WE SHALL REMAIN America Through Native Eyes PBS Home Video excerpts   They were charismatic and forward thinking, imaginative and courageous, compassionate and resolute, and, at times, arrogant, vengeful, and reckless. For hundreds of years, Native American leaders from Massasoit, Tecumseh, and Tenskwatawa, to Major Ridge, Geronimo, and Fools Crow valiantly resisted expulsion from their lands and fought the extinction of their culture. Sometimes, their strategies were militaristic, but more often they were diplomatic, spiritual, legal, and political.   From PBS’s acclaimed history series, AMERICAN EXPERIENCE, in association with Native American Public Telecommunications, WE SHALL REMAIN establishes Native history as an essential part of American history. These five documentaries spanning almost four hundred years tell the story of pivotal moments in U.S. history from the Native American perspective, upending two-dimensional stereotypes of American Indian as simply ferocious warriors or peaceable lovers of the land.   After the Mayflower – Episode One begins in New England in the 1620s, at the time of the so-called “first Thanksgiving.” In March of 1621, Massasoit, chief of the Wampanoag, negotiated a diplomatic alliance with a scraggly band of English settlers for the benefit of his people. It was a gamble that paid off for several decades, as Indians and colonists coexisted in relative peace. A half-century later, as a brutal war flared between the English colonists and confederation of New England Indians, the wisdom of Massasoit’s choice seemed less clear.   Tecumseh’s Vision – Episode Two tells the story of the Shawnee leader Tecumseh and his brother, Tenskwatawa, known as the Prophet. In the years following the American Revolution, the Prophet led a spiritual revival movement that drew thousands of followers from tribes across the Midwest. His brother forged a pan-Indian political and military alliance from that movement, coming closer than anyone since to creating an independent Indian state.   Trail of Tears – Episode Three explores the resolve and resilience of the Cherokee people, who resisted removal from their homelands in the Southeast in every way they know: 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.   Geronimo – Episode Four 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.   Wounded Knee – Episode Five tells the gripping story of the 1973 siege of Wounded Knee, examining the broad political and economic forces that led to the emergence of the American Indian Movement (AIM) in the 1960s. For 71 days, activists engaged in a standoff with the U.S. government, bringing the nation’s attention to the desperate conditions on Indian reservations. Perhaps even more important, the siege united Native people across tribes, creating a pan-Indian identity and a new path into the future.