Search - Great Indian Leaders and Nations on DVD

Highlights in Native History

Jeffery Mingo | Homewood, IL USA | 07/15/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This disc is appropriately titled: half of it as about leaders and the other half is about nations. This work has a nice mix of contemporary photos, vibrant paintings, reenactments, and Hollywood film footage.

I'm a bit surprised that Sitting Bull didn't have his own chapter in the leaders section. Also, the Cherokees are the most numerous tribe in the US, yet they are ignored in the nations half. The nations half seemed like it was moving from east to west, starting with the Iroquois in New York. However, the Navajo of Arizona are brought up before the Lakota of the Dakotas. This work does a great job in recounting that Native nations were not always located where they were. Yes, Americans forced them to move, but tribes had relocated due to push and pull factors before colonialism. This work speaks of American military leaders, some would say foes of the Native people, just as much as Native leaders. For people who want to research them, this may be a good starting point.

The narrator has no foreign language skills whatsoever. He pronounces "Taino" as if it had two syllables and rhymed with the bathroom product Drain-O. He pronounces the Spanish word "bosque" as if it only had one syllable. He pronounces the French word "nez" as if the Z was not silent. The men portraying Native Americans were on the chubby side and given that food was more scarce back then, especially on reservations, I am sure this is an inaccurate representation."