In Light of Reverence

In the Light of Reverence; Protecting America’s Sacred Lands is a documentary film outlining the struggles of three different groups of indigenous peoples whose territory is being violated by today’s America. The forced recession of the Native Americans’ land had no regard for the land itself, or the people’s connection with it. Native American spiritualism and religion involves close ties with nature and the earth, so they consider all land to be sacred domain. However, some sights hold specific significant cultural value to certain tribes. This is far from accounted for by those who stole the land from the people that originally lived and worshiped in it. 

The stories of three different Native American tribes were told in the film. The Lakota tribe of the Sioux people are fighting to protect a natural religious cultural monument from those who would thoughtlessly use it for recreation. The second case explored is that of the Hopi tribe, who are fighting to preserve their land, water, and livelihood from mining and pipeline damage. The final case explored by the film was that of the Wintu tribe’s struggle for Mount Shasta, their sacred healing place. All of the tales are harrowing when one considers the state that the indigenous people were left in due to the aftermath of colonization.