“I BELIEVE THE MOST SIGNIFICANT ATTRIBUTE OF NATIVE AMERICA IS THE MUTUAL AND COMMITTED COLLABORATION AMONG TRIBAL COMMUNITIES AND THE FILMMAKERS THAT I WOULD FURTHER DESCRIBE AS A CO-LABORING AND CO-ELABORATION,” SAYS JIM ENOTE (ZUNI), PROJECT CONTRIBUTOR.
“THE SERIES IS NOT ABOUT TOLERATING OLD SCHOOL SALVAGE ETHNOGRAPHIC FILMMAKING; IN THIS CIRCUMSTANCE TRIBES PARTICIPATING IN THE SERIES ARE BEING DECISIVE AND STRATEGIC ABOUT THEIR INVOLVEMENT.”
Much of the world has understood Indigenous peoples and the histories of the Western Hemisphere through specifically colonial, European perspectives for centuries. Native America, a four-part series from Providence Pictures airing on PBS this fall, aims to redirect the lens on these narratives. The series will run four consecutive Tuesday evenings starting Oct. 23, 2018, from 9-10 p.m. EST. The documentary-style series features conversations with Native peoples from British Columbia to Peru about Indigenous cosmology and astronomy as well art, oral histories and writing systems. It also highlights the observations and studies of Native and nonNative scholars and archaeologists, as well as community-based knowledge keepers. Mohawk musician Robbie Robertson of the rock group The Band narrates each hourlong installment. The series is one part of a larger educational effort by PBS and its Learning Media sector. Through teacher resources and lesson plans, according to PBS “the ultimate goal…will be to bring a more rounded study of Native American history and achievement into classrooms around the country.” Gary Glassman, executive producer and director of Providence Pictures, reflects, “I can no longer look at this land without thinking of the millions of Native Americans who created a world in which people lived as family with all living things and that their way of life still has the power to make a more just and sustainable future.” Reflecting on the significance of the PBS series to a broad television audience, G. Peter Jemison (Seneca), an authority on Haudenosaunee history and series contributor, writes, “Places separated by geography and people separated by hundreds of years find they still have stories; oral traditions that link them. The beauty and astounding knowledge our people had and still have are what the filmmakers have attempted to portray.” (to read more Indian Magazine)