Who Is Lakota In America?

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Lakota in America is a short film directed by Mohammad Gorjestani that offers some insight into the world of a young Lakota girl named Genevieve. Her life is one that has been ripe with struggles due to the poor conditions of her environment on the Cheyenne River Reservation. Her culture has had a history of oppression and even today it faces challenges due to poverty, dangerous environments, addiction...etc. The film is successful in presenting the severity of these issues and also providing a sense of hope for the future. The solution is not an easy, simple or guaranteed fact. However, it is the will of these people and their remarkable endurance that becomes the powerful force that drives this film and inspires its audience to believe in change.

The film opens with a Lakota proverb "The ones that matter most are the children" and this quote on the importance of the next generation becomes a theme for the film as a whole. The younger generation, including people like Genevieve, carries the heritage of their ancestors with them while bridging it to the changing world around them. They bring the meaning of the past, of the traditions they've been taught, into the new world.
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For example, when Genevieve talks about dancing as a way for her to connect with her culture, it comes across so genuinely. It's this simple activity that is given the significance of being a thread for the past and for family. Then, to actually see some of that dancing later on in the film was visually stunning. It made me feel like I was there and the feeling of watching these people in touch with their roots, passing on a piece of their past to the world was a beautiful thing to