The plight of American Indian communities, to average Americans, is usually either relegated to some distant past or outright ignored. If you're educated, maybe you'll remember reading about the Trail of Tears, or Wounded Knee (probably not Pine Ridge though).

But what about indigenous peoples today? They're largely broken, exiled to barren reservations, faced with an indifferent - or hostile - government, and casino-corrupted leaders.

This makes it all the more important that we sit up and take notice when they rise up and assert their collective rights, despite an almost total media blackout.