MOVIE REVIEW : ‘Oglala’ Turns Tables on Accusers

FULLERTON —  In the summer of 1975, two FBI agents were sent to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota to investigate the theft of a pair of cowboy boots. What seemed routine turned violent: Both were killed in a gunfight with a group of Native American activists.

Almost immediately, three of the group were picked up for murder. Among them was Leonard Peltier, who is still in prison and who has become famous, at least to his supporters, as a symbol of justice gone wrong.

Filmmakers Michael Apted and Robert Redford are Peltier defenders, and their documentary “Incident at Oglala”--being shown tonight as part of Cal State Fullerton’s recognition of Latino Heritage Month--presents the FBI and the legal system as co-conspirators eager to strip the accused of his rights.

Director Apted and producer/narrator Redford are less interested in determining actual responsibility for the deaths than they are in asserting that Peltier was railroaded. This isn’t a film for anyone eager for answers--or for anyone who believes in following the government blindly. It invites healthy skepticism and presents disturbing facts to support its point of view.

“Incident at Oglala,” which was given only limited release when it came out in 1992, starts with the crime itself, which Apted and Redford imply may have been avoided if the FBI had been more sensitive to conditions at the reservation. The documentary notes that the Lakota Sioux living there were in a violent civil war between traditional Indian leaders and those supporting the government officials controlling Pine Ridge.

The place was, in other words, a tragedy waiting to happen. It already had the highest murder rate per capita of any region in the country. When the agents, both newly assigned, were shot execution-style, the FBI responded by immediately sending in 350 agents. Peltier, Bob Robideau and Darrelle Dino Butler, all members of the American Indian Movement (AIM), were charged.

Peltier’s became a special case when, saying he was afraid that he wouldn’t receive a fair trial, he fled to Canada. The government’s efforts to bring him back and the subsequent trial are presented by Apted and Redford as a web of deception and manipulation. Even if Peltier was one of the murderers, “Incident at Oglala” condemns the way he was convicted by a system looking for scapegoats and revenge.

Like most documentaries, this one has its share of talking heads recounting events or describing their roles in the case. But they tend to illuminate rather than numb. And Apted, who directed the 1992 theatrical release “Thunderheart,” inspired by the killings and starring Val Kilmer, enlivens the pace with a few dramatic re-creations of the trial.

* “Incident at Oglala” is being shown tonight at 6 in the UC Theater at Cal State Fullerton, 800 N. State College Blvd., Fullerton. Free. (714) 773-3371.