Henry Crowdog - Lakota Wisdom Keeper discusses The Peace Pipe, 1973

In 1973 Dean Evenson was called out to Pine Ridge, South Dakota to videotape the occupation of Wounded Knee. Native Americans led by . (American Indian Movement) occupied the town for 71 days in protest of poverty, treaty issues, and ongoing injustice toward the tribal people. The site was chosen for its symbolic value based on the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre. Dean and his team stayed in South Dakota for a month videotaping and learning more about the culture and situation. One of the people interviewed was medicine man Henry Crow Dog whose son Leonard Crow Dog was leading the occupation. Henry explains that the message of the pipe is one of peace, of the connection of all things, of the connection to the spirit world with the material world, of the male and female energy, of thanksgiving for the blessings of the Mother Earth and of the Great Mystery. He also stated that from now on the pipe and the Bible would be together. Spending time on the Pine Ridge and Rose Bud Reservations and learning of the N