A review of the Documentary "Russell Means: Welcome to the American Reservation Prison Camp"

In this video, Russell means points out that the United States has become a reservation whereby; everybody has been involved. The documentary is mainly centered on interviews lasting approximately 90 minutes where the narrator tries to explain how the Indian Americans and all citizens in general have become imprisoned with one of the largest reservations in history. The main issue of contention for Means is restriction of food supply to American Indians, as well as application of colonial strategies in governing their community. This process as the narrator argues has been extended to the entire nation thus creating a large Indian reservation in the country.

There is no doubt that one can gain some relevant insights from this video concerning United States history as well as the flaws of the governance system currently in place. For instance, we get to know what Indian Americans have gone through hardships because of poor policies since achieving independence. It is also true that most presidents of the United States have failed to do enough in changing the situation of the Native Americans. This should not however imply that the governance system in the United States is full of weaknesses and flaws as the narrator seems to stress.

The positive aspects including policies and programs that have been undertaken by the Obama administration cannot be overemphasized. Mr. Means can only be considered as a sycophant oppositionist who only happens to see the negative aspects of a system while ignoring the positive aspects. This is clearly seen by the various conflicting observations and assertions he makes as part of his basis for his argument. For instance, he explains that before establishment of the Japanese internment camps in U.S, Japan used to treat their POWs in a humane way. However, the narrator seems to have chosen to ignore the negative aspects that were taking place at the country including the famous rape ordeal that were taking place at Nanking town. This implies that the author has a poor historical knowledge. Another point of conflict in Means statement is when he says that Indian American did not like much meat despite being given the same by Americans. Interestingly, he points out in another scene that Indians were people who liked to capture buffalos for meat. This can be confusing to the listener who wants to capture the point put across by the author.