Pegasus Research Consortium

Johnny Depp wants to buy the site of Wounded Knee massacre and give it back to the Native Americans | Daily Mail Online (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2360280/Johnny-Depp-wants-buy-site-Wounded-Knee-massacre-Native-Americans.html)

11 July 2013
Johnny Depp has announced that he wants to buy Wounded Knee, a national historic landmark, and give it back to the Indian people.

In an interview with the Mail On Sunday, the actor revealed that he is ready to spend millions in order to give the Native American people control of the land that was the site of a brutal 1890 massacre.

'It's very sacred ground and many atrocities were committed against the Sioux there,' he said in the interview.



Wounded Knee for Sale: Still No Depp Deal, But Oglala Sioux Negotiating - ICTMN.com (http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/07/22/selling-wounded-knee-still-no-depp-no-deal-tribe-negotiates-150536)

22 July 2013
After no word from Johnny Depp about buying Wounded Knee, Oglala Sioux Tribe President Bryan Brewer and three members of the Descendants of Wounded Knee met with James Czywczynski, the owner of the land, on July 14 hoping to come to some sort of agreement.

After putting the site of Wounded Knee on the market for $3.9 million and another parcel near Porcupine Butte, South Dakota for another million in May, Czywczynski has still not been able to sell. Brewer says Czywczynski might have a better chance of selling the land with a blessing from the tribe. Brewer hopes to work a deal with Czywczynski that could benefit everyone.

"I made a proposal that if we okayed the sale of the land to be returned to the tribe, he could benefit from it and also make a donation to the Descendants of Wounded Knee," Brewer told ICTMN. "This could be a place for education for our people and for the outsiders. Right now, no one is benefitting from this. The descendants were never going to benefit from this."

The tribe is asking Czywczynski to split the proceeds from the sale of Wounded Knee 50/50. Brewer said the arrangement is not negotiable and if it was not honored the tribe would seek to take the land back through the process of eminent domain. If this process is successful, Czywczynski would only receive fair market value.

The Rapid City Journal has reported the appraised value of his land is $7,000.




Land adjacent to the site of the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre is currently for sale by landowner James Czywczynski. Czywczynski says he is not concerned about the possibility of protests if the land is developed.

Wounded Knee Owner Threatens Tribe: 'Buy Now or I'm Auctioning It Off' - ICTMN.com (http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/08/15/wounded-knee-owner-tells-tribe-buy-or-site-goes-auction-block-150892)

15 August 2013

James Czywczynski, the current owner of the Wounded Knee site has told the Oglala Sioux Tribe they have until September 2 to purchase the land. If no one steps forward to purchase the land for the tribe, Czywczynski says he will hold a public auction for the land.

"I feel that I have given the tribe every opportunity to buy the land or for someone associated with them to do it. They say they have multiple buyers ready to purchase it for them, but they have not taken the steps to get it done," he told Brandon Ecoffey, managing editor of Native Sun News.

"When I met with President [Bryan] Brewer and the descendants I thought it went well and something would have come from it... but I have heard nothing."

That meeting took place at the newspaper's offices July 14 between the Horn family, Brewer and Czywczynski. It was then that Brewer asked Czywczynski if he would consider selling the site with the tribe's blessing and donating half the proceeds to the Survivors of Wounded Knee organization.

At the close of the meeting, Czywczynski said he would consider the offer.

Shortly after the meeting in Rapid City Czywczynski told ICTMN he sent an email and packet to the tribe and Brewer asking them to pay the entire $4.9 million asking price if they wanted to obtain the land and the deed.

Czywczynski has also been telling ICTMN that he has had offers from several interested parties that want to donate the land to the tribe, but as of yet, none of those parties have been able to raise all of the money or make good on their promises to buy.

"I have put other potential buyers off while I entertained the groups working on behalf of the tribe, but I can't wait any longer," he told Native Sun News.

Brewer doesn't believe Czywczynski will have any buyers with the arrangement not to donate half of the proceeds to benefit the site. He also says a deadline is nothing new.

"This isn't the first time he has said this, he set a deadline and we watched and waited and he had no buyers. No buyers are going to purchase this land because they will never be able to use it," Brewer said.

Brewer also has not received an email or a package from Czywczynski about any counter offer.
"I have received nothing. I have not heard from him other than the letter I received from him that thanked us for having the meeting in Rapid City. I have not received anything else yet," he said.

Is Johnny Depp Serious about Buying Wounded Knee ... (http://nativenewsonline.net/currents/johnny-depp-serious-buying-wounded-knee/)

20 February 2014
PINE RIDGE INDIAN RESERVATION — A Sioux Falls, South Dakota television station, KSFY News, is reporting Johnny Depp is one more time showing signs he is interested in purchasing Wounded Knee.

"They have not given us a timeline. He is interested is coming to visit the Pine Ridge. He is working through the chairman of the Comanche Nation of Oklahoma to arrange a meeting," commented Toni Red Cloud, public relations coordinator for the Oglala Sioux Tribe, to the Native News Online on Thursday.

Depp was adopted into the Comanche Nation of Oklahoma two years ago.
Last summer Depp told the Daily Mail Online, a London newspaper, that "he is planning to spend millions of his own money to return land, Wounded Knee, in South Dakota, to their ownership."


Here's another view:
Wounded Knee Owner Looking to 'Dispose of' Massacre Site Video - ABC News (http://abcnews.go.com/US/video/wounded-knee-owner-is-selling-massacre-site-19081982)


UPDATE:


One Year Later, Still Not Sold: Wounded Knee Owner to Try ... (http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2014/10/07/one-year-later-still-not-sold-wounded-knee-owner-try-drone-flyover-157217)

17 October 2014
One year after Wounded Knee landowner James Czywczynski told Oglala Sioux Tribe President Bryan Brewer he would be accepting outside bids if the OST would not pay the hefty price tag of $4.9 million; the infamous historic site still has not been sold.

Czywczynski told ICTMN that there are still several deals in the works, and that he is still working closely with Nelson Mathews, state director at the Trust for Public Land, in order to secure a deal in which it would ultimately be returned to the Oglala Sioux Tribe.

To date the Oglala Sioux Tribe has not warmed to Czywczynski's offers of such a deal and President Brewer, who had cancelled plans to meet with Czywczynski last year said "there was nothing to talk about" and the tribe was also considering taking back the land through the process of eminent domain.

Czywczynski has said he deserves to be compensated the $4.9 million because he and his family were forced from the property during the second Wounded Knee takeover when his business was destroyed.


Wounded Knee for sale (http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=wounded+knee+sale+video&qpvt=wounded+knee+sale+video&FORM=VDRE#view=detail&mid=F765BE5C1E390941540FF765BE5C1E390941540F)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0w8WWnd6e8I

A Thunder-Being Nation Trailer - The Oglala Lakota of Pine Ridge Indian Reservation - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0w8WWnd6e8I#t=41)

Uploaded on Oct 17, 2011
The trailer to the epic feature documentary A Thunder-Being Nation that charts life on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation from distant past to present day life.

From the director of the movie Rez Bomb also set on Pine Ridge.

Published on Aug 20, 2013
From the movie trailer "First Nations" by "Wind Cave Productions".
Any copyrighted material in this video is copied for educational purposes only.