A family grows hope on tribal land. The DEA grows a case. Guess who wins?
When the Oglala Sioux Tribe passed an ordinance separating industrial hemp from its illegal cousin, marijuana, Alex White Plume and his family glimpsed a brighter future. Having researched hemp as a sustainable crop that would grow in the inhospitable soil of the South Dakota Badlands, the White Plumes envisioned a new economy that would shrink the 85% unemployment rate on the Pine Ridge Reservation. They never dreamed they would find themselves swept up in a struggle over tribal sovereignty, economic rights, and common sense.
Direction
Access to the White Plume family feels earned, not extracted
Editing
Builds from hopeful planting to infuriating raid with zero manipulation
Production
Made by non-Native filmmakers who actually listened to their subjects
Director
Suree Towfighnia
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Pine Ridge remains one of America's poorest counties; hemp legalization in 2018's Farm Bill came eleven years too late for the White Plumes.
The raid footage exists because filmmakers had built trust over years—federal agents didn't expect witnesses with cameras.
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