Native American Experience highlights First Nation heroes through a 5 part series on PBS
PBS relives Native 'American Experience'
By Scott D. Pierce - April 13, 2009
UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. — A few months ago, the executive producer of "We Shall Remain" was in Oklahoma, where her crew was filming the Cherokee Youth Choir singing "The Star Spangled Banner" in both English and Cherokee.
"And when I asked Chad Smith (principal chief of the Cherokees) why they do this, (he) said, 'We are expressing our patriotism to a country that hasn't necessarily been kind to us, but it is our country,' " said Sharon Grimberg.
"I found his response surprising. But if I've learned one thing this past five years, it is that the native story is constantly unexpected.
"The real story of the first Thanksgiving, the starting point of our series, is surprising, as is the ending point, the siege at Wounded Knee in South Dakota in 1973."
The five-part, 71/2-hour series on the award-winning "American Experience" retells five pivotal moments in Native American history. And, while many of the stories are at least somewhat familiar, "We Shall Remain" is not the typical Hollywood retelling.
"I'm 60 years old, and I was brought up in a time where Columbus discovered America," said Marcos Akiaten, who stars as Massasoit in Part 1. "I got to see Chuck Connors play Geronimo. ... I also got to see a movie, 'Dances With Wolves' — a great movie, but a white guy saves the Indians."
Not so with "We Shall Remain," which aims to show Native American heroes.
"I think there are so many heroes within the characters here," said Chris Eyre, a Native American who directed parts 1, 2 and 3. "And that's where I kind of came at it.
"We know about Industrial Revolution and the blood and the sweat and the tears that this country's been through. But we also have to look at native people and go, 'We have these heroes that did incredible things in a very trying time.' And that's what I was interested in portraying in this series."
"These stories have been existing sort of in the margins," said Ric Burns, who wrote, produced and co-directed Part 2, "Tecumseh's Vision." "You can go out and read books about Tecumseh, but the centrality of these stories to the American experience and not just to Native Americans, to European Americans. I mean, Tecumseh, I believe, is a hero just not to Native Americans, but should be seen as a hero to all Americans."
Eyre said he visited an Oregon boarding school for young Native Americans and he asked them who their heroes are. One youngster mentioned P. Diddy.
"I said, 'Well, I'm thinking of a native hero," Eyre said. "Another kid said, 'Tiger Woods.' And I said, 'Well, that's getting closer.'
He's hoping the series will show "strong, progressive people that lived in a difficult time. And that was kind of my personal reason to show these characters and not keep the mythologies of just romanticizing native people historically.
The installments will air on five consecutive Mondays, beginning tonight:
"After the Mayflower" (tonight) is about the first Thanksgiving, Massasoit and the five decades that followed.
"Tecumseh's Vision (April 20) recounts the story of Tenskwatawa, his brother, Tecumseh, and the military and political confederacy of antagonistic tribes that united to stop white westward expansion.
"Trail of Tears" (April 27) follows the events surrounding the forced march of thousands of Cherokees from their homes in the Southeast to Oklahoma — a march that killed more than 4,000 along the way.
"Geronimo" (May 4) follows the life of the Apache who was controversial even among other members of his tribe — was he a hero or a villain?
"Wounded Knee" (May 11) relives the 1973 standoff that lasted 71 days and drew attention to the longstanding grievances of Native Americans.
And local PBS station KUED-Ch. 7 is contributing five programs of its own —?half-hours that will follow each 90-minute national telecast on Mondays at 8:30 p.m.
First up is "The Paiute" (tonight), followed by "The Ute" (April 20); "The Navajo (April 27); "The Goshute (May 4); and "The Northwestern Shoshone" (May 11).
E-mail: pierce@desnews.com