Johnny Depp Plans to Purchase Sacred Land and Return it to its Natives
http://topinfopost.com/2013/07/12/johnny-depp-plans-to-purchase-sacred-land-and-return-it-to-its-natives
In the centuries of ongoing genocide against the native people who first inhabited the landmass now claimed by the US government, there have been countless massacres and a constant effort to take their rightfully homesteaded property. Even the well known “reservations” that they have been cast into are nothing more than concentration camps. The people living in these areas don’t even have the right to take official ownership of their own legitimate property.
The property is often fairly cheap by today’s standards and despite the fact that many wealthy people talk a lot about the plight of the natives, it is rare for anyone to actually put their money where their mouths are. People will campaign and they will lobby government, they will protest and appear in commercials and do a long list of other things that make absolutely no progress towards solving this problem. You will rarely see someone actually take money out of their own pocket though, and just flat out buy the property for the natives, so there is no longer any dispute.
However, that is apparently exactly what actor Johnny Depp is planning to do.
Indian Country Media recently found an interesting conversation buried in this Daily Mail feature on Johnny Depp:
“Such is Depp’s commitment to the Native American cause, he is planning to spend millions of his own money to return land, Wounded Knee, in South Dakota, to their ownership.
The site, the scene of an 1890 massacre, is up for sale for $3.9 million. Local Native Americans say they cannot afford to buy it. Depp is outraged.
“It’s very sacred ground and many atrocities were committed against the Sioux there. And in the 1970s there was a stand-off between the Feds (Federal government) and the people who should own that land. This historical land is so important to the Sioux culture and all I want to do is buy it and give it back. Why doesn’t the government do that?”
Is he really prepared to pay for the land?
“I am doing my best to make that happen. It’s land they were pushed on to and then they were massacred there. It really saddens me.”
Indian Country Today also reported that landowner James Czywczynski and tribal president Bryan Brewer say the purchase would be a noble gesture, but neither have heard from Depp so far.
Brewer, upon hearing the news from Indian Country Today Media Network, welcomed the possibility and said the tribe would be more than willing to meet with Depp. “The fact that Johnny Depp would say this is really something,” he said. “If he would like to speak with us that would be great. We certainly appreciate his concern for this matter and the respect he is demonstrating to our people. The possibility of his goodwill effort toward keeping this land intact and in tribal hands is amazing.”
When Czywczynski put the site on the open market for $4.9 million in May, he never imagined the international exposure he would receive. He certainly never expected a celebrity like Depp to get involved. “I just got the news about [Depp’s interest] an hour ago and I don’t know what to think about it,” he said.
Czywczynski reiterated that his top priority is that whoever purchases the property give it to the tribe. “I really don’t care who buys it and donates it to the Oglala Sioux Tribe as long as somebody does it,” he said. “Johnny Depp has a lot of money. He could probably raise this money in a heartbeat. So I was kind of glad to see some national and international exposure.”
According to the report there are anonymous buyers interested, and the natives are also attempting to work through the legal system to acquire this property. However, it is the US legal system and government that has been carrying out a genocide against them and taking their land to begin with, so as of right now Johnny Depp seems like the most reliable prospect.
