# Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (film)

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee is a 2007 American Western historical drama television film based on the 1970 non-fiction book of the same name by Dee Brown. It is directed by Yves Simoneau and was produced by Wolf Films for HBO. It stars Aidan Quinn, Adam Beach, August Schellenberg, Anna Paquin, Colm Feore, and Gordon Tootoosis.
The film dramatizes the history of Native Americans in the American West in the 1860s and 1870s, focusing upon the transition from traditional ways of living to living on reservations and their treatment during that period, through the lives of four main characters: Charles Eastman (Beach), Sitting Bull (Schellenberg), Henry L. Dawes (Quinn), and Red Cloud (Tootoosis). The title of the film and the book is taken from a line in the Stephen Vincent Benét poem "American Names."
The film premiered on HBO on May 27, 2007. It received positive reviews from critics, and won seven Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Television Movie. It was also nominated for three Golden Globe Awards: Best Limited or Anthology Series or Television Film, Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film for Beach, and Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film for Paquin.

## Plot

The plot, which is based on events covered by several chapters of Brown's book, other sources, and on real events, revolves around four main characters:
* Charles Eastman né Ohiyesa, a young, mixed-race Sioux doctor educated at Dartmouth and Boston University, who is held up as proof of the success of assimilation
* Sitting Bull, the Sioux chief who refuses to submit to U.S. government policies designed to strip his people of their identity, their dignity and their sacred land, the gold-laden Black Hills of the Dakotas
* U.S. Senator Henry L. Dawes, an architect of government policy for allotment of Indian lands to individual households to force adoption of subsistence farming
* Red Cloud, whose decision to make peace with the American government and go to a reservation disturbed Sitting Bull.
While Eastman and his future wife Elaine Goodale, a reformer from New England and Superintendent of Indian Schools in the Dakotas, work to improve life for Native Americans on the reservation, Senator Dawes lobbies President Ulysses S. Grant for more humane treatment of the Native Americans. He opposes the adversarial stance of General William Tecumseh Sherman. The Dawes Commission (held from 1893 to 1914) develops a proposal to break up the Great Sioux Reservation to allow for American demands for land while preserving enough land for the Sioux to live on. The Commission's plan is held up by Sitting Bull's opposition. He has risen to leadership among the Sioux as one of the last chiefs to fight for their independence. Dawes, in turn, urges Eastman to help him convince the recalcitrant tribal leaders. After witnessing conditions on the Sioux reservation, Eastman refuses.
The prophet Wovoka raised Western Native American hopes with his spiritual movement based on a revival of religious practice and the ritual Ghost Dance; it was a messianic movement that promised an end of their suffering under the white man. The assassination of Sitting Bull, and the massacre, by the 7th Cavalry, of nearly 200 Native American men, women and children at Wounded Knee Creek on December 29, 1890, ended such hopes.
Henry L. Dawes wanted to increase the cultural assimilation of Native Americans into American society by his Dawes Act (1887) and his later efforts as head of the Dawes Commission. During the 47 years of implementing the Act, Native Americans lost about 90 million acres (360,000 km$^2$) of treaty land, or about two-thirds of their 1887 land base. About 90,000 Native Americans were made landless. The implementation of the Dawes Act disrupted Native American tribes' traditional communal life, culture, and unity.

## Cast

* Adam Beach as Ohiyesa / Charles Eastman
** Chevez Ezaneh as Young Ohiyesa / Charles Eastman
* Aidan Quinn as Henry L. Dawes
* August Schellenberg as Chief Sitting Bull
* Anna Paquin as Elaine Goodale
* Colm Feore as General William Tecumseh Sherman
* Gordon Tootoosis as Chief Red Cloud
* Fred Dalton Thompson as President Ulysses S. Grant
* Duane Howard as Uncle
* Nathan Lee Chasing His Horse as One Bull
* Brian Stollery as Bishop Whipple
* Shaun Johnston as Colonel Nelson A. Miles
* Billy Merasty as Chief Young Man Afraid of His Horses
* Morris Birdyellowhead as Chief American Horse
* Eddie Spears as Chasing Crane
* Sean Wei Mah as Bull Head
* Eric Schweig as Chief Gall
* Jimmy Herman as Yellow Bird
* Patrick St. Esprit as Major James Walsh
* J.K. Simmons as James McLaughlin
* Wes Studi as Wovoka / Jack Wilson
* Marty Atonini as Colonel James W. Forsyth
* Lee Tergesen as Daniel F. Royer

## Production

The film was shot in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

## Awards and nominations

| Award | Year | Category | Nominee(s) | Result |
| Artios Awards | 2007 | Outstanding Achievement in Casting – TV Movie of the Week | René Haynes | Won |
| Hollywood Post Alliance Awards | 2007 | Outstanding Color Grading – Television | Kevin O'Connor | Nominated |
| Hollywood Post Alliance Awards | 2007 | Outstanding Editing – Television | Michael Ornstein | Won |
| Online Film & Television Association Awards | 2007 | Best Motion Picture | Best Motion Picture | Won |
| Online Film & Television Association Awards | 2007 | Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture or Miniseries | Aidan Quinn | Nominated |
| Online Film & Television Association Awards | 2007 | Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture or Miniseries | August Schellenberg | Nominated |
| Online Film & Television Association Awards | 2007 | Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture or Miniseries | Anna Paquin | Won |
| Online Film & Television Association Awards | 2007 | Best Direction of a Motion Picture or Miniseries | Yves Simoneau | Won |
| Online Film & Television Association Awards | 2007 | Best Writing of a Motion Picture or Miniseries | Daniel Giat | Nominated |
| Online Film & Television Association Awards | 2007 | Best Ensemble in a Motion Picture or Miniseries | Best Ensemble in a Motion Picture or Miniseries | Won |
| Online Film & Television Association Awards | 2007 | Best Costume Design in a Motion Picture or Miniseries | Best Costume Design in a Motion Picture or Miniseries | Won |
| Online Film & Television Association Awards | 2007 | Best Editing in a Motion Picture or Miniseries | Best Editing in a Motion Picture or Miniseries | Nominated |
| Online Film & Television Association Awards | 2007 | Best Lighting in a Motion Picture or Miniseries | Best Lighting in a Motion Picture or Miniseries | Won |
| Online Film & Television Association Awards | 2007 | Best Makeup/Hairstyling in a Motion Picture or Miniseries | Best Makeup/Hairstyling in a Motion Picture or Miniseries | Nominated |
| Online Film & Television Association Awards | 2007 | Best Music in a Motion Picture or Miniseries | Best Music in a Motion Picture or Miniseries | Won |
| Online Film & Television Association Awards | 2007 | Best Production Design in a Motion Picture or Miniseries | Best Production Design in a Motion Picture or Miniseries | Won |
| Online Film & Television Association Awards | 2007 | Best Sound in a Motion Picture or Miniseries | Best Sound in a Motion Picture or Miniseries | Nominated |
| Primetime Emmy Awards | 2007 | Outstanding Made for Television Movie | Dick Wolf, Tom Thayer, Yves Simoneau, and Clara George | Won |
| Primetime Emmy Awards | 2007 | Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie | Aidan Quinn | Nominated |
| Primetime Emmy Awards | 2007 | Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie | August Schellenberg | Nominated |
| Primetime Emmy Awards | 2007 | Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie | Anna Paquin | Nominated |
| Primetime Emmy Awards | 2007 | Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special | Yves Simoneau | Nominated |
| Primetime Emmy Awards | 2007 | Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special | Daniel Giat | Nominated |
| Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards | 2007 | Outstanding Art Direction for a Miniseries or Movie | Ian Thomas, D.A. Menchions, and Paul Healy | Nominated |
| Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards | 2007 | Outstanding Casting for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special | René Haynes, Rhonda Fisekci, and Candice Elzinga | Nominated |
| Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards | 2007 | Outstanding Cinematography for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special | David Franco | Won |
| Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards | 2007 | Outstanding Costumes for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special | Mario Davignon, Micheline Rouillard, and Jill Blackie | Nominated |
| Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards | 2007 | Outstanding Hairstyling for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special | Iloe Flewelling, Chris Harrison, Heather Smith, and Penny Thompson | Nominated |
| Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards | 2007 | Outstanding Makeup for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special (Non-Prosthetic) | Gail Kennedy, Rochelle Pomerleau, and Joanne Preece | Won |
| Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards | 2007 | Outstanding Music Composition for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special (Original Dramatic Score) | George S. Clinton | Nominated |
| Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards | 2007 | Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Miniseries or a Movie | Michael Ornstein and Michael Brown | Won |
| Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards | 2007 | Outstanding Sound Editing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special | Stephen Hunter Flick, Avram Gold, Steffan Falesitch, Eric Hertsgaard, Patricio Libenson, Denise Horta, Adam Johnston, Paul Berolzheimer, Dean Beville, Jeff Sawyer, Ken Young, Mike Flicker, David Lee Fein, and Hilda Hodges | Won |
| Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards | 2007 | Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Miniseries or a Movie | George Tarrant, Rick Ash, and Edward C. Carr III | Won |
| Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards | 2007 | Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special | David Goldberg, Chris Del Conte, Joseph Bell, Justin Mitchell, Erik Bruhwiler, Tommy Tran, Benoit Girard, Tammy Sutton, and Andrew Roberts | Nominated |
| Satellite Awards | 2007 | Best Motion Picture Made for Television | Best Motion Picture Made for Television | Nominated |
| Satellite Awards | 2007 | Best Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television | Aidan Quinn | Nominated |
| American Cinema Editors Awards | 2008 | Best Edited Miniseries or Motion Picture for Non-Commercial Television | Michael Ornstein and Michael Brown | Nominated |
| American Society of Cinematographers Awards | 2008 | Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in Television Movie/Miniseries/Pilot | David Franco | Nominated |
| Cinema Audio Society Awards | 2008 | Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Television Movies and Miniseries | George Tarrant, Rick Ash, and Edward C. Carr III | Won |
| Costume Designers Guild Awards | 2008 | Outstanding Made for Television Movie or Miniseries | Mario Davignon | Won |
| Critics' Choice Awards | 2008 | Best Picture Made for Television | Best Picture Made for Television | Won |
| Directors Guild of America Awards | 2008 | Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television or Miniseries | Yves Simoneau | Won |
| Golden Globe Awards | 2008 | Best Miniseries or Television Film | Best Miniseries or Television Film | Nominated |
| Golden Globe Awards | 2008 | Best Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television | Adam Beach | Nominated |
| Golden Globe Awards | 2008 | Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film | Anna Paquin | Nominated |
| Golden Reel Awards | 2008 | Best Sound Editing – Dialogue and ADR for Long Form Television | Stephen Hunter Flick, Avram D. Gold, Steffan Falesitch, Eric Hertsguaard, and Patricio A. Libenson | Won |
| Golden Reel Awards | 2008 | Best Sound Editing – Sound Effects and Foley for Long Form Television | Stephen Hunter Flick, Avram D. Gold, Paul Berolzheimer, Dean Beville, Adam Johnston, Jeff Sawyer, Kenneth Young, David Fine, and Hilda Hodges | Won |
| Humanitas Prize | 2008 | 90 Minute or Longer Network or Syndicated Television | Daniel Giat | Won |
| NAACP Image Awards | 2008 | Outstanding Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special | Outstanding Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special | Nominated |
| NAACP Image Awards | 2008 | Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special | Adam Beach | Nominated |
| Producers Guild of America Awards | 2008 | David L. Wolper Award for Outstanding Producer of Long-Form Television | Clara George, Tom Thayer, and Dick Wolf | Won |
| Screen Actors Guild Awards | 2008 | Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie | Anna Paquin | Nominated |
| Visual Effects Society Awards | 2008 | Outstanding Created Environment in a Live Action Broadcast Program, Commercial or Music Video | Phi Tran, Matthew Lee, Martin Hilke, and Justin Mitchell (for "002_05") | Won |
| Western Heritage Awards | 2008 | Television Feature Film | Television Feature Film | Won |
| Writers Guild of America Awards | 2008 | Long Form – Adaptation | Daniel Giat – Based on the book by Dee Brown | Nominated |
| Young Artist Awards | 2008 | Best Performance in a TV Movie, Miniseries or Special – Leading Young Actor | Chevez Ezaneh | Won |