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Depp's purchase of the land would be an easy answer for the tribe, Moves Camp said, but it would also be dehumanizing. "It's also buying into the idea that our ancestry and history have a price tag on them," she said, later adding: "We have pride too. We'd rather it be done in an honorable way. I hope our tribe finds some way to buy the land back without outside help." For some descendants of those killed in the massacre, how the tribe gets the land doesn't matter. What does is that the tribe gets it back, said Joseph Brings Plenty, a former chairman of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe who had several ancestors killed in the 1890 massacre. Although the land sits on the Pine Ridge reservation, many of the descendants of the massacre victims and survivors are members of several different Lakota tribes. "Honestly, I don't think it would be a bad thing if Johnny Depp would purchase it with the cooperation of the tribes," he said. What's most important, he said, is that the land is preserved and an accurate account of what happened is shared with visitors through a monument. Tribal members have disagreed over the years about how to commemorate the lives lost at Wounded Knee. While there is a small monument listing some of the names of those killed in 1890, some tribal members think a larger statue or structure is needed to educate the public.
Sonny Skyhawk, a Sicangu Lakota actor and founder of American Indians in Film and Television, said although he was not a fan of Depp playing Tonto in "The Lone Ranger," purchasing the land would be a "great opportunity" for Depp to step forward and do something for Native Americans. "If it's from the heart, we accept it. If it's not from the heart, we'll accept it anyways because it's such a meaningful undertaking when you look at the significance of what the sacred ground next to it is," he said.
[Associated
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