, the public is more educated on the solemn history and can do what’s right moving forward.
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Courtesy of: True Activist
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