DVD REVIEW: 500 NATIONS

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STUDIO: Warner Bros.
MSRP:$ 59.98 RATED: NR
RUNNING TIME: 372 minutes
SPECIAL FEATURES:

· A new introduction by host/executive producer Kevin Costner

· CGI insight with director Jack Leustig

· CD-ROM disc with extensive archival material

· 12-page booklet

Upon watching Kevin Costner’s 500 Nations, I’m struck by how much of the history of the native people of this land is unknown to so many of us who descend from them. Like many people, I can claim Indian heritage – Cherokee – on both sides of my family. I’ve seen a couple of faded pictures of my grandmother’s mother, whom I believe was as much as ½ Cherokee. But that’s all it is to me, a faded picture. I have a diverse ethnic make-up, of which Indian is a part, but it’s not a part that I’ve ever readily identified with nor claimed. Interestingly enough, I have a neighbor who is a Pechanga Indian. People here in California and parts of the Southwest will know that the Pechanga are one of the larger tribes still around who are also one of the many who are recently gaining some manner of reparations through Indian gaming. My neighbor doesn’t have to work anymore, has two plasma TVs worth a total of 20 grand, a sick new Nissan Z and a $10,000 diamond earring. Two things about that strike me: 1. I don’t begrudge any tribes who are able to make better lives for their people through such a deal; and 2. I’m descended from the wrong tribe.

The Flick:

500 Nations is Kevin Costner’s comprehensive look at the history of the native peoples of the North American continent, ranging from the ancient Aztecs, Mayans and Toltecs to the Plains Indians who were the last vestiges of a mighty conglomeration of cultures that were systematically seduced, slaughtered and absorbed by the European settlers that forged this nation. The documentary is at times a stirring account of the various peoples who inhabited this land thousands of years before Columbus stumbled to Hispaniola. I dug Dances With Wolves and also Chris Eyre’s wonderful Smoke Signals. But as Costner himself said in Nations, Wolves was just a singular part of a much larger story that needed to be told. With beautiful vistas of the continent from central America to the Arctic Circle, native drawings, artwork, guest narrations from celebrities and modern Indians, and 3-D animation of Indian habitats, 500 Nations does a nice job of doing that.

The set is broken up into four discs with two episodes apiece. The first contains a prologue by Costner that details the Wounded Knee massacre of 1890, which is pretty much the last nail in the coffin of the Indian culture as it was for thousands of years. The first two episodes, titled “The Ancestors: Early Cultures of North America” and “Mexico: The Rise and Fall of the Aztecs,” give interesting accounts of Indian theories on creation, the origins of the first Indians and how the first Spanish explorers, particularly Cortez and DeSoto, devastated the native people of Central America and the Caribbean with guns, swords and disease. But while the Europeans do bear a great deal of the blame for the downfall of many of those cultures, Nations also points out that the locals themselves aren’t completely innocent as they warred amongst themselves, conquered and betrayed each other, and also were quick with the slaughtering themselves. Prominent Indians of the Mayan and Aztec cultures include Qetzlcoatl, known as the winged serpent king, and Motecuhzoma. Also explored are the earliest settlements of the Anasazi, Indians of the American Southwest who created incredible structures such as Pueblo Bonito, the Bellagio of it’s time that was capable of housing up to 1,000 people.

Disc Two has episodes three and four, “Clash of Cultures” and “Invasion of the Coast.” “Cultures” details the fateful escapades of Columbus as he arrived on Hispaniola (Haiti/Dominican Republic) and his encounters with the band of natives called the Taino. “Cultures” also details the Indians Anacoana and Enrique, and further explores the exploits of DeSoto, who led an army of Spanish Conquistadors through the southeastern United States, bringing destruction and death by fierce fighting and disease to the tribes known as the Timicua, the Coosa, the Mobile, and the Natchez. Particularly disturbing is DeSoto’s clash with a tribe in which over 11,000 were killed in one day.

“Invasion” deals with the tribes of northern Canada, particularly the Inuit (what us Yankees call Eskimos), and their persecution and abduction by English explorers in the 1600s. One Brit of note responsible for this was Martin Frobisher, who kidnapped a couple of Inuits, a man and woman, and then he and his crew hoped they would get to see them do the nasty. Unfortunately, Frobisher brought them back to England, where they promptly died. Other topics covered in “Invasion” include the Powhatan Confederacy, Jamestown, Pocahontas (don’t believe the Disney versions, Pocahontas’ story didn’t end well), Tisquantum, the Pilgrims, Samoset, Masasoit, and King Phillip, who led one of the first major resistances to the encroaching white men.

Disc Three is where the story really picked up for me, as it dealt with the further advances of the British into the interior, and Indians’ roles in the French and Indian War, the Revolutionary War, and the War of 1812. “Cauldron of War” details the first signs of Indian self-destruction as depressed Indians turned to the bottle to numb the pain of having their way of life systematically destroyed before their eyes. Another interesting story of literal self-destruction is that of the Sewee Nation. The Sewee had the bright idea of cutting out the middlemen in their trade with the British. So they fashioned canoes and rowed out into the Pacific to find England and trade with them directly. Unfortunately, the Pacific wasn’t the pond they thought it was and the majority of them were killed by a huge storm. The survivors were picked up by Europeans and promptly sold into slavery in the Caribbean, and the nation died out virtually overnight. When the Indians had had enough, they finally decided to fight and rallied around leaders like Pontiac and Tecumseh. But despite initial successes, the colonials continued to push onto the continent. Also spotlighted in “Cauldron” was the nation of the Haudenosaunee, a confederation of Onondaga, Mohawk, Shawnee, Oneida and Seneca nations. They formed the first democracy on the continent and tried to remain neutral in the Revolutionary War, but found themselves lost to their own civil war as the nations chose sides. But they eventually reformed their nation and it remains to this day (God, I feel like I’m giving a book report here).

“Removal” covers the removal of and struggles by the nations of the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys. Prominent Indians mentioned in this episode include Tenskwatawa and his brother Tecumseh, a major leader in Indian resistance. Tenskwatawa was a major alcoholic who quit stone sober and became a prophet. Tecumseh sought to rally many Indian nations against the Americans and fought side by side with his brother. He was eventually killed by William Henry Harrison, who was later famous for being President for 31 days before dying of pneumonia. “Removal” also covers the “Five Civilized Tribes,” which included the Cherokee, Choctaw, Creek and Seminole. They had a great confederation that was devastated by the Trail of Tears, a forced Bataan Death March from their own lands to the Midwest in the mid-1800s.

Finally, Disc Four, with its episodes “Roads Across the Plains” and “Attack on Culture” deal with the last stages of the Indian plight as the Manifest Destiny manifested like a mo-fo and pushed the Indians to the sea and finally into near obscurity. When they weren’t being killed outright by the US Government or settlers, they were assaulted by missionaries seeking to convert them – sometimes by force – to Christianity (obviously the ancestors of the 700 Club). “Roads” and “Attack” also cover the horse cultures that evolved with the introduction of horses to Indians, and also Chumash culture. “Roads” ends with The Battle of Little Big Horn, and the fates of Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse (who would today be known as Mentally Disturbed Horse or Functionally Challenged Horse). “Attack” mostly covers the final days of the Indian saga as tribes like the Apache gained infamy for their fierce resistance and Indians like Cochise and Geronimo became feared opponents and outlaws, and later legends. With the onset of the General Allotment Act, boarding schools and land rushes, the fate of the Indian was ultimately sealed. Nations wraps up with the struggles of Indians for acceptance and autonomy to this day and their never-ending pursuit of their cultures and traditions.

I found 500 Nations to be an insightful and well-told program that managed to hold itself together through 500 years of Indian struggles. Costner gives earnest introductions (although he’s clearly reading from slowly moving cue cards in the opening) and he does a pretty good job of laying the groundwork for each installment of the story. Director Jim Leustig has a nice narrative style that never devolves into Ken Burns monotony. He keeps the pace flowing with his use of drawings, guest narrations and CGI. If you’ve got a term paper due on American Indians, this is a good thing to cheat off of instead of reading the text book.

8.4 out of 10

The Look

The Pluses: hundreds of drawings, paintings and renderings of Indian life through the centuries and the use of CGI to convey ancient cultures and how Indians lived; as well as beautiful scenery and varying vistas of the North American landscape. Not too much talking head action, which is also nice. The Minuses: 6+ hours of fullscreen.

7.1 out of 10

The Noise

This is a re-presentation of what appeared on TV ten years ago, and there’s not really anything to stand out sound-wise besides the narration. Nothing wrong with the sound, but it definitely won’t explode your speakers. No Surround? No Problem.

6.0 out of 10

The Goodies

Since this is essentially an instructional documentary, there’s not much in the way of bells and whistles in terms of makings-of, behind-the-scenes, junkets, bimbo starlets talking about how awesome her character is or the like. There is a short from director Jim Leustig on the CGI used in the program and opening and closing remarks from Costner. But what this set lacks in DVD extras, it makes up for in spades in the additional CD ROM that’s included. There’s enough interactive material on Indian history, culture, homelands, prominent Indians, traditions, and more to keep you in the happy hunting grounds.

6.8 out of 10

The Artwork

An Indian with a hand growing out of his head as his kemosabies celebrate beneath. I can dig it.

Discs and inside covers have nice Indian folk art and pictures too.

7.3 out of 10

Overall: 7.0 out of 10