Customer Reviews

500 Nations 7: Roads Across the Plains [VHS]

5 star:		(55)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Since childhood, I've always felt that the most aesthetically beautiful people that have ever walked the earth are the original inhabitants of the Western Hemisphere, so this series, so wonderfully photographed and researched, is one I appreciate. It's a superb overview of a history not to be missed.

Tape # 1: "The Ancestors." Explores the creation stories of several tribes and continues with the early inhabitants, from the Anasazi of the Southwest to the glory of the Mayan cities.

Tape # 2: "Mexico." Starts in 650 A.D. and continues with "The Rise of the Aztecs," "The Invasion," "The Fall." This is the most fascinating and my favorite of the series. The complex history is captivating, and heartbreaking as the bloodthirsty horror of Cortez is told, and the commentary by Nahuatl anthropologist Eustaquio Celestiano is enlightening.

Tape # 3: "The Clash of Cultures." Columbus' landing on Hispaniola and the conflict that ensues, the "Gulf Coast of Florida" and de Soto's marauding army.

Tape # 4: "Invasion of the Coast." The Inuit vs. the English, the East coast peoples vs. the English.

Tape # 5: "Cauldron of War." Trading with the white man and how commercial hunting changed the face of the Indian Nations. The Iriquois: The leader known as "The Great Peacemaker" and his "Great Laws" which created the first democracy in America.

Tape # 6: "Removal." War and exile in the East. The story of Tecumseh and his heroic challenge. The 1830 "Indian Removal Act" and the journey West.

Tape # 7: "Roads Across the Plains." California. The building of the missions and the gold rush. What happened in these events will be new information to a lot of people. Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse: "Standing Against the Tide."

Tape # 8: The wise and great Chief Joseph. The Apaches. The Reservations. The "Boarding Schools" where children were stripped of their identities. It ends with present day Native Americans speaking about perspectives today. As Mario Gonzalez, an Ogala Sioux says, "Destiny is not a matter of fate, it's a matter of choice."

Jack Leustig's incredible work is hosted by Kevin Costner and narrated by Gregory Harrison. The excerpts of written documents are superbly spoken by such actors as Wes Studi, Edward James Olmos, and Patrick Stewart. The score by Peter Buffet is also excellent. These tapes are also available singly, and are 49 minutes long apiece.

This series is certainly worth it! This miniseries is well researched, has excellent graphics, and Kevin Costner does a great job as host. I fell in love with it the first few moments I watched.

No matter what portion of the country you live in, you will learn new history about your region. The series is designed so you can watch it through from beginning to end, or skip directly to the portions that most interest you.

This is one series I think EVERY American should own. It will help you understand who you are, even if you don't have a trace of Native American blood.

I chose the portion that deals with our locality to show to the college class I teach. Although the portion was only 8 minutes long, it sparked a discussion that sent our class into overtime.

Why should you buy it as opposed to renting it? Simple, when you rent a movie, you remember the movie and often don't view it a second time. This is more like a multimedia encyclopedia on Native Americans. You will want to look up portions of it from time to time and even show certain portions to friends.

This film evoked in me a great deal of emotion about the American Indians, and more especially about how badly they'd been treated by our forefathers, their European invaders. I've learnt a great deal that I didn't know from watching and listening to the commentary. My only criticism (and it's only a small one) is that I heard little mention of some of the more recent tribes including the Comanches, and I always thought that they would have featured rather prominently, however that's only my own opinion. Some of the scenery shots were absolutely brilliant as was the computer generated scenes. All in all, a very enjoyable film, full of information, and lasting over eight hours. Well worth buying, and re-watching time and time again. A must for anyone even remotely interested in The Native American culture.

This series of videos explores Native history from before the arrival of the Europeans to modern times. It is an accurate accounting of the clash of cultures and contains many great photographs, interviews and narratives. A great feature are the virtual tours of cities such as Pueblo Bonito, Cahokia, Teotihuacan and Chichen Itza. The information on the videos is well documented and the sources of information are presented in a bibliography at the end of each video. The production is excellent and the music compliments the information presented. I recommend this series highly. It is a great addition to any home video library. END

A magnificent achievment. Should be required viewing by Boards of Education across the country. You will learn the tradgedies and triumphs of Indians left out of the history books. Christopher Columbus was a mass murderer, DeSoto the "explorer" was, in the words of a narrator in the film, "the embodiment of pure evil".

You will not only learn of all of the atrocities of Europeans and Americans, but will also learn of the greatness of Indian leaders such as Montezuma, Pontiac, Chief Joseph and Tecumseh.

As a 1/8th Shawnee, I especially liked the section on Tecumseh, especially that his name is pronounced correctly. My only criticism would be that Tecumseh's remarkable prophecies, such as predicting a massive earthquake that occured in the Missouri area and changed the course of the Mississippi River is not touched upon, but the film will lead you to read biographies and other histories of the remarkable lives of these great leaders.

For the first time, through the stunning computer graphics of the Santa Barbara Graphics group you will see Cahokia, the valley of Mexico and the Anasazi heartland at Chaco Canyon as it was in Indian times.

I urge you to buy this film and show it to every visitor to your home. Savor it and remember that once they were here and the future can be and should be different.

I was drawn in, at first, by the title and after a few minutes of viewing the second installment (as I was viewing it on the Discovery Times channel marathon;2-19-05) I devoted the rest of the day to it. So enraptured I was, I inevitably found myself here ordering this series on DVD.

The last episode is still playing as I write and I find myself (a 40+ year old man) literally in tears. The emotion leftover from the episode describing my own tribes history which, albiet brief here, is only one of the innumerous tragic events portrayed in this important documentary.

I also feel some political and theological comparisons to our current situation should be explored.

I have always had a desire to hear bout our native peoples/culture and history. This DVD was very enlightening. Most movies are written by others about the Indian nations. This brought so much insight of the history and their fight/plight they have had to endure through out time. It has opened my eyes to new facts and information which I had very little knowledge. I feel its a must see if you have any desire to know the history of the indian nations which has been portrayed by Hollywood and others as "savages" and wild. I always have had a lot of respect for the native americans. Now I have a much more rich knowledge and a deeper respect for these proud people. Its a must see for sure.

This is more like it! I was relieved to finally hear true and factual accounts on the history of the "American Indian". Wouldn't it be fantastic to use this video in our History classes now? Teach our children from facts and truth rather than from sagas or old wives tales that were passed down through the years. Awesome, awesome video collection! Through this video, dignity and respect has been given back to the history of the "American Indian". The traditions may live on through these teachings.

Described as a history of Native North American Indians, the vast majority of this series actually focuses on the history of Indians' relations and conflicts with Europeans after the discovery of the New World.

That's not to say that those are not important and under-taught, under-emphasized stories. They are. BUT what I was HOPING FOR was a deep journey into different Native American tribes, cultures, diets, farming and/or hunting and gathering practices, social structures, language groups, religious beliefs, etc. There is SOME of that here, and a bit more in certain episodes than in others, but usually it is only touched upon very briefly in order to set up the endless stories of how they were trampled on by various groups of Europeans.

If that's what you're looking for, wonderful. It is a very well-presented series. But it wasn't what I was looking for, and I am just trying to give a heads up as I feel that the title and product descriptions are severely misleading.

I teach a college course on Native American history. This DVD has been a very good visual supplement to my class. It covers a wide span of history and uses many primary sources. "500 Nations" covers the origins of Indians in North America through the 1890 massacre at Wounded Knee.