Monday PBS: Trail of Tears

Photography by: Marilyn Angel Wynn of NativeStock Pictures

WE SHALL REMAIN: Trail of Tears

Monday, April 27, 2009 at 9pm on PBS (check local listings)

"The most historically accurate, I think, of any documentaries or telling of this story that I've seen in my lifetime." Actor Wes Studi (Cherokee)

Trail of Tears explores the resolve and resilience of the Cherokee Nation, who resisted removal from their homelands in the Southeast in every way they knew: assimilating, adopting a European-style government and legal system, accepting Christianity, and even taking their case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

From director Chris Eyre (Smoke Signals, Skinwalkers) Trail of Tears, the third episode in AMERICAN EXPERIENCE's five-part miniseries, WE SHALL REMAIN, premieres Monday, April 27, 2009 on PBS.

If you missed episodes one or two watch online or on the PBS World digital channel.


Every person has a story. Share yours!

“With 560 federally recognized tribes in the US, it was impossible for us to tell everyone’s story,” says WE SHALL REMAIN executive producer Sharon Grimberg.

If you have Native roots, now it’s your turn to share your experiences through WE SHALL REMAIN's Online Story Sharing tool. It allows Native people across the country to publish video, audio, or written pieces on the Web sites of public media broadcasters in their communities.

Check your local public television station website for details on the WE SHALL REMAIN Story Sharing tool, and help WE SHALL REMAIN to create a more diverse portrait of Native history and contemporary Indian life.

Coming Up Next Week
WE SHALL REMAIN: Geronimo
Monday, May 4, 2009 at 9pm on PBS (check your local listings)

Geronimo takes place at the end of the Indian Wars, near the close of the nineteenth century. Here, desperate times catapulted a controversial character to the leadership of an Apache band. To angry whites, Geronimo was an archenemy, the perpetrator of unspeakable savage cruelties. To some Apaches, he was a stubborn troublemaker whose actions needlessly brought the enemy's wrath upon them. To his supporters, he remained the embodiment of proud resistance, leading the last Native American fighting force to surrender to the United States government.


Native Now: WE SHALL REMAIN on Public Radio

On Monday, April 27, tune in to NPR's Morning Edition a new installment from WE SHALL REMAIN's companion radio series. Hear how, in spite of the horrific suffering inflicted by theTrail of Tears, displaced tribes did survive, and some flourished. Today the Chickasaw Nation confounds the "reservation" stereotype, with good healthcare, education, a strong sense of cultural independence and a thriving economy based only partly on gaming.

Photography by: Marilyn Angel Wynn of NativeStock Pictures

PBS: WE SHALL REMAIN

PBS: WE SHALL REMAIN

This is a bulletin to let all the "Friends of Native America" know about a special TV series that started last Monday evening. Astounding accounts, part documentary and part re-enactments, of significant American Indian History across our nation. As an expert on photographing Native America, Marilyn Angel Wynn of Nativestock Pictures said, "so far from what I have seen from this first episode along with other programing clips, the films are all extraordinary and accurate. I highly recommend this series if you have any interest at all in US history and America's First Nations".

This remarkable television premiere on PBS titled "WE SHALL REMAIN" on the American Heritage program. This special 5 part series titled of WE SHALL REMAIN is a provocative multi-media project that establishes Native history as an essential part of American history. The not-to-be-missed episodes and show dates are:

Episode 1 April 13 After the Mayflower
In 1621, the Wampanoag of New England negotiated a treaty with Pilgrim settlers. A half-century later, as a brutal war flared between the English and a confederation of Indians, this diplomatic gamble seemed to have been a grave miscalculation

Episode 2 April 20 Tecumseh's Vision
In the course of his brief and meteoric career, Tecumseh would become one of the greatest Native American leaders of all time, orchestrating the most ambitious pan-Indian resistance movement ever mounted on the North American continent.

Episode 3 April 27 Trail of Tears
Though the Cherokee embraced “civilization” and won recognition of tribal sovereignty in the U.S. Supreme Court, their resistance to removal from their homeland failed. Thousands were forced on a perilous march to Oklahoma.

Episode 4 May 4 Geronimo
As the leader of the last Native American fighting force to capitulate to the U.S. government, Geronimo was seen by some as the perpetrator of unspeakable savage cruelties, while to others he was the embodiment of proud resistance.

Episode 5 May 11 Wounded Knee
In 1973, American Indian Movement activists and residents of the Pine Ridge Reservation occupied the town of Wounded Knee, demanding redress for grievances. As a result of the siege, Indians across the country forged a new path into the future.

photography by: ©Marilyn Angel Wynn

CROW CREEK UPDATE

ALERT!!!!

Please watch this video update about the power utility cut-offs of families, elders and vets living on Crow Creek Reservation in South Dakota. This week's weather: low winter temperatures, wind chills and blizzards have been reported

CROW CREEK VIDEO REPORT