New Ken Burns series features Indigenous nations’ role in American Revolution

Ken Burns' new documentary series explores a story often left out of textbooks: the economic and diplomatic role of sovereign indigenous peoples in the American Revolution.

American Revolutionairing this week on PBS covers the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. in Episode 1 as Benjamin Franklin's inspiration for creating an alliance between 13 British colonies in North America, 20 years before the revolution.

“They didn't do it. They didn't want to give up any autonomy, and so they missed the lesson of the Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Tuscarora, Oneida and Mohawk peoples who understood this centuries ago,” Ken Burns told CBC Indigenous.

12 hour series The portrayal of the bloody struggle for indigenous land, which involved more than two dozen nations, both European and Native American, took nearly a decade to create. Indigenous consultants worked on the project.

Tuscarora historian Rick Hill said he was hesitant to watch “because I'm tired of being disappointed in these multi-million dollar productions“

But Burns encourages people to watch the entire series before judging it.

Prolific documentarian, known for series such as Civil war, Vietnam War And National Parks: America's Best Idea, said his desire to tell stories with the accuracy they deserve is in his DNA.

Burns said his grandparents found arrowheads, flints and other Native American tools on their honeymoon, not the supposed Civil War artifacts they were looking for.

He said that as a child, a map of the United States hung above his bed, with in the foreground the territories of the 300 indigenous peoples, the original inhabitants of this land.

“George Washington uses the term ‘empire’ almost constantly,” Burns said. sovereignty of the peoples already living there.

Burns said it's interesting that history isn't taught in schools.

“I don’t think engaging Native American stories is difficult, it’s just necessary,” he said.

“You can’t understand this history without telling Indigenous stories.”

Lots of portraits Kanien'kehá:ka leader Joseph Brant (Tayendanigea) featured in the documentary is evidence of Brant's historical status and command, Burns said, refuting the term. “savage” was used by Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence.

“[Jefferson] says: “Ruthless Indian savages.” Much work needs to be done to bring to life his previous statement that all men are created equal,” he said.

Divided Loyalties

Rick Hill said he learned nothing about Indigenous history until he went to university in the 1970s. There he met other Indigenous scholars and began talking to the “old men” of his community about the real history of the Haudenosaunee.

Hill said firstthe lack of Indigenous representation in historical accounts angered him. bbut this led him to teach the history of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, which still works.

“When it comes to the American Revolution, Exhaust sauna the story is the most important part of the whole thing,” Hill said.

Hill said the series comes at a critical time as efforts are being made to once again “whitewash history.”

The Revolutionary War split the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, Hill said, “to the point where we are shedding each other's blood, despite what the Peacemaker said. We got over it.

“It's a story of betrayal, of divided loyalties, but how our culture and our law ultimately got us through it all because we're still here today,” he said.

Cherokee Consultants

Jen Lauren, senior director at Cherokee Film from the Cherokee Nation in Tulsa, Oklahoma, served as a consultant on the documentary.

The Cherokee Nation was forced from their homelands in the southeastern United States, the Carolinas and Georgia in the 1700s under the Indian Removal Act. It is the largest tribe in the United States, with more than 460,000 citizens.

Lauren said Indigenous advisors were brought in early, and Burns' production didn't just mix in all the Native Americans. WITHHe said American Revolution depicts indigenous leaders and diplomats of sovereign indigenous peoples such as the French, British and Americans.

She said she hopes people will pay attention to Burns' approach to storytelling.

“I feel like it's great to be included, but from my perspective, Native American inclusion in film and media in general, we have a long way to go,” Lauren said.