Aboriginal Studies Stage 6: HSC Course
Social Justice and Human Rights Issues
Part I • Topic 5 – Criminal Justice
Community/ies to be studied
Focus area
Unit duration
Lakota Oglala – Pine Ridge Reservation
Criminal Justice
7 weeks
Unit outline
Skill focus
The focus of this Part is the examination of the social justice and human rights issues from a global perspective,
including a comparative investigation of two topics. This will be studied through a Comparative Case Study on:
• the local Aboriginal community/ies (must be the same community/ies for all Parts) AND
• a national Indigenous Australian community (may be different communities for each topic) AND
• an international Indigenous community (may be different communities for each topic).
• Analysing and making inferences from
statistics
• Researching, collecting and
synthesising information from a range
of sources
Big ideas/Key concepts
Why does this learning matter?
The key concepts students learn are that:
• the experience of colonisation still impacts on Indigenous
peoples around the world
• Indigenous people have developed initiatives to improve
access to social justice and human rights.
The learning matters because:
• an understanding of the ongoing impact of colonisation is fundamental to understanding
contemporary Indigenous social, political, economic and legal issues
• it is critical to acknowledge and understand the role of Indigenous peoples in improving
contemporary cultural, political, social and economic life for their own communities.
These materials may contain opinions that are not shared by the Board of Studies NSW.
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Aboriginal Studies HSC Course: Social Justice and Human Rights Issues
Part I • Topic 5 – Criminal Justice
Place in scope and sequence/Building the field
Target outcomes
This unit draws on knowledge developed in the Preliminary
Course about the colonisation of Native American peoples in
the Lakota districts of the United States. Students will extend
this knowledge through a study of Indigenous peoples in
Australia and overseas to enable them to develop a deep
knowledge and understanding of contemporary social justice
and human rights issues common to indigenous communities
around the world.
H1.1 explains different viewpoints of invasion and colonisation and evaluates the
impact of these viewpoints on Aboriginal peoples
H1.2 analyses and discusses the social justice and human rights issues that are
contemporary consequences of the colonisation of Aboriginal and other
Indigenous peoples
H1.3 assesses the representation of Aboriginal peoples and cultures for bias and
stereotyping
H2.1 analyses the importance of land as an aspect of contemporary issues impacting
on Aboriginal peoples
H2.3 discusses and analyses consequences of colonisation on contemporary
Aboriginal cultural, political, social and economic life
H3.1 assesses the effectiveness of government policies, legislation and judicial
processes in addressing racism and discrimination
H3.2 evaluates the impact of key government policies, legislation and judicial
processes on the socioeconomic status of Aboriginal peoples and communities
H3.3 compares and evaluates current initiatives that reassert the social, economic
and political independence of Aboriginal and/or Indigenous peoples
H4.1 investigates, analyses and synthesises information from Aboriginal and other
perspectives
H4.3 communicates information effectively from Aboriginal perspectives, using a
variety of media
H4.5 compares and evaluates the histories and cultures of Indigenous Australian
peoples with international Indigenous peoples.
These materials may contain opinions that are not shared by the Board of Studies NSW.
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Aboriginal Studies HSC Course: Social Justice and Human Rights Issues
Part I • Topic 5 – Criminal Justice
Websites
Books/Articles
Background
Web articles
www.lakotamall.com/oglala
www.nativevillage.org
www.hometownlocator.com
www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs
http://www.library.uiuc.edu/doc/exhibits/nativeamericans.html
www.redcloudschool.org/history/facts.htm
www.usdoj.gov/ag/readingroom/sovereignty.htm
www.holisticshop.co.uk/itemdetl.php?itemprcd=cnt-lib-shm-lot
www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096410894
www.mnisose.org/profiles/oglala.htm
Native Americans and the law
http://www.usa.gov/Government/Tribal/legal.shtml
Census
www.census.gov/pubinfo/www/hotlinks.html
These materials may contain opinions that are not shared by the Board of Studies NSW.
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Aboriginal Studies HSC Course: Social Justice and Human Rights Issues
Part I • Topic 5 – Criminal Justice
Content from Criminal Justice
Students learn to (LT)
• ways in which Native American peoples maintain law and order
• the impact of colonisation and subsequent events on Native
American legal systems
• the criminal justice system, focusing on the power relations
between Native American people, police and the judicial system
• statistics about Native American people in, and affected by, the
criminal justice system, particularly arrest, incarceration and
sentencing rates
• mainstream programs and strategies to address Native American
criminal justice issues, including culturally appropriate programs
and strategies
• the role of lifestyle factors in Native American peoples’
involvement in the criminal justice system
• the importance of regaining land, and cultural maintenance, in
addressing the impact of the criminal justice system on Native
American peoples
• social and political changes necessary to address the overrepresentation of Native American peoples in the criminal justice
system
• social and political changes within law enforcement and judicial
agencies to improve attitudes toward Native American peoples
• similarities and differences in criminal justice issues for
Aboriginal and other Indigenous peoples and communities
• identify pre-contact Native American systems and draw conclusions on
the impact of colonisation on Aboriginal political and legal systems
• use basic statistics such as tables, graphs and charts to assist in the
analysis of social indicators in relation to the criminal justice system
• make deductions and draw conclusions using social indicators to
analyse current Native American and Indigenous socioeconomic status
in relation to the criminal justice system
• synthesise information to evaluate the connection between land, culture
and legal status
• compare Native American and other Indigenous peoples’ responses and
initiatives to improve their current socioeconomic status in terms of
involvement in the criminal justice system
• construct hypotheses about the future of Native American peoples’
involvement in the criminal justice system and assess the implications
in relation to social justice and human rights issues
Students learn about (LA)
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Aboriginal Studies HSC Course: Social Justice and Human Rights Issues
Part I • Topic 5 – Criminal Justice
Content from Research and Inquiry Methods
H4.1
H4.3
H4.5
investigates, analyses and synthesises information from Aboriginal and other perspectives
communicates information effectively from Aboriginal perspectives, using a variety of media
compares and evaluates the histories and cultures of Indigenous Australian peoples with international Indigenous peoples
Students learn about (LA)
Students learn to (LT)
• collecting data from primary sources
• secondary research including reading texts, reports, bibliographies,
accessing opinion polls, government statistics, print media,
CD-ROM, internet and other appropriate technologies
• examine data to interpret meaning and differentiate between fact and
opinion
• distinguish between quantitative and qualitative data
• synthesise information from a variety of sources and perspectives
Processing information
• analysing statistical data to interpret meaning and make
generalisations
• converting raw data to a useful format
• analysing information from a variety of sources
• judging usefulness and reliability of data
• identifying propaganda and bias
These materials may contain opinions that are not shared by the Board of Studies NSW.
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Aboriginal Studies HSC Course: Social Justice and Human Rights Issues
Part I • Topic 5 – Criminal Justice
Learning experiences – criminal justice
Evidence of learning
Ways in which Native American peoples maintain law and order
Review, discussion and note-making:
Review of work completed in the Preliminary course by discussing and making summary notes of the Oglala Sioux
pre-contact ways of culture, social organisation and ways of maintaining law and order. Key discussion points to be
made around the following:
• The Pine Ridge Reservation is the homeland of the Indigenous Native American Oglala Sioux people.
• The reservation is situated in the state of South Dakota in the mid-West of the USA, in the region known as the
American ‘Bad Lands’.
• Leading American singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen captured the troubled and dark mood of this area and its
people on his 1970s album Nebraska. It is a useful backdrop to the study of the Pine Ridge population and their
fight for social justice.
• The Oglala Sioux people, or Lakota Sioux, of the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota are some of the most
disadvantaged Native Indians on the North American continent, despite having had a very rich and disciplined
lifestyle before the arrival of the Europeans.
• The political, social and legal fabric of Lakota society was based upon customary tribal laws where the authority
of the chief and family was all-powerful. It gave the community security and stability.
• The tribal lands and the environment of the Black Hills were integral to Lakota Sioux life, as the elements of the
land, water and the skies operated in harmony to shape their physical and spiritual worlds.
• The tribal legal system worked to uphold the power of the chief, maintain order in society and preserve their
physical and social environment. The laws were governed by customs and policed by a process whereby lawbreakers were counselled by tribal elders and restorative justice measures were upheld.
Notes are to be recorded by completing WORKSHEET 1, questions 1–3.
Visit www.lakotamall.com/oglala to complete WORKSHEET 1.
The impact of colonisation and subsequent events on Native American legal systems
Students review work completed in the Preliminary course regarding the colonisation of the Oglala Sioux.
From this they identify the essential methods of dispossession imposed upon the Oglala people and draw conclusions
about the impact of this upon their socioeconomic status, particularly regarding their legal systems.
These materials may contain opinions that are not shared by the Board of Studies NSW.
6
Students describe
traditional Oglala society,
with a focus on customary
law-and-order practices.
Students identify precontact tribal law and
social organisation.
Students identify the
immediate results of
colonisation of the Oglala
Sioux.
Aboriginal Studies HSC Course: Social Justice and Human Rights Issues
Part I • Topic 5 – Criminal Justice
Learning experiences – criminal justice
Evidence of learning
Students draw conclusions about how and why a negative and hostile relationship developed between the Oglala
Sioux and the US law enforcement agencies.
• The history of the Oglala to the 1960s can be best summed up with the terms contact, war and dispossession.
• A succession of conflicts with the colonising ‘Westerners’ during the 18th and 19th centuries (well-known by such
events as ‘Custer’s Last Stand’ and ‘The Battle of Little Big Horn’) and other such battles with the US Cavalry,
have become known as the ‘Indian Wars’. The Sioux people were at the centre of this. After protracted conflicts
they and all American Indians were defeated. This was finalised in a succession of Indian treaties signed across
mid-west America.
• The impact of their defeat was further exacerbated by the spread of introduced disease. Together they ravaged the
Lakota people, culminating in their relocation onto the Indian reservations.
• Pine Ridge is one such reservation.
• After a succession of military defeats the Oglala were forced to live on the reserves and treaties with the American
government gave little real opportunity for self-determination and equality.
• In the process of this dispossession the Oglala people were stripped of their land and forced onto reservations and
controlled by the American authorities.
• Oglala culture and traditions are judged according to American law.
• They felt abused by the American Government and its justice system, as clearly shown by the activities of the
American Indian Movement (AIM).
• Clashes between the residents of Pine Ridge and the government resulted in increasing involvement with the
criminal justice system.
• High levels of interaction between Oglala and the criminal justice system.
Students are to research and present a one-page report on each of the following:
• the American Indian Movement (AIM)
• the Battle of Wounded Knee II
• Leonard Peltier.
(WORKSHEET 2)
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Students identify the
process of colonisation
and its ongoing effects on
the Oglala people of Pine
Ridge, with reference to
the criminal justice
system.
Aboriginal Studies HSC Course: Social Justice and Human Rights Issues
Part I • Topic 5 – Criminal Justice
Learning experiences – criminal justice
Evidence of learning
Class discussion of how the behaviour of AIM reflects the attitude of the Oglala people generally towards the
American criminal justice system.
As a class, students should discuss the concept of ‘social justice’ and draw conclusions about the way in which the
events of colonisation were in effect an abuse of the civil rights of the Oglala Sioux on Pine Ridge.
Using the focus question: ‘Is what has happened to the Oglala Sioux socially just?’, students should identify the five
most obvious acts of injustice forced upon the Oglala Sioux during the process of colonisation.
Students answer questions 4–8 on WORKSHEET 1.
Students explain the
activities of AIM and
identify the movement’s
influence on Pine Ridge.
The criminal justice system, focusing on the power relations between Native American people,
police and the judicial system
Students review the following points and make observations about the relationship between the Pine Ridge Oglala
Sioux and the criminal justice system:
• There is a great deal of animosity between the Oglala people and the criminal justice system which has resulted
directly from the way that they were colonised.
• The 1960s and 70s saw an upsurge of Indian activism which led to the Wounded Knee massacre of 1973.
• The impact of the 1975 shoot-out where two FBI agents were shot dead at Pine Ridge.
• Leonard Peltier is serving consecutive life sentences for their murders, though he claims to have been acting in
self-defence. He has become something of a martyr for Native American peoples.
• These and ensuing events reflect the negative power relations between the Oglala Sioux on Pine Ridge, the police
and the judicial system.
Students research the relationship between Pine Ridge residents and the criminal justice system, in particular law
enforcement agencies by researching the following website: www.dickshovel.com/wc3.html and read the article
titled: ‘They marched for their dead brothers’ at www.dickshovel.com/wc2.html
This article is typical of many reports regarding the protests of Pine Ridge residents about their treatment by the
American judicial system, which they regard as discriminatory and racist. The relationship between Native American
Indians, such as those on Pine Ridge, is often hostile because of the way these people were colonised.
Complete the following activities relating to the news article:
• Briefly describe the march, who was involved, when and why it occurred.
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8
Students identify the
reasons for the negative
relationship between
many Pine Ridge residents
and the criminal justice
system.
Students analyse the
Whiteclay protest to draw
conclusions about how
and why the negative
relationship between the
Pine Ridge residents and
the US criminal justice
system has developed.
Aboriginal Studies HSC Course: Social Justice and Human Rights Issues
Part I • Topic 5 – Criminal Justice
Learning experiences – criminal justice
Evidence of learning
•
•
•
•
•
Students identify aspects
of racism, and social
injustice.
•
•
•
•
Describe how it disintegrated.
Who was Russell Means, who did he represent and what did he say to the Nebraska Governor?
Account for the police involvement.
Why did the protesters call the police ‘killers’ and ‘murderers’?
Describe the general tone of the protest and how this reflects the relationship between police and Pine
Ridge/Whiteclay residents.
Outline the roots of this violence and the cycle of violence, rumours and accusations that developed after the AIM
march in Gordon in 1972.
Explain the role of colonisation in this. Mention in particular the social and economic disadvantages and the
resulting attitudes of the Oglala Sioux towards white authority and the police.
What happened to VJ’s market and why was it targeted?
What was the reaction towards the tribal police?
Students identify how the events at Pine Ridge/White Clay exemplify broader links to:
• racism
• the abuse of civil liberties
• social injustice.
Make a list to identify these abuses and determine their causes and how representative they are of the power
relationship between Native American people, police and the judicial system.
Students use this information and other articles they may find about policing on Pine Ridge to develop a PowerPoint
profile to show the relationship between Pine Ridge residents and the law enforcement authorities. Students should be
sure to include frames relating to the following key areas:
• causes
• examples and nature of this relationship
• statistical information to support their work (the following section will help to provide the necessary statistics).
These materials may contain opinions that are not shared by the Board of Studies NSW.
9
Students develop a profile
in PowerPoint to identify
aspects of the relationship
between the residents of
Pine Ridge and the
criminal justice system
and make conclusions
about how this
relationship has
developed.
Aboriginal Studies HSC Course: Social Justice and Human Rights Issues
Part I • Topic 5 – Criminal Justice
Learning experiences – criminal justice
Evidence of learning
Statistics related to Native American people in, and affected by, the criminal justice system with
particularly focus on arrest, incarceration and sentencing rates
Students research,
identify and record the
general levels of
disadvantage of the
residents of Pine Ridge
Reservation.
Students research the Internet (www.nativevillage.org AND www.hometownlocator.com) to identify statistics and
comment on:
• Levels of socioeconomic and political disadvantage indicate that the residents of Pine Ridge reservation indicate
very high levels of socioeconomic disadvantage as demonstrated by the following evidence.
Students record statistical data and supporting secondary information under the following headings:
• income
• infant mortality
• diabetes and tuberculosis
• housing
• education
• life expectancy
• employment
• transport
• communication
• alcoholism
• law enforcement
• occupation
• age distribution.
Students research and use the following information to identify and make a summary of information and statistics
about the specific levels of disadvantage of Native Americans within the criminal justice system, paying particular
attention to arrest, incarceration and sentencing rates.
Teacher reviews with class crime statistics on Native American reservations such as Pine Ridge
(www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs):
• Incarceration rates for Native American people in South Dakota (only 8% of the state’s population) is 21%: 31%
for women; and 31% for juvenile inmates.
• Arrest and sentencing are also disproportionately higher – 51% for adults arrested and 40% for juveniles.
A 1998 report into this staggering rate did not find racism to be a cause.
These materials may contain opinions that are not shared by the Board of Studies NSW.
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Students identify the level
of involvement of Native
Americans in the criminal
justice system.
Aboriginal Studies HSC Course: Social Justice and Human Rights Issues
Part I • Topic 5 – Criminal Justice
Learning experiences – criminal justice
Evidence of learning
• In 1992–1996 the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) statistics show a sharp rise in murders on reservations, while
across the USA they were down by 22%.
• In 1996 Indian country residents were served by less than one half the number of officers provided to small nonIndian communities.
• According to the BIA, no reservation in South Dakota had a fully staffed, adequately trained law enforcement
program.
• A 1999 report by the Department’s Bureau of Justice Statistics stated, ‘American Indians [sic] experience a much
greater exposure to violence than any other race groups’.
• Native American people experience per capita rates of violence more than twice those of the US population.
• Native American women experience violent crime 50% more than black males.
• In 70% of victimisations of Native Americans the assailant was someone of a different race (this is much higher
than amongst white victims).
• For Native American victims of rape/sexual assault, the offender is described as white in 82% of the cases.
• 70% of Native Americans in local jails for violent crimes had been drinking when they committed the offence,
nearly double that of the general population.
• 40% of Native Americans held in local jails had been charged with a public order offence – most commonly
‘driving while intoxicated’.
• On any given day, one in twenty-five Native Americans aged 18 years and older is under the jurisdiction of the
US criminal justice system – 2.4 times the rate for whites, 9.3 times per capita rate for Asians and about half the
rate for blacks.
• The number of Native Americans per capita confined in the state and federal prisons is about 38% above the
national average: the rate in local jails is estimated to be nearly four times the national average.
[Specific statistics about the Pine Ridge Oglala Sioux and their involvement with the criminal justice system are
difficult to obtain. Students must keep a record of any specific information they find relating to Pine Ridge residents
and their involvement in the criminal justice system.]
Students are to make conclusions about how the socioeconomic disadvantages of the Oglala Sioux on Pine Ridge are
linked to their over-representation in the criminal justice system.
These materials may contain opinions that are not shared by the Board of Studies NSW.
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Students construct a flow
chart which demonstrates
the ‘poverty/disadvantage
cycle’ of the Oglala Sioux
people of Pine Ridge and
the place of the criminal
justice system within this
cycle.
Aboriginal Studies HSC Course: Social Justice and Human Rights Issues
Part I • Topic 5 – Criminal Justice
Learning experiences – criminal justice
Evidence of learning
Mainstream programs and strategies to address Native American criminal justice issues, including
culturally appropriate programs and strategies
Students research the Internet, including www.ojp.usdoj.gov and make notes about the following criminal justice
programs available to the residents of Pine Ridge. These may include both local, state and federal programs such as
‘The Weed and Seed program’.
• The American Indian Movement (AIM)
• The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)
• The Tribal Corporations including the Prairie Winds Casino, the Oglala Sioux Tribe, the Oglala Lakota College,
the Oglala Sioux Tribal Housing Authority, the Mni Wiconi Project, the Oglala Sioux Tribe Elderly Nutrition
Program, the Pine Ridge Hospital and Health Center Clinic, and the Tribal Health Department Community Health
Representative and Ambulance (www.lakotamall.com)
• Federal and State strategies such as the US Department of Justice together with the US Department of Housing
and Urban Development (2000) project to assist in the investigation, prosecution, and prevention of violent crimes
and drug offences in public and federally assisted housing. The reservation was to develop a strategic plan that
would include local law enforcement and crime prevention components to develop long-range solutions.
• The Oglala Sioux Tribe (OST) Porcupine Clinic, Emergency Youth Shelter, the Kiyuksa O’Tipi Reintegration
Center, Victims Assistance in Indian Country (VAIC) are a number of service providers on Pine Ridge.
(http://FriendsofPineRidgeReservation.org/organizations)
• Village Earth projects have operated in Pine Ridge since 2000 to develop housing projects, land recovery projects,
food sovereignty and a wind-turbine network on the reservation (www.villageearth.org)
• A women’s shelter for victims of domestic violence which sees up to 600 women and 900 children per year and
services another 800–1500.
Students and teachers construct a mind map (WORKSHEET 3), with the word ‘SOLUTIONS’ at the centre of the
map, to make judgements about the ways these programs could be successful in addressing Pine Ridge criminal
justice issues.
Class discusses the links between social, economic, educational and cultural programs.
These materials may contain opinions that are not shared by the Board of Studies NSW.
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Students identify and list
mainstream programs
operating on Pine Ridge
to address Native
American criminal justice
issues.
Students construct a mind
map to analyse the way in
which existing programs
address the criminal
justice issues of the
Oglala of Pine Ridge.
Aboriginal Studies HSC Course: Social Justice and Human Rights Issues
Part I • Topic 5 – Criminal Justice
Learning experiences – criminal justice
Evidence of learning
The role of lifestyle factors in Native American peoples’ involvement in the criminal justice system
Students draw conclusions about the role of lifestyle factors in the involvement of Native American peoples in the
criminal justice system. Specifically, they are to review the flow chart they constructed earlier which illustrates how
and why the disadvantaged lifestyle of residents of Pine Ridge (poverty, low education, low employment, poor health,
poor housing etc) brings them into contact with the criminal justice system.
Following this, students are to critically assess the veracity of the following scenario:
• The history of colonisation, which has involved war, dispossession and the reduction of the Lakota people to a life
of dependency and inequality in all areas of social, economic and political status, has resulted in their overrepresentation in the criminal justice system.
• This disadvantage directly impacts upon their lives and shapes their lifestyle.
• A cycle of poverty, low education, low employment, poor health, ‘unsociable’ or criminal activity has developed
as a result.
Importance of regaining land, and cultural maintenance, in addressing the impact of the criminal
justice system on Native American peoples
Guided by the teacher, students recall how:
• The conditions for residents on Pine Ridge have largely resulted from the loss of land and subsequent relocation,
including:
– Indian wars that systematically stripped them of their homelands
– Federal and State laws that stripped Oglala of sovereignty.
The article They Marched for their Dead Brothers (We will return ...) makes reference to their fight for ownership of
their land.
Reference is also made to the nature of their protests to regain their land, their sense of community and their whole
lifestyle, which are all steeped in their traditional cultures.
Teacher and students develop a summary of key issues and supporting evidence for the following:
• What programs have the Olglala sought to develop that seek to address the levels of socioeconomic and political
disadvantage in their communities?
These materials may contain opinions that are not shared by the Board of Studies NSW.
13
Students recall flow chart
findings to draw
conclusions about the
reasons for the overrepresentation of the
Oglala Sioux in the
criminal justice system.
Students make critical
assessments of the links
between social
disadvantage and
involvement in the
criminal justice system.
Analyse the article They
Marched for their Dead
Brothers
(www.dickshovel.com/
wc2.html) and find
specific examples to
demonstrate the
significance of cultural
maintenance and land
ownership in the fight for
social justice by the Pine
Ridge residents.
Aboriginal Studies HSC Course: Social Justice and Human Rights Issues
Part I • Topic 5 – Criminal Justice
Learning experiences – criminal justice
Evidence of learning
• Students research the www.lakotamall.com website to identify how over recent years many Native American
organisations have been developed on Pine Ridge which pursue land ownership and cultural maintenance.
• Students list 10 of these organisations and very briefly account for their purpose and aims.
• Class discusses why and how land ownership and sovereignty are to be achieved before residents of Pine Ridge
can achieve self-determination and tackle discrimination (such as with the criminal justice system) and restore
genuine independence for the Pine Ridge people.
Students present their findings on a series of speech cards upon the topic of land rights and self-determination and
equality for the Pine Ridge people.
Students make an
assessment of the impact
of Native American
organisations on Pine
Ridge and their link with
achieving selfdetermination.
Social and political changes within law enforcement and judicial agencies to improve attitudes
toward Native American peoples
Class construct a table of key issues and associated strategies that address the high levels of interaction between the
Oglala people and the US criminal justice system.
• Issues of sovereignty:
– According to Federal Law, Native American nations are not fully sovereign, but are ‘domestic, dependent
nations’ with a special kind of non-sovereignty.
– Native Americans are ‘sovereign to the extent that the United States permits them to be sovereign’.
– The power of Congress to govern by statute rather than treaty has been sustained, effectively denying Native
Americans any real sovereignty.
– Civil and criminal Federal Native American law and the scope of ‘tribal sovereignty’ are regulated by and
answerable to federal law.
– Federal power truncates ‘tribal sovereignty’ in myriad ways.
– Tribes and tribal courts are regulated, or restricted, by the power of Congress.
• Congress and State statutes have dispossessed the Indigenous Native Americans of their land, social organisations
and original powers of self-determination.
• Issues/strategies that address low socioeconomic position of community and welfare dependency.
Students brainstorm and whiteboard (identify and justify) the five most important changes necessary within law
enforcement and judicial agencies that would improve attitudes towards Native American peoples.
These materials may contain opinions that are not shared by the Board of Studies NSW.
14
Students demonstrate
knowledge of the key
social and political
changes related to
reducing the high levels
of engagement of Oglala
people and the Criminal
justice system.
Students demonstrate a
knowledge of local and
national strategies that
have been developed to
address the problems.
Aboriginal Studies HSC Course: Social Justice and Human Rights Issues
Part I • Topic 5 – Criminal Justice
Learning experiences – criminal justice
Evidence of learning
[Teachers may suggest that this could include changes to the number and role of Native American police, general
cultural training for police, increased involvement of Native Americans in the development of criminal justice
policies and programs, improved access for Native Americans to employment, housing, education etc.]
Use student lists in a teacher-led class forum to discuss this topic.
Extension task
From the discussion, students construct a briefing that will accompany a letter that could be sent to the US
Ambassador in Australia outlining a range of solutions to the issues experienced by the Oglala people within the law
enforcement and judicial system.
Similarities and differences in criminal justice issues for Aboriginal and other Indigenous peoples
and communities
Students compare Oglala Sioux and other Indigenous peoples’ representation in the criminal justice system, with the
responses and initiatives they have taken to redress this situation.
Students complete WORKSHEET 4.
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15
Students identify and
employ appropriate
information from this unit
on the Oglala Sioux of
Pine Ridge and compare it
with similar information
from other Indigenous
communities they have
studied.
Aboriginal Studies HSC Course: Social Justice and Human Rights Issues
Part I • Topic 5 – Criminal Justice
Evaluation of unit
Teacher evaluation
Comments/Variations
How did the unit ‘rate’ in these areas?
Time allocated for topic
Student understanding of content
Opportunities for student reflection on learning
Suitability of resources
Variety of teaching strategies
Integration of Quality Teaching strategies
Integration of ICTs
Date commenced:
Date completed:
Teacher’s signature
Head Teacher’s signature
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16
Social Justice and Human Rights Issues
Part I • Topic 5 – Criminal Justice
Worksheet 1 – Traditional Oglala Sioux life and history
Website for map and further information: www.aktalakota.org/index.cfm?cat=1&artid=197
History of the Oglala Sioux tribe
The Oglala Sioux Tribe is part of the Great Sioux Nation of the Titowan
Division. The Great Sioux Nation recognises our land base in accordance with
the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851. The Great Sioux Nation extended from the
Big Horn Mountains in the west to the eastern Wisconsin. The territory
extended from Canada in the north to the Republican River in Kansas in the
south. The Great Sioux Nation was reduced in the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty
from the Big Horn Mountains in the west to the east side of the Missouri
River, the Heart River in North Dakota in the north and the Platte River in
Nebraska to the south. This includes the entire western half of South Dakota.
The Black Hills are located in the centre of the Great Sioux Nation. The Black Hills are sacred to
the Lakota/Dakota people and today considered an important part of our spiritual lives. A direct
violation of the 1868 Treaty was committed in 1874 by General George A Custer and his 7th
Cavalry when they entered the Black Hills and found gold there. The Gold Rush started the
conflict between the United States and Great Sioux Nation. The Great Sioux Nation opposed this
violation of the treaty. The United States Government wanted to buy or rent the Black Hills from
the Lakota people. The Great Sioux Nation refused to sell or rent their sacred lands.
General Custer and the 7th Cavalry was ordered to bring the Sioux bands in and place them on
the reservation lands. On 15 June 1876, the Battle of Little Big Horn between the 7th Cavalry
and Lakota Nation, along with their allies the Cheyenne and the Arapahos, took place at Greasy
Grass, Montana. The Sioux Nation was victorious over General George A Custer and his 7th
Cavalry.
The Great Sioux Nation then scattered, some to Canada. The United States Government
demanded that the Lakota nation move to the reservations. The people finally surrendered, cold
and hungry, and moved on the reservations. The government continued to insist on buying the
Black Hills from the Lakota people but the Sioux (Lakota) Nation refused to sell their sacred
lands. The United States Government introduced the ‘Sell or Starve’ Bill, the Agreement of
1877. The Lakota people starved but refused to sell their sacred land, so the US Congress
illegally took the Black Hills from the Great Sioux Nation. The Allotment Act of 1888 gave
Indian lands in 160-acre lots to individuals to divide the nation. The Act of 1889 broke up the
Great Sioux Nation into smaller reservations. The remaining land existing today is about onehalf the size it was in 1889.
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Worksheet 1 (cont)
Many of the Lakota people began to believe in the Ghost Dance experiences, as the movement
spread to the reservations. The US Army feared the unity through prayer among the tribes and
ordered the arrest of Sitting Bull on the Standing Rock Reservation. In the process of the arrest
Sitting Bull was shot by Indian police on 15 December 1890.
The Hunkpapa who lived in Sitting Bull’s camp, and relatives, fled to the south onto the
Cheyenne River Reservation. They joined the Big Foot Band in Cherry Creek, South Dakota
then travelled to the Pine Ridge Reservation to meet with Chief Red Cloud (see photograph
above). The 7th Cavalry caught them at a place called Wounded Knee on 29 December 1890,
and took all the weapons from the Lakota people. They then massacred 300 people at Wounded
Knee and left the bodies to freeze in the snow. The people of the Great Sioux Nation slowly
recovered from this injustice and continue to survive in their homeland.
Of all the reservations in the Dakotas, Pine Ridge is the one most noted at a national level.
Several possible explanations for this recognition exist. First, in early reservation history Pine
Ridge was the site of the 1890 tragedy at Wounded Knee Creek in which most of Chief Big
Foot’s band of Minneconjou Teton Sioux was annihilated by the 7th Cavalry. In more recent
history, national media attention was focused on the 1973 armed occupation of the community
of Wounded Knee by members of the American Indian Movement (AIM). Despite all the
adversity encountered by the Oglala they remain a people of vitality, hopefulness, and with their
cultural identity intact.
Activities
1. Locate and identify the Oglala Sioux People reservation with a focus on Pine Ridge.
2. Provide an overview of pre-contact Oglala life, focusing on the importance of land and
traditional law and order.
3. Describe the lands controlled by the Oglala Sioux. Draw a map.
4. What happened to these lands in 1868?
5. Explain the significance of the Black Hills.
6. Who was General Custer? What happened at the Battle of Little Big Horn?
7. Give details about the following:
• the ‘Sell or Starve’ Bill of 1877
• the Allotment Act of 1888
• the arrest of Sitting Bull in 1890
• the battle of Wounded Knee in 1890
• the occupation of the BIA Offices by members of AIM.
8. Write a paragraph explaining the significance of the Pine Ridge Reservation.
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18
Social Justice and Human Rights Issues
Part I • Topic 5 – Criminal Justice
Worksheet 2 – The Oglala Sioux and the criminal justice system
Source 1: www.ncjrs.gov/App/Publications/abstract.aspx?ID=199301
Source 2: www.aimovement.org
Source 1 relates to the recent publication ‘Wounded Knee II and the Indian Prison Reform
Movement’.
Source 2 relates to the American Indian Movement.
Research and present a one-page report on each of the following:
• American Indian Movement (AIM)
• the Battle of Wounded Knee II
• Leonard Peltier
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Social Justice and Human Rights Issues
Part I • Topic 5 – Criminal Justice
Worksheet 3 – Mind map: Solutions
Use this mind map to make judgements about the ways the various mainstream programs and
strategies for addressing Native American criminal justice issues could be successful for the Pine
Ridge Lakota people. Dicuss the links between social, economic, educational and cultural
programs.
llll
lllll
Solutions
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20
Social Justice and Human Rights Issues
Part I • Topic 5 – Criminal Justice
Worksheet 4 – Criminal justice comparison grid
Compare Oglala Sioux representation in the US criminal justice system with that of other Indigenous peoples and communities that you have
studied.
Indicator
All USA
Lakota
Community
Nation 2
Community 2
Life expectancy (male)
Life expectancy (female)
Diabetes/100 000 (male)
Diabetes/100 000 (female)
Imprisonment rate/100 000
Home ownership rate
Continuing education to Year 12
Average unemployment rate
Average annual income
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Nation 3
Community 3