Dakota 38: One Filmmaker's Ride of a Lifetime

In 2005, Native spiritual leader and Vietnam veteran, Jim Miller had a dream of arriving on horseback at a riverbank in Minnesota and seeing 38 of his Dakota ancestors hanged. At the time, Jim was unaware of the largest mass execution in United States history, ordered by Abraham Lincoln. Richard Whittaker writes, "I remember Silas telling us about meeting a Native American elder [Miller,] who talked about a dream he'd had, an important dream, one that he'd tried to ignore. But finally he understood that the dream had to be re-enacted. There would be a ride of Native Americans on horseback, over 300 miles across the Dakotas in the dead of winter, a healing ride to the place where 38 Native Americans had been hung during the presidency of Abraham Lincoln. This ride would have to be filmed the elder told Silas. "That's what you'll do," he'd said. I remember feeling shocked by the story. I asked Silas, "Are you going to do it?" He was. I didn't have to ask if there was any money involved. I knew there wasn't. And I remember being alarmed."... In this beautifully wrought interview, Silas Hagerty shares the backstory of his extraordinary film Dakota 38 and the profound challenges and insights that accompanied its creation.

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