#ahoicipe

Ahoicipe (ah-hoh-ee-chee-pay, the Lakota word for pride) intends to explore the role of traditional identity in the daily struggle of Native Americans, examining how they use pride of their original culture and traditions in dealing with their dismal objective conditions. While their cultural practices and language have been almost vanished by the various attempts at “assimilation”, the tribal peoples suffer a sort of forced segregation at the very bottom of American society: on every indicator, from the 88% unemployment to the worlds second lowest life expectancy, the reservations stand as Third World islands in the biggest economy on Earth. My project, however, would like to depart from the gritty depiction of these issues common in other works on the subject. By portraying American Indians in a positive light and exploring how they rediscover and use pride as a tool for survival and advancement, I would like to highlight inspiring stories of confident women and men rediscovering and using pride as a tool for empowerment.