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Diversity DVD Library

Native American

1.  We Shall Remain:  America Through Natives Eyes (DVD 5 episodes 90 min.s each)  From PBS's acclaimed history series, in association with Native American Public Telecommunications, WE SHALL REMAIN establishes Native history as an essential part of American history.  These five documentaries spanning almost four hundred years tell the story of pivotal moments in U.S. history from the Native American perspective, upending two-dimensional sterotypes of American Indians as simply ferocious warriors or peaceable lovers of the land.

Episode 1:  "After the Mayflower", begins in New England in the 1620's, at the time of the so-called "first Thanksgiving."  In March of 1621, Massasoit, chief of the Wampanoag, negotiated a diplomatic alliance with a scraggy band of English settlers for the benefit of his people.  It was a gamble that paid off for several decades, as Indians and colonists coexisted in relative peace.  A half-century later, as a brutal war flared between the English colonists and a confederation of New England Indians, the wisdom of Massasoit's choice seemed less clear.

Episode 2:  "Tecumseh's Vision", tells the story of the Shawnee leader Tecumseh and his brother, Tenskwatawa, known as the Prophet.  In the years following the American Revolution, the Prophet led a spiritual revival movement that drew thousands of followers from tribes across the Midwest.  His brother forged a pan-Indian political and military alliance from that movement, coming closer than anyone since to creating an independent Indian state.

Episode 3:  "Trail of Tear", explores the resolve and resilience of the Cherokee people, who resisted removal from their homelands in the Southeast in every way they knew:  assimilating, adopting a European-style goverment and legal system, accepting Christianity, and even taking their case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Episode 4:  "Geronimo", takes place at the end of the Indian Wars, near the close of the nineteenth century.  Here, desperate times catapulted a controversial character to the leadership of an Apache band.  To angry whites, Geronimo was an archenemy, the perpetrator of unspeakable savage cruelties.  To some Apaches, he was a stubborn troublemaker who actions needlessly brought the enemy's warth upon them.  To his supportors, he remained the embodiment of proud resistance, leading the last Native American fighting force to surrender to the U.S. government.

Episode 5:  "Wounded Knee", tells the gripping story of the 1973 siege of Wounded Knee, examining the broad political and econimic forces that led to the emergence of the American Indian Movement (AIM) in the the 1960's.  For 71 days activists engaged in a standoff with the U.S. government, bringing the nation's attention to the desperate conditions on Indian reservations.  Perhaps even more important, the siege united Native people across tribes, creating a pan-Indian identity and new path into the future.

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