Incident at Oglala is a 1992 American documentary film directed by Michael Apted and narrated by Robert Redford. The film documents the deaths of two Federal Bureau of Investigation agents, Jack R. Coler and Ronald A. Williams, on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation on June 26, 1975. Also killed in the multiple fire was Native American Joe Stuntz, a member of the American Indian Movement (AIM), whose death prompted no legal action.

Incident at Oglala
Theatrical release poster
Directed byMichael Apted
Produced byArthur Chobanian
StarringNorman Zigrossi
Robert Sikma
Darelle Butler
Bob Robideau
Norman Brown
Leonard Peltier
Narrated byRobert Redford
CinematographyMaryse Alberti
Edited bySusanne Rostock
Distributed byMiramax Films
Release date
  • June 26, 1992 (1992-06-26)
Running time
89 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$536,848[1]

It examines the legal case surrounding the subsequent trials of Robert Robideau and Dino Butler, and later the separate trial of Leonard Peltier, who had to be extradited from Canada. Robideau and Butler were acquitted at their trial, but Peltier was convicted of murder in 1977. (Peltier's supporters, including the International Indian Treaty Council, maintain that he is innocent of the crimes.) The film also discusses tribal chairman Dick Wilson.

Background

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There were many unsolved murders and drive-by shootings on the reservation, caused by a culture clash between traditional and Americanized Sioux. The American Indian Movement (AIM) was invited to the reservation to help assert traditional values. It was headquartered at Calvin Jumping Bull's property on the southern edge of Oglala. The "incident at Oglala" was precipitated by the FBI investigation of a pair of stolen boots. Jimmy Eagle, one of the AIM teenagers, was thought to have taken a pair of boots after a fight, and two FBI agents, wanting to talk to him about it, pursued a vehicle they thought he was driving into the AIM camp, leading to a shootout which left both dead.[2]

Accolades

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Apted was nominated for the Critics Award in 1992 for the film.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Incident at Oglala". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2011-02-23.
  2. ^ "Incident at Oglala : The Leonard Peltier story". Rolling Stone. 26 June 1992. Retrieved 2019-02-22.
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