Standing Silent Nation (2006)

On the wind swept expanses of the South Dakota plains, life on the Pine Ridge Reservation is difficult. The land is harsh, unemployment is high, the consequences of endemic poverty are evident as the Lakota fight genocide on a daily basis. Using Lakota culture and traditions, the White Plume family created a plan for a sustainable economy by growing industrial hemp. Their tribe supported them and passed an ordinance acknowledging the difference between hemp and marijuana, which the DEA classifies as drugs. The White Plume family gathered and planted hemp on their family land. The federal government, refusing to acknowledge their sovereignty, raided their land. Determined to take a stand, the White Plumes planted again. In intimate details Standing Silent Nation documents their compelling story of environmental activism, traditional beliefs, and economic empowerment.