Native America

Locations
Call Number: DVD 970.004 Na, Adult DVD / Nonfiction / History / Native America
On Shelf At: Downtown Library, Malletts Creek Branch, Pittsfield Branch, Traverwood Branch, Westgate Branch

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 1st Floor 1-week checkout	DVD 970.004 Na	1-week checkout	On Shelf
Malletts Adult A/V 1-week checkout	Adult DVD / Nonfiction / History / Native America	1-week checkout	On Shelf
Pittsfield Adult A/V 1-week checkout	Adult DVD / Nonfiction / History / Native America	1-week checkout	On Shelf
Traverwood Adult A/V 1-week checkout	Adult DVD / Nonfiction / History / Native America	1-week checkout	On Shelf
Westgate Adult A/V 1-week checkout	Adult DVD / Nonfiction / History / Native America	1-week checkout	On Shelf

Title from web page.
Narrator, Robbie Robertson.
Explores the world created by America's first peoples. The series reaches back 15,000 years to reveal massive cities aligned to the stars, unique systems of science and spirituality, and 100 million people connected by social networks spanning two continents.
DVD, region 1, NTSC.

REVIEWS & SUMMARIES

Excerpt

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Disappointing submitted by richmondtina on January 5, 2021, 11:42pm I checked this series out to augment my son's Native American studies. The first episode did so nicely while also updating knowledge I gained from a cultural anthropology course I took in college. The second episode is where I perceive things to go way off track. During the second episode, the film completely mischaracterizes democracy and attributes the USA's democratic structure to Native American's Five Nations. Even the content in the episode refutes the claim. Apparently, the alliance was formed by chieftains (power inherited, not elected). Also, per this episode, a clan-mother then appointed her chieftain ruler of the five tribes. If there was a democratic component to the governing structure it wasn't communicated. Conversely, what the film doesn't acknowledge is that the writers of this country's founding documents were familiar with the principles of democracy because most of their educations included studies of Greek and Roman civilizations. PBS seems to have taken a historic acknowledgement of Native American contribution to US government structure and weaved an false narrative about democracy instead of providing a more factual accounting of the contribution. I'm guessing, since the film didn't go there, but it seems like the Native American alliance was a pretty good illustration of how states can join to form a republic while maintaining some autonomy. This mischaracterization of Five Nations as a democracy would sadly diminish my confidence in the factual and cultural accuracy of the other content in the series if I weren't already familiar with much of it. There are plenty of reasons to emulate Native American cultures including their sacred connection to the earth and its many manifestations as well as their ancestral respect. While these are touched upon in the second episode, they were overshadowed.