500 Nations (1995)

Every American should view these!

These DVD's are some of the best I have seen from the Native American point of view. It follows the history of North American Natives as they saw it. If all you get out of these is that there was a bunch of killing and enslavement than you missed the point.

What a tragedy the Natives endured. What an injustice that took place to such a peace loving and nature loving people. This wrong can never be made right. The saddest part of it all is the life the Natives are left with today.

These DVD's are just the first chapter of a sad commentary about the Natives. This commentary is still going on. May 29, 2008

Native American History Reborn

This is an awesome Movie. I watched the entire movie (4 dics) in one sitting. It is a great way to dispel myths about how the West was settled and how the Native Americans responded to being driven from thier lands. It provides an overall picture from both the Indians and the Invaders. Great Addition to any Library. May 18, 2008

excellent documentary

This is an excellent documentary. Kevin Cosner is great and the history of the Native American people is well presented. I loved the CG images of what they think the villages and ruins looked like when they were in use. A must see documentary if you love Native Americans. March 31, 2008

How 80% of native American indians died

According to the native american historians in this documentary series, it was through smallpox, scarlet fever, etc. that white europeans passed on to them. It was not through massacre and bloodshed. Yes, massacre and bloodshed did occur against indians. However, only in the thousands total. Not the millions that the european diseases caused. So please, stop hyping up the Holocaust that never happened. Keep in mind that indians won many of those battles and they too instigated massacres against whites. Whites back then didn't have high tech weapons. They had guns but so did the indians. March 12, 2008

Depressing

I give this set 3 stars for the immense effort obviously poured into the production of it.

Judging from the title, I was hoping to learn about the culture, history, and present-day lives of the "500 Nations". Unfortunately, what I got was hours upon hours of nothing but immoral killing. It's nothing but native tribes being attacked, enslaved, and destroyed by European explorers and "conquistadors". It was so depressing.

This is definitely not what I learned in school. As a product of the government-run public schools, I learned that American history started with Columbus' "discovery" and that there were very few native people already here, and they seemingly only existed to assist the pilgrims upon their landing and to help them get established in the "new world". If nothing else, this DVD set is worth watching just so you learn history the way it probably really happened. I say "probably" because let's face it, if you weren't there, then you don't really know exactly what happened. If things really did happen the way this DVD sets it out, then it is appalling, outrageous, and heartbreaking. Shameful beyond words.

I don't really believe that the natives existed in an idyllic euphoria before the arrival of the Europeans. They knew pride, greed, war, and ego...but there is no way they could have fathomed the average white person's capacity of these character flaws.

Worth watching once, but I would have preferred to learn more about the culture of the tribes and their lives today. Another thing that bugged me is that it all seemed very one-sided...there is not much mention of the dark religious rituals and practices some of the tribes engaged in...no mention of the fact that many of them were pagan idolaters. The Aztecs participated in human sacrifice and sometimes even cannibalism. Check out the "sun dance" practiced by the Plains tribes (self-mutilation). The Native Americans are painted as utterly innocent until their utopian lives were destroyed by the evil Europeans.

The ironic thing is, most of us were taught the sort of American History that white-washes the facts in favor of the Europeans...this DVD sets out to white-wash American History in favor of the Native Americans. Obviously, this shouldn't be the *only* documentary you watch on this subject, if you wish to gain a well-rounded education about American history. February 28, 2008

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