The Hemp Report

This is a reminder that Standing Silent Nation will be aired on P.O.V. on PBS on Tuesday, July 3 at 10:00 PM (please check your local listings). If you would like an email reminder sent to you, please click here and select the "Remind Me" link just to the left of the "Watch Trailer" button.

I have been following this story since 2000 when the Hemp Commerce and Farming Report, now called the Hemp Report, ran a tribal press release and story about members of the Oglala Sioux Tribe planting industrial hemp at various locations on the Reservation. There was a short follow up in Issue 14 DEA raid Pine Ridge: hemp lost.

I just received an update email from PBS and they have the Standing Silent Nation page up now with additional resources:

Visit the P.O.V. website and watch additional video clips not included in the film, including a brief history of hemp production in America, scenes from a protest that the White Plume family participated in during the 2003 reenactment of the Lewis and Clark expedition and an expanded interview with former CIA director James Woolsey on the laws surrounding hemp production in the United States. Watch or listen to an interview with filmmakers Suree Towfighnia and Courtney Hermann.

Learn More
Host a P.O.V. screening party at your house, download our discussion guide and talk about the film with friends and neighbors. Teachers, access lesson plans and free video clips!

The story took many turns and twists. Indian Country Today covered story in depth, but many of the stories are gone from their archive. One that is left is Hemp could be crop of the future. Another is S.D. family seeks the right to grow hemp.

Mother Jones did a story: The Drug War Comes to the Rez

There is an archive of information and stories on the Natives Unite hemp page.

Vote Hemp has an archive of court documents on their Legal Cases White Plume page.

This is an amazing story and is worth being discussed. PBS has provided a wealth of information to go along with the film including a Discussion Guide, a Lesson Plan, and an online PBS Discussions Board among other offerings.

Please remember to watch Standing Silent Nation will be aired on P.O.V. on PBS on Tuesday, July 3 at 10:00 PM (please check your local listings).