Transcript MONTANA 1948

MONTANA 1948
ISSUES IN THE TEXT
SETTING AND CONTEXT
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Bentrock, Montana, USA
Cold, impoverished, barren environment
Sioux Indian tribe live in nearby settlement
The text reveals events that occurred over
the summer of 1948
• Note it is based on a situation after WW2
• Wild west context
THEMES
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Honesty and integrity
Professionalism
Family pride
Discrimination of Indians
Power and privilege
Medical ethics
MAIN CHARACTERS
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David, his parents: Wes and Gail
Uncle Frank and wife Gloria
Deputy sheriff, Len McAuley & wife Daisy
Marie Little Soldier, the Hayden’s servant
Julian and Enid, David’s grandparents
Ronnie Tall Bear, Marie’s boyfriend
Ollie Young Bear & wife Doris(Strickland)
MAIN EVENTS
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Marie becomes ill with pneumonia
She is fearful of Frank and refuses his services as a doctor
Gail talks to Marie, discovers that the Indian girls accuse Frank of molesting
them
She suddenly dies
Wes investigates the allegations, after David tells him he saw Frank’s truck the
day Marie died
Wes locks his brother up in his basement
His father demands he releases his brother
Next day Julian sends over his men to release Frank, but fail
Frank commits suicide in the basement
The family cover up the death
Wes and his family leave town
OUTCOMES
• Justice? Did Frank’s death resolve the
victimisation of the Indians?
• Truth? Did Wes uphold the truth?
• Regrets
• Peace in Bentrock?
• Loss of childhood innocence
contrasts
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Whites
Wealth
Power
Honesty
Life
Control
Loyalty
Summer-heat
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Indians
Poverty
Oppression
Deceit
Death
Submissive
Betrayal
Winter-chill
SIOUX INDIANS
About 6,800 Assiniboine and Sioux live on the Fort Peck Reservation with
another approximately 3,900 tribal members living off the reservation.
LOCATION:
The Fort Peck Reservation is in northeastern Montana, 40 miles west of the
North Dakota border, and 50 miles south of the Canadian border, with the
Missouri River defining its southern perimeter. It includes more than two
million acres of land.
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Baptist
Indians
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TIME LINE OF IMPORTANT EVENTS IN AMERICAN HISTORY
INDIANS
1492
Columbus ‘discovered’ America
1840’s on: white settlers on wagon trains took up farming on prairies
1850’s: 70,000 Indians died in California from diseases brought in from whites
1850: total Indian population did not exceed 250,000
Between 1872-1874 white settlers killed 3,500,000 buffalo
By 1900 0nly 39 buffalo survived in the wild
‘Indian Wars’ of 1860’s and 1870’s
1864: Cheyenne massacre: almost 300 Indians killed by Colonel Chivington. The Indians were camped at Sand Creek
Colorado waiting to discuss peace with the local whites
1876 Custer’s last stand: US cavalry attempted to defeat large numbers of Sioux and Cheyenne in the Big Horn area
of North Dakota. Custer attempted to overwhelm an Indian party. He and 200 men were killed.
1877: the Sioux were forced to surrender
1890: The tribes were defeated. A white settler shot Chief Sitting Bull, one of the great Indian leaders. At Wounded
Knee, South Dakota, a whole tribe of Sioux were exterminated. This was the end of the Indian killings
Indians became American citizens in 1924
Over 50,000 Indians participated in WW2
1960’s: civil rights movement
1972: Indians occupied BIA headquarters in Washington DC
1973: Indians occupied Wounded Knee
1980:1.3 million Indians, and increasing