Lakota Documentary Analysis

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"A Hidden America - Children of the Plains" brings Americans' attention to a poverty issue that most of the country is completely unaware of. The documentary brings the economic struggles of the Lakota Reservation in South Dakota to the attention of the public. The poverty stricken land is afflicted by hunger, drug and alcohol abuse, and many other health epidemics. The documentary mainly focuses on the children of the reservation and how it affects their lives. The issue the documentary is trying to shed light upon is the issue of the perpetuating poverty within this reservation. The problem is nothing has happened to change this issue for many reasons, however, the biggest contributing factors are wealth inequality and the unfortunate…show more content…
The children have more of a story to tell as they are the ones who are most affected by the cruel ways of life on the reservation. The documentary focused on a few individuals of varying ages, but what stood out the most was Robert, 12 and Louise, 11. Robert lives with his Grandmother and Uncle and helps to raise his eight cousins who all live in a trailer. He lives there by choice because he does not want to live with his alcoholic mother. Louise lives with her mom in a house that is very moldy and poor ventilated. Sometimes it is too cold for her to sleep in her own room. Her mother also struggles with alcohol addiction so many times she is left to take care of herself and brother.. The thing that these two have in common is that they are both star students and love their heritage-rich land. Robert even aspires to become the first Native American…show more content…
This means that because of the system we have in place these people are only getting poorer, again perpetual poverty. Conflict theory also argues for competition and says that it is good for individuals as well as the economy. This is rare overlap with structural-functionalism, and is applicable to this specific study because there is zero competition in this area. When a business rises people want work, however, in the end nothing keeps that business a float because of the low economic opportunity. People don't have the option to invest or buy products from these businesses that occasionally will rise and thus they

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