We Shall Remain: Part II - Tecumseh's Vision (20 Apr. 2009)

Each of the episodes focuses on important historical events and concludes with a short contemporary story that links the past to the present.

Directors:

Ric Burns, Chris Eyre

Writers:

Ric Burns, Mark Zwonitzer

Stars:

Benjamin Bratt, Alex Meraz, Dwier Brown

Cast

Episode credited cast:
Benjamin Bratt	...	Narrator
Alex Meraz	...	Warrior
Dwier Brown
Michael Greyeyes	...	Tecumseh
Chevez Ezaneh	...	Young Tecumseh
Billy Merasty	...	Warrior (as William Merasty)
Mariel Belanger	...	Tecumseh's Mother
Lawrence Santiago	...	Warrior
Stephen Warren	...	Himself - historian
Leland Chapin	...	Warrior
Thosh Collins	...	Warrior
Kieran McArthur	...	Young Tenskwatawa
Donald Fixico	...	Himself - Historian, Shawnee, Sac and Fox
Randy Santiago	...	Warrior
R. David Edmunds	...	Himself - historian

Storyline

From the award-winning PBS series American Experience comes We Shall Remain, the most ambitious primetime television series and media project on Native history ever produced. We Shall Remain will present a multifaceted story of Native ingenuity and perseverance that spans more than three hundred years. The tale of European settlement of North America has been told countless times, but never before from the perspective of the land's original inhabitants. At the heart of the project is a five-part television series that shows how Native peoples adapted and fought back-from the Wampanoags of New England in the 1600s who used their alliance with the English to weaken rival tribes, to the bold new leaders of the 1970s who harnessed the momentum of the civil rights movement to forge a Pan-Indian identity. Each historical episode of We Shall Remain will be paired with a short, contemporary story showing how the past resonates in Native American lives today.

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Plot Keywords:

tecumseh | united states | 1800s | wampanoag indian | greenville ohio | 

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Genres:

Documentary | History

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site PBS [us]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 April 2009 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Georgia, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

American Experience, Steeplechase Films

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

User Reviews

Strong Dramatizations but Heavy Political Agenda Detracts.

From the advance publicity all over PBS, I learned that there was much care taken to involve Native Americans in every aspect of the production. The actors white and Indian do a fine job. Particularly laudable is Canadian Michael Greyeys as the legendary Tecumseh. In the first two episodes at least, the sets and costumes seem authentic to the last feather and musket.

It is with the commentary that the problems start. There is not even the pretense of fairness. Every issue is presented as if the guilt of the white man and of Washington (the city not the man) were a foregone fact. Perhaps this is why not one single recognized American historian appears on the program--thus far, at least. The voices are nearly all British or--if I must say it--effeminate. It is one long exercise in political correctness.

It is true that the first two programs deal with events from 200 to 350 years in the past but that is no excuse for the rampant speculation, outright guesswork in many instances, that color the "learned" remarks. This speculation is **all** about the evil white man and the noble Indian. Only the briefest reference in the first episode is made to conflicts between tribes of Native Americans although much is known of them. Instead we get deep "insights" in the psychological suffering of the Shawnees, through much of the second episode.

I look forward to future episodes with trepidation.