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Marian White Mouse
This is kind of like the place where we wanted to settle, somewhere on this hill over here. Two good gardening spots, right in that green area over here, close to the water. A plantation (laughs). Some place where I can plant my feet and watch everything grow.
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Watch the video by using RealPlayer.
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Marian White Mouse believes that freedom begins by living on one's own-land, being self-sufficient and living closer to the earth. But owning mortgageable property on the reservation is virtually impossible because the land is held in trust by the federal government and the Oglala Sioux tribe. People cannot start businesses on the reservation because even so-called landowners have no collateral with which to guarantee small business loans. To Marian, these outdated laws and government institutions make prisoners of those who live on reservations.
For one summer during the making of HOMELAND, Marian moved her family out of the oppressive cluster housing so that they could live happily in harmony with nature. But the coming winter forced the family out of their rugged campground and back into reservation housing. Transforming her frustrations into positive action, Marian and her husband seek to build a home in the country on the land her father gave her, where they and their three children will be free from governmental structures.
After HOMELAND:
Marian is continuing to do community service in her district. Her husband Chub continues to work at the community food bank. They have a trailer to live in on their land and are trying to raise the $7,500 they need to move it and hook it up to water and electricity. Marian travelled to New York for the HOMELAND screening at the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival at Lincoln Center, where she enjoyed speaking directly to the audience about life on Pine Ridge Reservation. In 2000, Marian's oldest daughter Felicia graduated eighth grade with the highest honors.
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