America's Great Indian Nations

America's Great Indian Nations

1994, History  -   49 Comments
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Ratings: 8.22/10 from 183 users.

When Christopher Columbus first encountered the peoples of the new world he was deeply moved. For their part the Taino Indians of the Caribbean thought that Columbus and his sailors were gods who had come from heaven. But within a single generation the peaceful kingdom of the Taino Indians which Columbus first saw would be gone forever, wasted by disease, slavery, torture and war.

This new world, that Columbus found, was in fact a very ancient place and the people he called "Indios" had lived upon the continent for thousands of years. Their ancestors were its true discoverers. Ice age hunters who followed the rising sun east across the land bridge from Asia to discover a continent ruled by glaciers and great bison.

When the ice melted nomadic tribes pushed southward into the green part to the continent following the stars, the seasons and the herds. They conquered the land and they fashioned languages and customs as varied as a feathers of the birds yet between them run spiritual roots buried deep in the Earth.

And then after centuries beyond number the white man came in search of wealth and power. Two million Indians would endure four centuries of struggle before the sun finally set upon their free dominion. These European settlers came in wave upon wave to occupy Native American lands. In the bellies of their ships the Europeans carried horses, guns and disease and in their hearts they carried a belief in their destiny to rule the Americas from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

As the whites pressed ever-westward they finally waged an absolute war on the Indians that would close the frontier and usher in the white man's era of railroads, telegraphs and mining. Yet the history of America is in many ways the history of the American Indians, for they gave the Europeans the skills and knowledge needed to survive in the new world. These are the stories of the mightiest Indian nations.

The Iroquois of upstate New York were a unique confederation of six Indian nations. Their great law of peace attracted the attention of American colonists who were forging their own new country. The Seminoles of Florida who gathered together free Indians and black slaves fleeing the northern lands. Together they built a patchwork nation of peoples mirroring the melting pot of America.

The Navajo whose powerful spiritual link to their land inspired a courageous defense of their territory in the great south-west. The fiercely independent Cheyenne, the beautiful people of the plains, whose families were massacred by US Army soldiers. And their brothers, Lakota, the defiant warriors of the west who united with the Cheyenne to hold back the tide of western expansion for 50 years.

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Jake
Jake
6 months ago

How many women was in this movie

Shannon
Shannon
10 months ago

If I could be any other nationality, I would want to be 100% NATIVE AMERICAN❣️They tookn a beating and still are today. And it is very sad.

Jake
Jake
1 year ago

When the movie ends what is the year?

Pamela
Pamela
1 year ago

Who is the narrator

Algonquin
Algonquin
8 years ago

In our tribe, previously of the st lawrence river, it was told to me that there were criminals like every society but the tribes had strict laws and alliances that kept trading relationships good and warfare minimal. there was a very complex social system that was understood by most if not all members of native american society. We were not just a lawless bunch of savages roaming the land fighting each other like alot of people like to see it

the truth
the truth
9 years ago

the story of Columbus is false...."Columbus" that man was hired by the Columbus Commission...an offspring of the "Spanish Inquisition", the "traveling courts" to destroy the last strong hold of tribal ppl....my ancestors....as tribal law was and still the first law of the land....the white man, not white tribes came here and killed over 120 million ppl....so they where friendly?...lol....and the "Six Nation" was made up by george washinton to destroy the "52 Nations" Confederency....and did a good job at it.....some of us, know the truth, and know the law that supercedes there laws...and im not afraid to speak of it...they know who I am....if there is to be any peace in this world, the law that some of us know and live will be needed....most and when i say most I mean almost everyone doesn not know how to connect again with this Universal Law....but its coming...and another point...the british empire is only a continuation of the roman empire after they where defeated by the white tribes of "europe"...as the new weapon of war was religion, the concept of God, led by the roman catholic church....hutcha!v we where almost all two legged beings, tribal ppl, that got defeated by the tyrants....all following at a time Creator Great Spirit Laws....the ancient religion using ancient ceremony to live in balance with our Mother the Earth and Universe, the things we see and dont see....you wont here what I just said in there Institutions or records...lol

breggetta
breggetta
9 years ago

The spirits still live on...

kyiani
kyiani
9 years ago

the planet's desperately needs a relief bro...we really gotta die and make way for the superior beings to come after us

dewfall
dewfall
10 years ago

My Dear Friends and Fellow Apes, May your Midwinter Celebrations be filled with Love, Light and Laughter and the New Year bring you All the Little Things That Truly Matter xxx

JPH
JPH
10 years ago

Law of the jungle seems to be the sentiment expressed by some people here by looking at these post. Those who Live by the sword shall die by the sword so shall be it for any civilization that embraces such inhumanity towards their fellow man. The USA time may very will come as a nation if we do not turn away from such evil views and ways.

bringmeredwine
bringmeredwine
10 years ago

And mankind continues to slaughter each other and trample over their weaker brothers and sisters. Like it or not that's how the world is!

Albert Potato
Albert Potato
10 years ago

Another lie taught in school, how the Pre Columbian North Americans were all a peaceful and loving group, one with nature and fellow tribes. The peoples of North America were committing acts of war, raiding, mass murder of women and children 1000's of years before the Europeans. The murder rate before the Europeans arrived was way worse than today's modern America.
A very good source for an unbiased look at this is WAR BEFORE CIVILIZATION:THE MYTH OF THE PEACEFUL SAVAGE by Prof Lawrence H. Keeley