History of Native Nations in North America

e [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] h [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] it [Music] hello I'm Kevin Cosner welcome to 500 Nations the settling of this country has always been of interest to me it's fired my imagination and shaped my life both personally and professionally but my knowledge of History has been limited by what I was taught as far as I was concerned the history of the continent started 500 years ago when Columbus discovered the new world but we know that's not true there were people here so how is it we know so little about this past the human history of North America our own story could it be that we don't think it worthy of mention the way history has remembered the ancient civilizations of Greece Rome Egypt or China the truth is we have a story worth talking about we have a history were celebrating long before the first Europeans arrived here there were some 500 Nations already in North America they blanketed the continent from coast to coast from Central America to the Arctic there were tens of millions of people here speaking over 300 languages many of them lived in beautiful cities among the largest and most advanced in the world in the coming hours 500 Nations looks back on these ancient cultures how they lived and how many survived we turn for guidance to hundreds of Indian people across the continent you'll meet many of them in our programs to bring the past alive we searched archives for the oldest and most authentic images of Indian people we sought out rare books and manuscripts for the actual words of participants and eyewitnesses to history our camera Crews traveled throughout North America to film at the actual places where important events in Indian history occurred we filmed incredible Treasures of Indian creativity from museums across North America and Europe historians and archaeologists work with visual artists and advanced computer technology to allow us for the first time to walk through virtual realities of ancient Indian worlds what you're about to see is what happened it's not all that happened and it's not always Pleasant we can't change that we can't turn back the clock but we can open our eyes and give the first nations of this land the recognition and respect they deserve their rightful place in the history of the world with that in mind we take you first to where our story ends on the Great Plains in the late 1800s [Music] [Applause] [Music] the rumor got about the school the dead are to return the Buffalo are to return the Lakota people will get back their own way of life that part about the Dead returning was what appealed to me to think I should see my dear Mother grandmother brothers and sisters again but boy like I soon forgot about it until one night when I was rudely awakened in the dormatory get up put your clothes on and slip downstairs we are running away a boy was hissing into my ear soon 50 of us little boys about 8 to 10 started out across country over Hills and Valleys running all night I know now that we ran almost 30 mil there on the Porcupine Creek thousands of Lota people were in Camp by the late 1880s a message of Hope spread across the Great Plains it was called The Ghost Dance a dance to restore the past when Indian nations were [Music] [Applause] [Music] free they danced without rest on and on but occasionally someone thoroughly exhausted and dizzy fell unconscious into the center and lay there [Music] dead the Visions ended the same way like a chorus describing a great encampment of all the lotas who had ever died where there was no sorrow but only joy where relatives thronged out with happy laughter the people went on and on and could not stop and so I suppose the authorities did think they were crazy but they weren't they were only terribly unhappy driven off their lands Indian nations were confined to desolate reservations dependent on corrupt government agencies for food and supplies the people were desperate from starvation we felt that we were mocked in our misery we held our dying children and felt Their little bodies tremble as their souls went out and left only a dead weight in our hands Red Cloud oala the Ghost Dance Hurt No One But as it spread white settlers panicked the United States government outlawed the dance the white men were frightened and called for soldiers we had begged for life and the white man thought we wanted theirs on a mild day just after Christmas of 1890 a band of Haku Su under their leader Bigfoot left the Cheyenne River agency in South Dakota heading for a meeting at Pine Ridge with ogala leader redcloud traveling with Bigfoot were 106 men and 252 women and children among them was a boy Dewey beard who would later tell his children and grandchildren about that day Grandpa Dewey beard being the last survivor I would listen to what he had to say in a way it was sad and yet it's um beautiful because it's bringing back history one thing that he would say is that had the soldiers had the government left them alone in time they would have uh looked outside and seen how things were changing and the change would come about from within the bands Bigfoot's band was intercepted by the seventh Cavalry the officer in charge found Bigfoot wrapped in heavy blankets dying from pneumonia in the back of a wagon Bigfoot was ordered to make Camp along Wounded Knee Creek in the morning his people would be stripped of their weapons and escorted to Pine Ridge Bigfoot made assurances of his peaceful intentions and the band made Camp he's a peaceful man he's he's always say that uh think about the elderly think about the children and a woman and uh don't start the trouble morning broke after a sleepless night night surrounded by soldiers hakou Witnesses would later recall what happened next Bigfoot who was sick came up with a flag of truce tied to a stick Dewey beard as soldiers trained their guns on them Bigfoot and his men brought forth all their weapons placing them near the white flag of truce Bigfoot had planted in front of his lodge the soldiers then searched their tents and wagons for arm arms even confiscating cooking and sewing [Music] tools as Bigfoot's people gathered around the flag of truce outside his tent four powerful Hotchkiss rapid repeating guns were mounted above the camp I noticed that they were erecting cannons up here also hauling up quite a lot of ammunition for it they encircled us like a band of sheep I could see that there was commotion amongst the soldiers and I saw on looking back they had their guns in position ready to fire Thomas tibbles a white reporter who followed the troops to wounded KNE recorded what happened next suddenly I heard a single shot from the direction of the troops then three or or four a few more and immediately a boled at once came a general rattle of rifle firing then the hotkis guns and awful noise was heard and I was paralyzed for a time then my head cleared and and I saw nearly all the people on the ground bleeding my father my mother my grandmother my older brother and my younger brother were all killed a biges on her and he saw his mother walking toward him she was walking along and she was shot Dy she said keep walking my son she said keep going she said I'm going to die and that was the last time he saw his mother the women as they were fleeing with their babies were killed together shot right through and after most of them had been killed a cry was made that all those not killed or wounded should come forth and they would be safe little boys came out of their places of refuge and as soon as they came in sight a number of soldiers surrounded them and butchered them there American Horse oh the firing continued for an hour or two wherever a soldier saw a sign of life with the sunset the weather turned intensely cold about 7:00 that night the seventh Cavalry brought in the long train of dead and when wounded soldiers and Indians from Wounded Knee 49 wounded Sue women and children had been piled into a few old wagons the wounded Indian women and children were eventually carried into an agency Church where they lay in silence on the floor beneath a Pulpit decorated with a Christmas Banner reading peace on Earth Good Will to men nothing I have seen in my whole life ever affected or depressed or haunted me like the scenes I saw that night in that church one unwounded old woman held a baby on her lap I handed a cup of water to the old woman telling her give it to the child who grabbed it as if parched with thirst as she swallowed it hurriedly I saw it gush right out again a Blood Stained stream through a hole in her neck heart sick I went to find the surgeon for a moment he stood there near the door looking over the mass of suffering and dying women and children how the silence the silence they kept was so complete it was oppressive and then to my amazement I saw that the surgeon who I knew had served in the Civil War attending the wounded from Wilderness to amatics he began to grow pale this is the first time I've seen seen a lot of women and children shot to Pieces he said and I can't stand it Thomas tibbles reporter for 3 Days the frozen bodies of the dead including Bigfoot lay where they fell at Wounded Knee finally the Army dug a large trench at the massacre site then as they collected the bodies a blanket was seen moving beneath it snuggled against her dead mother was a baby [Music] [Music] girl the offici military history is called Wounded Knee the last battle in the Indian Wars but the tenacious struggle for Indian survival as symbolized by a child clinging to life for three days on a frozen field continues to this day 500 Nations will follow a path that covers thousands of years and will bring us full circle to 1890 in this hour we will travel back in time to three stunning civilizations that flourish long before the arrival of Europeans to the Anasazi of the Southwest the mound builders of the Mississippi and the Great Pyramid Builders of the Maya but when we return we'll go back even farther to Creation as seen Through The Eyes of Indian people [Music] [Music] when Earth was still young and Giants still roam the earth a great sickness Came Upon them all of them died except for a small boy one day while he was playing D A snake bit him the boy cried and cried the blood came out and finally he died with his tears our Lakes became with his blood the red clay became with his body our mountains became and that was how Earth became T poblo Pleasant it looked the newly created World along the entire length and breadth of the earth our grandmother extended the green reflection of her covering and the escaping odors were pleasant to inhale when aago God created the Indian country and that was the time this River started to run then God created Fish In this River and put deer in the mountains then the Creator gave Indians life we walked and as soon as we saw the game and fish we knew they were made for us my strength my blood is from the fish from the roots and berries and game I did not come here I was put here by the Creator manic yak in the Old Testament Adam and Eve were forced from the garden of creation and expelled to a cruel world for most North American Indian nations it was and is very different they stayed in the garden the place of their creation the single place on Earth most perfect for them the crow country is a good country the creator has put it exactly in the right place while you are in it you fare well whenever you go out of it whichever way you travel you fare worse the crow country is exactly in the right place Alish Crow there is a song in everything mes Tim Shen make my eyes ever behold the red and purple sunsets make me wise so that I may know the things you have taught my people the lessons you have hidden in every leaf and rock make May ever ready to come to you with Clean Hands and straight eye so that when life Fades as the fading Sunset my spirit may come to you without shame Tom White Cloud o jibway [Music] [Music] to The Outsider the sun-beaten deserts of the American southwest are a harsh and unforgiving land reluctant to support life to the ancient people who lived there it was a place where the Creator provided everything there is nothing there that you can see even to this day very little veget ation see a lot of rocks see a lot of sand the hes have always maintain that that's a chosen place for him it was chosen for them by the prator the great spirit for the hoies the ancient people of the desert were the ancestors of all the modern peblo Nations to their hopy descendants they are known as the hinam but to most of the world they are known by the Navajo name Anasazi around 9 00 ad the Anasazi flourished in a Wide Circle covering parts of modern-day Utah Colorado Arizona and New Mexico the Anasazi found balance with their world they learned where to find water and how to harness it Villages joined together to build dams reservoirs and irrigation canals turning deserts into Gardens of corn and squash they were a people intimately connected to their land in a very real sense they emerged from it Generations before the time of Christ the Anasazi lived in subterranean pit houses sunken homes with stonor walls and Broad strong roofs formidable protection against the Searing sun and bitter cold of the desert with time they adapted their above ground storage houses into Living Spaces but the underground pit houses were not abandoned they were retained as spiritual places of teaching the place of origin the Kea 100 years before the first Gothic Cathedrals were built in Europe the master Architects and stone masons of the Anasazi were building great kvas that could hold 500 people around 900 ad the Anasazi leadership embarked upon a bold and Visionary plan create a mecca for pilgrimages and a focal point for trade at the very center of their land they chose the barren treeless chako Canyon 100 m Northwest of present day Albuquerque New Mexico it was a Monumental undertaking they built 400 miles of distinctive graded roads and Broad Avenues all leading to the canyon at distant points signal stations were constructed where fires blazed to communicate across the vastness of the desert and to guide Travelers at night over 50,000 trees were cut down in the surrounding mountains to build the towns of chako Canyon along with Traders and pilgrims the roads carried resources to maintain dozens of communities none compared with the largest single complex the Anasazi ever built peblo Bonito The Wonder of the canyon at its peak Pao Bono's 800 rooms may have housed over a thousand residents some sections overlooking the main plaza loomed five stories above the canyon floor the Plaza pulsated with life women gathered the colored corn blanketing the rooftops and knelt in rows to grind it children played men returning from the fields gathered to [Music] talk 37 sacred keas scattered throughout the complex speak to peblo Bono's Rich ceremonial life during ceremonies the feet of dancers pounded the ground smooth as Spectators huddled against buildings and thronged the roofs to watch but chako Canyon was more than a spiritual Mecca it was also a center of trade and commerce and trade in one stone more valuable to chako's Mexican trading partners than gold or Jade was the engine of the Canyon's economic growth turquoise here RW Stone arrived from distant mines for the Craftsmen of peblo Bonito to cut and shape into small tiles and Beads which were then traded South to Merchant centers in the heart of Mexico there they were transformed into extraordinary Creations for 150 years trade fueled the chako economy but the wealth and power of the canyon was fleeting chako's major turquoise consumer Tolan in central Mexico fell to civil Strife extended drought or hostilities Also may have contributed to the downfall of chako [Music] Canyon by 11:5 it was in Decline the great turquoise Road over the Mexican High Sierra abandoned but the Anasazi world still flourished the people of chako Canyon simply moved to other locations many went North to Mesa which at that time was reaching its cultural and Architectural height there under the shelter of the pine studded mes of Southern Colorado The Architects of chako Canyon would help create some of the most stunning buildings of all time the largest of these is known as Cliff Palace though it is a palace in name only these beautiful stone buildings of the Anasazi were home to Common families it was a society based on equality men rotated service on Public Works women plastered houses the man who farmed also so carved spiritual leaders tilled the [Music] fields each time when I see and visit any ancient dwelling I feel close because these are my ancestors my forefathers for Centuries with little meditation looking at their dwellings within few minutes half hour I get refresh the people of Mesa Verde and many other Anasazi towns relocated around 1300 the period of the ancestors came to an end and the modern-day peblo world took [Music] shape Traditions that live today in the American southwest the way of life the architecture the religion are the Resonance of a heritage reaching back thousands of years [Music] [Music] [Music] the COA wanted to send a prayer to the son so he called on his friend the bear and the bear came and he said oh I'm very honored to be asked to do this but I can I can only take it to the top of the highest tree but I know someone who can so let's call Eagle and so Eagle was called and Eagle said yes I can try and so eagle flew and flew and flew up up up and got to the son and delivered the prayer and the son was so taken with this said give me one of your feathers and so the eagle plucked out a Tail Feather and gave it to the Son and the son kissed that feather which is why you know eagle feathers are black on the end and it's it's because the son sends them there said take this back and forever this will be my recognition of my special [Music] people along the Mississippi River 6 miles from present day St Louis Missouri there stood a city that once dominated the heart of the continent at its Center was a powerful leader a great number of years ago there appeared Among Us a man who came down from the Sun this man told us that he had seen from on high that we did not govern ourselves well that we had no master that each of us had presumption enough to think himself capable of governing others while he could not even conduct [Music] himself a thousand years ago the great son a leader who was both King and Pope lived at top a man-made Royal Mountain 10 stories high its 16 acre base larger than any Pyramid in Egypt he told us that in order to live in peace among ourselves we must observe the following points we must never kill anyone but in defense of our own lives we must never know any woman besides our own we must never take any things that belong to another we must never lie nor get drunk we must not be avaricious we must give generously and with joy and share our subsistence with those who are in need of it from the heights of his Royal Estate the great Sun mediated between the Creator and the people between the Sun and the Earth this is Cahokia City of the Sun the great Sun ruled the thriving center of a vast Mississippian culture outside the walled City communities of farmers hunters and fishermen stretched for Miles surrounded by fields of corn with 20,000 residents no city in the United States would surpass cahokia's historic size before 1800 only then would Philadelphia's population eclipse the ancient Center these people lived in uh do and wle houses on top the the principal people did the priest and the royalty they lived in in very substantial houses not tepees not TPS TPS Western Plains people down here they lived in houses they were sedentary they were farmers they used the rivers and the bars and the streams as not only for Commerce but for sustenance as well with the Mississippi and other major rivers as its highways kokia was linked by trade to a third of the continent copper arrived from the Great Lakes obsidian from Yellowstone Micah and Crystal from the Appalachians gold and silver from Canada shell from the Gulf of mexic [Music] look at these old live oak trees that have seen so much pass by them magnificently dressed Indian people coming down that b in a Dugout uh greeting people standing right here on this Bank of having a good time because they did you know Indian people have always known how to have a good time and there would be a feast prepared and the women would put the corn together they'd make soft um they would roast a deer the people would bring gifts you never go to an Indian's house without bringing something that's as old as a [Music] sunrise kokia was the Pinnacle of a mound building cult culture with Traditions dating Back to Before 1,000 BC thousands of Mounds still dot the landscape from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico an average funeral mound in the Ohio Valley was three stories tall construction could represent 200,000 man hours of Labor or a 100 men carrying the baskets of Earth for a year but few few Mounds compare with a religious Effigy located 50 Mi east of Cincinnati Ohio the Great Serpent Mound the enormous snake stretches over 400 yard in length while their Earthworks are the mound Builder's most visible Legacy their smaller Creations are their most beautiful [Music] only glimpses remain of the people who changed the course of life on the Northern continent most of their material world wooden buildings boats baskets woven textiles leather Footwear and clothes have long since turned to dust an old cattle relative of mine that I used to go outside and and hold my hands up and and bless myself with the son a Hut uh I can't do that anymore because they say we Sun worshippers we didn't worship the sun we worship what was behind it the power behind it [Music] in the 19th century 2,000 M south of Cahokia a group of European explorers carve their way into the jungles of southern Mexico there buried for centuries and surrounded by Massive pyramids They Came Upon a royal palace resplendant with grand rooms courts and a tower the Europeans recognized that by their own standards the site was a legacy of greatness standing in the middle of the largest Indian nation in North America the Maya descendants of the pyramid Builders the EXP explorers could not imagine that the Towering architecture was the work of Indian people instead they speculated wildly about the Lost Civilization that could have built so Grand an existence refugees from the sunken continent of Atlantis a lost tribe of Israel seafarers from the Orient even beings from another planet they considered everything but the obvious [Music] in 1949 a Mexican archaeologist came to the same magnificent ruins now known as [Music] pen he climbed the steps to the top of the largest pyramid the Temple of the inscription there he noticed Holes in the Floor below the capstones he removed the slabs and discovered a rubble-filled passageway descending deep into the pyramid's heart after 3 years of excavation the passage was cleared at the bottom was a tomb that had been buried for over 12200 years it would unlock the history of pelen and help to reveal the past of the Mayan people a past they left for the future to to read for centuries Mayan glyphs were considered complex picture stories like Egyptian hieroglyphics only in the 1980s did archaeologists finally recognize that it was true writing they were not looking at pictures to be interpreted but symbols for sounds to be read it was the Maya language instantly a door was opened on the past beneath the 5 ton sarcophagus cover at pelen lay Paka shield in the Maya language he was born in 603 ad his head was bound at Birth to enlarge his forehead a fashion that marked him as a member of the royal Elite he wore a cosmetic bridge on his nose and decorated his hair with water lies pakal Rose to power at the age of 12 he would build a holy city and rule for nearly 70 years leading pelen during a time of greatness and growth in the Mayan [Music] world as the Maya expanded over 60 Capital Cities emerged their growth fueled by a successful Agricultural Society [Music] [Music] the roots of Mayan agriculture reached back thousands of years and stretched across Mexico and into Central America now friends and brothers listen to these words of dreaming spring rains give us life and bring forth the golden corn silk by the time of Christ there were millions of people in the region with agriculture allowing populations to settle and [Music] expand art mathematics astronomy architecture priesthoods and royalty all flourished [Music] [Music] by the mid 700s at pelen alone the sons of pakal ruled over 200,000 Maya living in Regional communities of farmers Weavers stonemasons and feather [Music] workers but the Golden Age of building and growth would be transformed by a new era of war and Destruction for reasons still locked in the past the Mayan World turned against itself Farmers became [Applause] Soldiers by 800 ad an era had ended most of the capitals that had been among the living wonders of human creativity including pelen were deserted and reclaimed by the jungle south of here there's a desert it's a forbidding barrier stretching hundreds of miles on the other side of that desert is Mexico over thousands of years skilled Travelers managed to cross this barrier but widespread contact was impossible ible and so each side developed in their own unique way in Mexico millions of Indian people 80% of the continent's population created art and architecture that was unparalleled in its sheer size and physical ambition they developed writing and astronomy their wars were waged between massive armies even by contemporary standards in this hour we follow an epic story told through the actual words of those who took part in it along with eyewitness illustrations of events that occurred almost 500 years ago we take you to the present day sight of Mexico City to the heart of the most powerful military Empire in the continent's history the Aztec [Music] [Applause] [Music] extended lies the city lies meico spreading Circles of emerald light radiating Splendor like a ketsa plume oh author of Life your house is here here your song is heard on Earth it spreads among the people behold Mexico by the Aztec calendar it was the year one Reed and Moma emperor of the Aztec was the most powerful man in the Americas by many standards the most powerful man in the world from his Capital at tenot Tian Motu zoma ruled over 10 million subjects for almost 90 years his people had built an Empire with their armies and become rich from the tribute of defeated States but Motu zoma was troubled prophetic nightmares Disturbed his sleep and he had been reading ominous signs [Music] a huge tongue of fire burning in the night sky to the east a major Temple mysteriously destroyed by [Music] fire a comet blazing across the daytime Sky signs and dreams were vital to the Aztec they guided decisions of State thought as naal do in our Villages today that when important things happen you will dream of it they too saw things perhaps in the night sky a shooting star Motu zoma and others at the time would have thought I have seen it Motu zoma could feel disaster approaching but he did not know what threatened his Empire he did know that Nations lived in Cycles like all things in nature growth and fullness were followed by [Music] Fall the cycles of Nations had been played out many times in the valley of Mexico ruins of ancient cult cultures were scattered across the region Motu zoma had only to look 20 mi to the east to the ruins of a long abandoned city so Magnificent the Aztec called it the home of the Gods in the cycle of Nations even the home of the Gods had fallen [Music] 900 years before Moma workers had come from throughout Mexico to build teot hakan the city among the grandest in the world was a Monumental work of [Music] art its largest building the pyramid of the Sun had a base the size of the biggest Pyramid in Egypt teote hakan's military might controlled Central Mexico for centuries when I first saw this place teot wakan and the pyramids I thought this is truly beautiful that which our grandfathers our fathers before have done and I thought when I looked at it again it is like having your father that died or your brother that died and meeting them again here you remember them and you see their greatness when you contemplate what they left behind with all its power toote hakan was still trapped in the cycle of nations in one of History's great Unsolved Mysteries the city was systematically burned and abandoned at its height [Music] with the dissolving of the Empire Central Mexico turned to chaos with small rival kingdoms locked in a struggle for power and [Applause] survival Elite Warriors fought for Kings on the field of Honor like knights in medieval Europe it was a world of royal bloodlines betrayed and [Music] revenge in central Mexico the small kingdoms would struggle for 200 years before the cycle would turn again and they would begin to unify under the leadership of the toltech people from the city state of Tolan over 500 years before the rise of the Aztec the toltech redefined leadership in central Mexico enforcing power not through military Ary might but through the moral force of their teachings they coordinated trade between states and arbitrated disputes all within the framework of their religion their Capital functioned like Wall Street the Vatican and the Supreme Court combined it was also here in toan that a priest who held the name of the god kitel KOAT The Feathered serpent would be exiled eventually sailing into the Gulf of Mexico vowing to return in another time as a savior for the [Music] people after less than two centuries Tolan like toot wakan before it was violently destroyed but while the city burned the sophisticated toltech leadership escaped many of the elite families moving to the valley of Mexico for 15 years in the shadows of the ruins of teot hakan the toltech established control over the city states of the valley their influence was so great that their bloodlines became the Benchmark of nobility throughout the region during the same time a nomadic tribe far to the West was in the midst of an epic search for a Homeland they were the mishika moma's ancestors [Music] Behold a new son is risen a new God is born new laws are written and new men are made around 1300 after nearly two centuries of wandering the mesika people came to the valley of Mexico a valley long dominated by the toltech [Music] the mishika with no toltech blood were seen by the refined city states as violent barbarians a threat to the stability of the [Applause] valley the local States attacked The Nomad Nation killing many and driving the survivors to a rocky area covered with Cactus and infested with [Music] snakes the Exile was meant to destroy them them but the mesika were used to adversity they flourished soon the resilience and skills and warfare impressed their sophisticated neighbors they began to sell their services as mercenaries and within a generation the mishika were accepted as part of the social and political fabric of the Lush Mountain Valley in 1325 they asked the neighboring Lord of Co wakan to send his daughter to become the wife of a mishika ruler flattered and seeing the opportunity for Unity the Lord of kakan complied days later when he and the other Lords of the valley went to the mesika town to honor the new princess instead of seeing his young child emerge a priest appeared dressed in her skin horrified the Lord of kakan called for Revenge here come here my vassals from kakan come Avenge the Hideous crime committed by these mesika let them die destroy them such depraved men of Evil My vassals we shall finish them off and leave leave no trace or memory of them K hakan and its allies attacked the mesika driving those they did not kill into a lake in the center of the valley almost annihilated the Mika again proved resilient as they gathered on a swampy island in the lake they saw an eagle perch on a cactus the prophetic sign they were told they would see when they reached the end of their long search for a Homeland the place that would be called [Music] Tenochtitlan now we have found the land promised to us we have found peace for the weary Mexican people now we want for nothing be comforted children brothers and sisters because we have obtained the promise of our [Music] God for 100 years the people of Tenochtitlan built up the island through great sacrifice they reclaimed Land from the swampy Lake and erected stone temples and public buildings causeways of Hune Stone were constructed to the north south and west an aqueduct was built to bring in fresh water from a Mainland spring 3 Mi away canals were dug throughout the island to transport goods and people they gained trade wealth and again hired themselves out as mercenary soldiers for the powerful city states of the valley marriages were arranged that finally brought them honored toltech bloodlines tenlan was a city on the rise the cycle of power was turning toward the mishika and when War again broke out in the valley the mishika and their allies prevailed in Victory they called themselves the Aztec after the mishika place of origin Aslan land of the herand [Music] from this point Aztec prophecy foretold a glorious future the might of our powerful arms in the spirit of our hearts shall be felt with them We Will Conquer All Nations near and far rule over all Villages and cities from sea to Sea become Lords of gold and silver jewels and precious stones feathers and tributes and we shall become Lords over them and their lands and over their sons and their daughters who will serve us as our subjects for over 80 years the Aztec launched far-reaching campaigns of Conquest expanding their domain from Gulf to Pacific they fought epic battles with city states throughout the region most were conquered and turned into tributaries forced to supply slave laborers for Aztec Public Works and pay high taxes and goods Aztec scribes recorded the taxes of many states bolts of fine cloth discs of hammered gold exotic plants and Feathers precious stones feathered military uniforms built on the backs of the tributary States the island capital of the Aztec grew into one of the wonders of the world when I first opened my eyes in this world I was born of this Heritage I have seen the beautiful festivals we have in our Villages our dances and it would have been like that there they had many festivals in this place with many beautiful dancers wearing many brilliant colors I think it was even more beautiful then much more beautiful when our grandfathers lived there and followed their [Music] ways the two-story houses of the elite were adorned with beautiful gardens Royal aviaries housed thousands of rare birds and storehouses swelled with the wealth of Empire the city was cleaned daily by thousands of sweepers its refuges collected and shipped away on barges the Central Markets thronged with professional Traders whose travels took them to far distant locations men who spoke many languages and often carried with them News of the World [Music] [Music] the center of Teno titlan was dominated by the Great temple its twin pyramids representing deities who embodied the conflict at the heart of Aztec society the eternal struggle between life and death fertility and War their private rituals which on special occasions included the sacrifice of human prisoners Incorporated this Duality life required death to exist and death required life Tolan became a city of hundreds of thousands a bustling Metropolis ruled by the Aztec Emperor from the grand Imperial Palace but in the year one read the Christian year 1519 matua could feel a shadow across his Empire and he could not forget that the prophecy of astech greatness had a dark side a prophecy L held in their oral tradition I shall make war against all provinces and cities towns and settlements and make all of them my subjects my servants but just as I will subjugate them so too will they be snatched from me and turned against Me by strangers who will drive me out of this land [Applause] [Music] ever since their years as a Wandering tribe the Aztec believed their Destiny was to rule the world now at the height of Empire Moma listened to his dreams and saw the signs they fortold disaster then word came of strange happenings in the East boats and Men landing on the Mexican Coast men unlike any they had encountered before their bodies sheathed in metal matua sent Scouts to the coast to find out more about the new arrivals they were very white their eyes were like chalk their hair on some it was yellow and on some it was black they wore long beards they were yellow too The Strangers had landed on the Gulf Coast that was also disturbing information centuries earlier the banished priest from The Cult of The Feathered Serpent katel KOAT had left Mexico from the same Coast promising one day to return another prophecy that threatened Moma if he comes in the year one read he strikes at Kings it was now the Aztec year one read whether Moma believed the prophecy or not was of little importance he knew that many subjugated people throughout the Empire embraced the story of The Feathered Serpent and awaited his return for it was in their hearts that he would come that he would come to land to reclaim his kingdom whoever these Invaders were whether they represented kitel KOAT or a foreign power Moma could feel the threat to his Empire and his fears were Justified Spanish conquistador Hernando Cortez had landed in Mexico it was said that first he dreamt that K Kat would return after that when he saw heran Cortez and the others he thought he has come ketal Kat has come only he was wrong another had come someone with evil intentions because Cortez did not come with religious Faith or to do good things he came to commit terrible crimes against the mishika as a diplomat atic gesture Moma sent emissaries carrying the costume of Kel KOAT which they presented to Cortez aboard his ship Cortez responded with a display of force he ordered the Aztec delegation Shackled and forced to watch as his men fired a Lombard cannon in a thunderous hail of fire and smoke blowing apart a tree on Shore the astonished emissaries were released and they raced back to tenoch Tian Motu received the news with alarm Spanish weapons and armor were formidable and it would be only a matter of time before tributary States chafing under the Yoke of Aztec oppression would join the Conquistador they would lead him to the wealth that lay at the center of the Empire to the one thing Spanish conquistadors craved above all else we Spanish suffer from a disease of the heart which only gold can cure Cortez ordered his 450 man army Inland when some of his men resisted he sank his ships there would be no turning back the Army moved relent LLY toward the valley of Mexico as Moma had anticipated Cortez formed alliances along the way with rebellious city states one tributary leader spoke for the fears of many Moma and the mishika have given us much pain they have imposed a tribute upon us they have become our rulers if the Spaniards should abandon us in haste if they should go so perverse are the mishika that they will kill us while many nations lived in fear of the Aztec one city state less than 50 Mi east of Teno titlan had never fallen to the Empire tashala there Cortez forged his key Alliance 6,000 plash calan troops joined the Spaniards as reports reached the Aztec capital some of moma's advisers argued for a decisive military campaign but motua held his armies in check unwilling to leave the capital unprotected or risk setting off a general Rebellion stalling for time he sent emissaries to protest Cortez's advance and even had a wall of trees planted across the road to to disguise the route to Teno Tian paralyzed with doubt the emperor was fast becoming only a player in a prophecy being fulfilled and he must have thought these men why have they come what do they want maybe we can attack and kill some of them but not all of them for that reason some did not want to fight they had seen that if they shot arrows at them they did not fall they made a clanging sound as they bounced off their armor even if they fired at the horses they did not die because the horses had armor Cortez and the Tashan Army turned first to a citystate that remained loyal to the Aztec Emperor Cholula eyewitness accounts were recorded and there arose from the Spaniards a cry summoning all the noblemen Lords War leaders Warriors and common folk and when they had crowded into the temple Courtyard then the Spaniards and their allies blocked the entrances and every exit there followed a Butchery of stabbing beating killing of the unsuspecting challans armed with no bows and arrows protected by no Shields with no warning they were treacherously deceitfully slain 6,000 chulan citizens lay dead in in the streets Teno titlan received the news of the massacre in shock and aztech eyewitness later [Music] recalled the city Rose in tumult alarmed as if by an earthquake as if there were a constant reeling of the face of the Earth moma's worst nightmare was about to reveal itself do the former rulers know what is happening in their absence oh that any of them might see might wonder at what has befallen me at what I am seeing now that they have gone for I cannot be dreaming [Music] proudly stands the city of Mexico denan here no one fears to die in war keep this in mind o princes who could attack Tolan who could shake the foundations of Heaven on November 8th 1519 in the Aztec year one read Hernando Cortez arrived at the gates to the Imperial City of the aztech Empire ten Tian and Aztec eyewitness later recall called Mexico lay stunned silent none went out of doors mothers kept their children in the roads were deserted as if it were early morning motua walked out onto the grand Causeway coming face to face with Cortez the Emperor offered his Hospitality leading the Spaniards through the city gates to his Imperial Palace the people of tenot Tian watched and their words were remembered the iron of their lances glistened from afar the Shimmer of their swords was as of a sinuous water course their iron breast and back pieces their helmets clanked some came completely encased in Iron as if turned to iron and ahead of them ran their dogs panting with foam continually dripping from their muzzles the Spanish soldiers were themselves struck with awe we were astounded The Majestic towers and houses all of massive Stone and rising out of the waters were like Enchanted castles we had read of in books indeed some of our men even asked if what we saw was not a dream even Cortez was amazed considering that these people are barbarous lacking the knowledge of God and cut off from all civilized Nations it is truly remarkable to see what they have achieved once they reached the palace moma's diplomatic plans were shattered Cortez turned on his host seizing the emperor hostage what now my Warriors we have come to the end we have taken our medicine is there anywhere a mountain we can run away to and climb Moma was forced to lead Cortez to the treasury Mosa's own property was them brought out precious things like necklaces with pendants armbands tufted with kettel feathers golden armbands bracelets golden anklets with shells turquoise diadems turquoise nose rods no end of treasure they took all seized everything for themselves as if it were theirs Cortez wrote To the King of Spain your highness there is so much to describe that I do not know how to begin even to recount some part of it motua has all the things to be found under the heavens fashioned in gold and silver the Spaniards melted the beautifully crafted gold into blocks for 5 months holding Moma prisoner in his own Palace they lived in splendor and pillar the city from within they thought this isn't K this isn't a god they said look at them how they eat just as we do look at them they go about just as we when they saw him they knew he wasn't really Kat they said among themselves to their people look Brothers this isn't a God our God do good things and this one he wants to destroy us among the Aztec people a resistance began to organize under the direction of moma's brother quit laak in an effort to [ __ ] the movement the Spaniards attacked a large unarmed religious gathering in April of [Applause] 1520 one man who saved his life by playing dead later recounted the scene they charged the crowd with their iron lances and hacked us with their iron swords they slashed the backs of some they hacked at the shoulders of others splitting their bodies open the blood of the Young Warriors ran like water it gathered in pools and the Spaniards began to hunt them out of the administrative buildings dragging and killing any when they could find even starting to take those buildings to Pieces as they [Music] searched the Aztec counterattacked forcing The Conquistadors to retreat Behind the Walls of the great palace the Spaniards then brought Moma out in chains before his people to order them to stop fighting but the emperor could not bring himself to speak he stood by while another hostage delivered his message Mexicans men of tlan your ruler the Lord of men mooma implores you he says listen Mexicans we are not equal to the Spaniards abandon the battle Ste your arrows hold back your Shields otherwise evil will be the fate of the miserable old men and women of the people of Babes in Arms of the toddlers of the infants crawling on the ground or still in the Cradle but the Aztec were not a people to be subjugated they reformed their government and elected mom's brother quit laak as the 10th Emperor under his Direction the Aztec continued the siege of the palace after 30 days Wu zoma was killed the Aztec accused the Spaniards of strangling him and hurling his body from the top of the palace the Spaniards claimed he was stoned to death by his own people one of the most powerful men on Earth had fallen trapped in a play of Destiny prophecy had become [Music] reality days later the Spaniards trapped in the palace without food or water attempted to escape under cover of Darkness Aztec Witnesses recounted the events that night at midnight the enemy came out crowded together the Spaniards in the lead Clin following screened by a fine drizzle a fine sprinkle of rain they were able undetected to cross the canals just as they were crossing the canal a woman drawing water saw them mikas come all of you they are already leaving they are already secretly getting out then a watcher at the top of a temple also shouted and his cries pervaded the entire cities brave warriors mikas your enemy already leaves hurry with the shield bools in along the road as the Spaniards moved out onto one of the main causeways over the lake canoe after canoe full of aztech soldiers under quid laak's Direction showered them with Spears and arrows many Spaniards weighted down with gold stolen from the palace fell into the water and drowned carried to the Bottom by the weight the canal was filled crammed with them those who came along behind walked on corpses it was as if a mountain of men had been laid down they had pressed against one another smothered one another 3/4s of the Spanish Army never reached the outskirts of Teno Tian Cortez and the rest of the survivors escaped into the countryside for a moment the great city was free and when the Spaniards thus disappeared we thought they had gone for good never more to return once again the temples could be swept out the dirt removed they could be adorned ornamented but the fleeing Spaniards left behind another enemy an Aztec Survivor remember at about the time that the Spaniards had fled from the city there came a great sickness a pestilence the smallpox it spread over the people with great destruction of men it caused Great Misery the brave mishika warriors were indeed weakened by it even the new emperor di of the disease it was after all this had happened that the Spaniards came back Cortez and his men had healed their wounds and rebuilt their army new alliances were made the Spaniards and 75,000 Clash Calen and Allied Indian soldiers set Siege to tenot Tian the entire population Rose to defend their City Aztec Witnesses would remember the struggle fighting continued both sides took captives on both sides there were deaths great became the suffering of the common folk there was Hunger many died of famine there was no more good pure water to drink many died of it the people ate anything lizards barn swallows corn leaves Salt Grass never had such suffering been seen the enemy pressed about us like a wall they hurted us the brave warriors were still hopelessly resisting after 2 and A2 long months the Spaniards with their overwhelming numbers brought Teno land to its knees finally the battle just quietly ended silence rained nothing happened all was quiet and nothing more took place night fell and the next day nothing happened either no one spoke aloud the people were crushed great was the stench of the Dead your grandfathers died and with them died the son of the king and his brothers and Kingsmen so it was that we became orphans oh my sons so we became When We Were Young all of us were the us we were born to die tenot TI Lan was leveled the Magnificent Gardens the Marvel of their world were destroyed the rivers and canals that so amazed the Spaniards were filled in then Cortez Set Fire to the aviaries thousands of birds Vermillion fly catchers iridescent hummingbirds Scarlet tanagers green and blue MAA the beauty that was Mexico was turned to ashes some say the Mika came to an end it's gone finished we're still here we the people who ignorant Outsiders insult by calling us Indians we are here this culture is not finished off the culture is gone as an Empire as a social political religious structure but what remains is what the people have we weren't finished [Music] off proud loudly stands the city of Mexico denan here no one fears to die in war keep this in mind o princes who could attack denan who could shake the foundations of Heaven [Music] our next program will begin far to the east of Mexico on a Caribbean Island where a meeting between Spanish and Indian people appeared at first glance to be merely an encounter between two potential trading partners but that first encounter between Christopher Columbus and the tyo people in 149 92 was in reality a world shattering event please join us for 500 Nations a clash of cultures [Music] h [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] f [Music] h [Music] h h [Music]

e [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] h [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] it [Music] hello I'm Kevin Cosner welcome to 500 Nations the settling of this country has always been of interest to me it's fired my imagination and shaped my life both personally and professionally but my knowledge of History has been limited by what I was taught as far as I was concerned the history of the continent started 500 years ago when Columbus discovered the new world but we know that's not true there were people here so how is it we know so little about this past the human history of North America our own story could it be that we don't think it worthy of mention the way history has remembered the ancient civilizations of Greece Rome Egypt or China the truth is we have a story worth talking about we have a history were celebrating long before the first Europeans arrived here there were some 500 Nations already in North America they blanketed the continent from coast to coast from Central America to the Arctic there were tens of millions of people here speaking over 300 languages many of them lived in beautiful cities among the largest and most advanced in the world in the coming hours 500 Nations looks back on these ancient cultures how they lived and how many survived we turn for guidance to hundreds of Indian people across the continent you'll meet many of them in our programs to bring the past alive we searched archives for the oldest and most authentic images of Indian people we sought out rare books and manuscripts for the actual words of participants and eyewitnesses to history our camera Crews traveled throughout North America to film at the actual places where important events in Indian history occurred we filmed incredible Treasures of Indian creativity from museums across North America and Europe historians and archaeologists work with visual artists and advanced computer technology to allow us for the first time to walk through virtual realities of ancient Indian worlds what you're about to see is what happened it's not all that happened and it's not always Pleasant we can't change that we can't turn back the clock but we can open our eyes and give the first nations of this land the recognition and respect they deserve their rightful place in the history of the world with that in mind we take you first to where our story ends on the Great Plains in the late 1800s [Music] [Applause] [Music] the rumor got about the school the dead are to return the Buffalo are to return the Lakota people will get back their own way of life that part about the Dead returning was what appealed to me to think I should see my dear Mother grandmother brothers and sisters again but boy like I soon forgot about it until one night when I was rudely awakened in the dormatory get up put your clothes on and slip downstairs we are running away a boy was hissing into my ear soon 50 of us little boys about 8 to 10 started out across country over Hills and Valleys running all night I know now that we ran almost 30 mil there on the Porcupine Creek thousands of Lota people were in Camp by the late 1880s a message of Hope spread across the Great Plains it was called The Ghost Dance a dance to restore the past when Indian nations were [Music] [Applause] [Music] free they danced without rest on and on but occasionally someone thoroughly exhausted and dizzy fell unconscious into the center and lay there [Music] dead the Visions ended the same way like a chorus describing a great encampment of all the lotas who had ever died where there was no sorrow but only joy where relatives thronged out with happy laughter the people went on and on and could not stop and so I suppose the authorities did think they were crazy but they weren't they were only terribly unhappy driven off their lands Indian nations were confined to desolate reservations dependent on corrupt government agencies for food and supplies the people were desperate from starvation we felt that we were mocked in our misery we held our dying children and felt Their little bodies tremble as their souls went out and left only a dead weight in our hands Red Cloud oala the Ghost Dance Hurt No One But as it spread white settlers panicked the United States government outlawed the dance the white men were frightened and called for soldiers we had begged for life and the white man thought we wanted theirs on a mild day just after Christmas of 1890 a band of Haku Su under their leader Bigfoot left the Cheyenne River agency in South Dakota heading for a meeting at Pine Ridge with ogala leader redcloud traveling with Bigfoot were 106 men and 252 women and children among them was a boy Dewey beard who would later tell his children and grandchildren about that day Grandpa Dewey beard being the last survivor I would listen to what he had to say in a way it was sad and yet it's um beautiful because it's bringing back history one thing that he would say is that had the soldiers had the government left them alone in time they would have uh looked outside and seen how things were changing and the change would come about from within the bands Bigfoot's band was intercepted by the seventh Cavalry the officer in charge found Bigfoot wrapped in heavy blankets dying from pneumonia in the back of a wagon Bigfoot was ordered to make Camp along Wounded Knee Creek in the morning his people would be stripped of their weapons and escorted to Pine Ridge Bigfoot made assurances of his peaceful intentions and the band made Camp he's a peaceful man he's he's always say that uh think about the elderly think about the children and a woman and uh don't start the trouble morning broke after a sleepless night night surrounded by soldiers hakou Witnesses would later recall what happened next Bigfoot who was sick came up with a flag of truce tied to a stick Dewey beard as soldiers trained their guns on them Bigfoot and his men brought forth all their weapons placing them near the white flag of truce Bigfoot had planted in front of his lodge the soldiers then searched their tents and wagons for arm arms even confiscating cooking and sewing [Music] tools as Bigfoot's people gathered around the flag of truce outside his tent four powerful Hotchkiss rapid repeating guns were mounted above the camp I noticed that they were erecting cannons up here also hauling up quite a lot of ammunition for it they encircled us like a band of sheep I could see that there was commotion amongst the soldiers and I saw on looking back they had their guns in position ready to fire Thomas tibbles a white reporter who followed the troops to wounded KNE recorded what happened next suddenly I heard a single shot from the direction of the troops then three or or four a few more and immediately a boled at once came a general rattle of rifle firing then the hotkis guns and awful noise was heard and I was paralyzed for a time then my head cleared and and I saw nearly all the people on the ground bleeding my father my mother my grandmother my older brother and my younger brother were all killed a biges on her and he saw his mother walking toward him she was walking along and she was shot Dy she said keep walking my son she said keep going she said I'm going to die and that was the last time he saw his mother the women as they were fleeing with their babies were killed together shot right through and after most of them had been killed a cry was made that all those not killed or wounded should come forth and they would be safe little boys came out of their places of refuge and as soon as they came in sight a number of soldiers surrounded them and butchered them there American Horse oh the firing continued for an hour or two wherever a soldier saw a sign of life with the sunset the weather turned intensely cold about 7:00 that night the seventh Cavalry brought in the long train of dead and when wounded soldiers and Indians from Wounded Knee 49 wounded Sue women and children had been piled into a few old wagons the wounded Indian women and children were eventually carried into an agency Church where they lay in silence on the floor beneath a Pulpit decorated with a Christmas Banner reading peace on Earth Good Will to men nothing I have seen in my whole life ever affected or depressed or haunted me like the scenes I saw that night in that church one unwounded old woman held a baby on her lap I handed a cup of water to the old woman telling her give it to the child who grabbed it as if parched with thirst as she swallowed it hurriedly I saw it gush right out again a Blood Stained stream through a hole in her neck heart sick I went to find the surgeon for a moment he stood there near the door looking over the mass of suffering and dying women and children how the silence the silence they kept was so complete it was oppressive and then to my amazement I saw that the surgeon who I knew had served in the Civil War attending the wounded from Wilderness to amatics he began to grow pale this is the first time I've seen seen a lot of women and children shot to Pieces he said and I can't stand it Thomas tibbles reporter for 3 Days the frozen bodies of the dead including Bigfoot lay where they fell at Wounded Knee finally the Army dug a large trench at the massacre site then as they collected the bodies a blanket was seen moving beneath it snuggled against her dead mother was a baby [Music] [Music] girl the offici military history is called Wounded Knee the last battle in the Indian Wars but the tenacious struggle for Indian survival as symbolized by a child clinging to life for three days on a frozen field continues to this day 500 Nations will follow a path that covers thousands of years and will bring us full circle to 1890 in this hour we will travel back in time to three stunning civilizations that flourish long before the arrival of Europeans to the Anasazi of the Southwest the mound builders of the Mississippi and the Great Pyramid Builders of the Maya but when we return we'll go back even farther to Creation as seen Through The Eyes of Indian people [Music] [Music] when Earth was still young and Giants still roam the earth a great sickness Came Upon them all of them died except for a small boy one day while he was playing D A snake bit him the boy cried and cried the blood came out and finally he died with his tears our Lakes became with his blood the red clay became with his body our mountains became and that was how Earth became T poblo Pleasant it looked the newly created World along the entire length and breadth of the earth our grandmother extended the green reflection of her covering and the escaping odors were pleasant to inhale when aago God created the Indian country and that was the time this River started to run then God created Fish In this River and put deer in the mountains then the Creator gave Indians life we walked and as soon as we saw the game and fish we knew they were made for us my strength my blood is from the fish from the roots and berries and game I did not come here I was put here by the Creator manic yak in the Old Testament Adam and Eve were forced from the garden of creation and expelled to a cruel world for most North American Indian nations it was and is very different they stayed in the garden the place of their creation the single place on Earth most perfect for them the crow country is a good country the creator has put it exactly in the right place while you are in it you fare well whenever you go out of it whichever way you travel you fare worse the crow country is exactly in the right place Alish Crow there is a song in everything mes Tim Shen make my eyes ever behold the red and purple sunsets make me wise so that I may know the things you have taught my people the lessons you have hidden in every leaf and rock make May ever ready to come to you with Clean Hands and straight eye so that when life Fades as the fading Sunset my spirit may come to you without shame Tom White Cloud o jibway [Music] [Music] to The Outsider the sun-beaten deserts of the American southwest are a harsh and unforgiving land reluctant to support life to the ancient people who lived there it was a place where the Creator provided everything there is nothing there that you can see even to this day very little veget ation see a lot of rocks see a lot of sand the hes have always maintain that that's a chosen place for him it was chosen for them by the prator the great spirit for the hoies the ancient people of the desert were the ancestors of all the modern peblo Nations to their hopy descendants they are known as the hinam but to most of the world they are known by the Navajo name Anasazi around 9 00 ad the Anasazi flourished in a Wide Circle covering parts of modern-day Utah Colorado Arizona and New Mexico the Anasazi found balance with their world they learned where to find water and how to harness it Villages joined together to build dams reservoirs and irrigation canals turning deserts into Gardens of corn and squash they were a people intimately connected to their land in a very real sense they emerged from it Generations before the time of Christ the Anasazi lived in subterranean pit houses sunken homes with stonor walls and Broad strong roofs formidable protection against the Searing sun and bitter cold of the desert with time they adapted their above ground storage houses into Living Spaces but the underground pit houses were not abandoned they were retained as spiritual places of teaching the place of origin the Kea 100 years before the first Gothic Cathedrals were built in Europe the master Architects and stone masons of the Anasazi were building great kvas that could hold 500 people around 900 ad the Anasazi leadership embarked upon a bold and Visionary plan create a mecca for pilgrimages and a focal point for trade at the very center of their land they chose the barren treeless chako Canyon 100 m Northwest of present day Albuquerque New Mexico it was a Monumental undertaking they built 400 miles of distinctive graded roads and Broad Avenues all leading to the canyon at distant points signal stations were constructed where fires blazed to communicate across the vastness of the desert and to guide Travelers at night over 50,000 trees were cut down in the surrounding mountains to build the towns of chako Canyon along with Traders and pilgrims the roads carried resources to maintain dozens of communities none compared with the largest single complex the Anasazi ever built peblo Bonito The Wonder of the canyon at its peak Pao Bono's 800 rooms may have housed over a thousand residents some sections overlooking the main plaza loomed five stories above the canyon floor the Plaza pulsated with life women gathered the colored corn blanketing the rooftops and knelt in rows to grind it children played men returning from the fields gathered to [Music] talk 37 sacred keas scattered throughout the complex speak to peblo Bono's Rich ceremonial life during ceremonies the feet of dancers pounded the ground smooth as Spectators huddled against buildings and thronged the roofs to watch but chako Canyon was more than a spiritual Mecca it was also a center of trade and commerce and trade in one stone more valuable to chako's Mexican trading partners than gold or Jade was the engine of the Canyon's economic growth turquoise here RW Stone arrived from distant mines for the Craftsmen of peblo Bonito to cut and shape into small tiles and Beads which were then traded South to Merchant centers in the heart of Mexico there they were transformed into extraordinary Creations for 150 years trade fueled the chako economy but the wealth and power of the canyon was fleeting chako's major turquoise consumer Tolan in central Mexico fell to civil Strife extended drought or hostilities Also may have contributed to the downfall of chako [Music] Canyon by 11:5 it was in Decline the great turquoise Road over the Mexican High Sierra abandoned but the Anasazi world still flourished the people of chako Canyon simply moved to other locations many went North to Mesa which at that time was reaching its cultural and Architectural height there under the shelter of the pine studded mes of Southern Colorado The Architects of chako Canyon would help create some of the most stunning buildings of all time the largest of these is known as Cliff Palace though it is a palace in name only these beautiful stone buildings of the Anasazi were home to Common families it was a society based on equality men rotated service on Public Works women plastered houses the man who farmed also so carved spiritual leaders tilled the [Music] fields each time when I see and visit any ancient dwelling I feel close because these are my ancestors my forefathers for Centuries with little meditation looking at their dwellings within few minutes half hour I get refresh the people of Mesa Verde and many other Anasazi towns relocated around 1300 the period of the ancestors came to an end and the modern-day peblo world took [Music] shape Traditions that live today in the American southwest the way of life the architecture the religion are the Resonance of a heritage reaching back thousands of years [Music] [Music] [Music] the COA wanted to send a prayer to the son so he called on his friend the bear and the bear came and he said oh I'm very honored to be asked to do this but I can I can only take it to the top of the highest tree but I know someone who can so let's call Eagle and so Eagle was called and Eagle said yes I can try and so eagle flew and flew and flew up up up and got to the son and delivered the prayer and the son was so taken with this said give me one of your feathers and so the eagle plucked out a Tail Feather and gave it to the Son and the son kissed that feather which is why you know eagle feathers are black on the end and it's it's because the son sends them there said take this back and forever this will be my recognition of my special [Music] people along the Mississippi River 6 miles from present day St Louis Missouri there stood a city that once dominated the heart of the continent at its Center was a powerful leader a great number of years ago there appeared Among Us a man who came down from the Sun this man told us that he had seen from on high that we did not govern ourselves well that we had no master that each of us had presumption enough to think himself capable of governing others while he could not even conduct [Music] himself a thousand years ago the great son a leader who was both King and Pope lived at top a man-made Royal Mountain 10 stories high its 16 acre base larger than any Pyramid in Egypt he told us that in order to live in peace among ourselves we must observe the following points we must never kill anyone but in defense of our own lives we must never know any woman besides our own we must never take any things that belong to another we must never lie nor get drunk we must not be avaricious we must give generously and with joy and share our subsistence with those who are in need of it from the heights of his Royal Estate the great Sun mediated between the Creator and the people between the Sun and the Earth this is Cahokia City of the Sun the great Sun ruled the thriving center of a vast Mississippian culture outside the walled City communities of farmers hunters and fishermen stretched for Miles surrounded by fields of corn with 20,000 residents no city in the United States would surpass cahokia's historic size before 1800 only then would Philadelphia's population eclipse the ancient Center these people lived in uh do and wle houses on top the the principal people did the priest and the royalty they lived in in very substantial houses not tepees not TPS TPS Western Plains people down here they lived in houses they were sedentary they were farmers they used the rivers and the bars and the streams as not only for Commerce but for sustenance as well with the Mississippi and other major rivers as its highways kokia was linked by trade to a third of the continent copper arrived from the Great Lakes obsidian from Yellowstone Micah and Crystal from the Appalachians gold and silver from Canada shell from the Gulf of mexic [Music] look at these old live oak trees that have seen so much pass by them magnificently dressed Indian people coming down that b in a Dugout uh greeting people standing right here on this Bank of having a good time because they did you know Indian people have always known how to have a good time and there would be a feast prepared and the women would put the corn together they'd make soft um they would roast a deer the people would bring gifts you never go to an Indian's house without bringing something that's as old as a [Music] sunrise kokia was the Pinnacle of a mound building cult culture with Traditions dating Back to Before 1,000 BC thousands of Mounds still dot the landscape from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico an average funeral mound in the Ohio Valley was three stories tall construction could represent 200,000 man hours of Labor or a 100 men carrying the baskets of Earth for a year but few few Mounds compare with a religious Effigy located 50 Mi east of Cincinnati Ohio the Great Serpent Mound the enormous snake stretches over 400 yard in length while their Earthworks are the mound Builder's most visible Legacy their smaller Creations are their most beautiful [Music] only glimpses remain of the people who changed the course of life on the Northern continent most of their material world wooden buildings boats baskets woven textiles leather Footwear and clothes have long since turned to dust an old cattle relative of mine that I used to go outside and and hold my hands up and and bless myself with the son a Hut uh I can't do that anymore because they say we Sun worshippers we didn't worship the sun we worship what was behind it the power behind it [Music] in the 19th century 2,000 M south of Cahokia a group of European explorers carve their way into the jungles of southern Mexico there buried for centuries and surrounded by Massive pyramids They Came Upon a royal palace resplendant with grand rooms courts and a tower the Europeans recognized that by their own standards the site was a legacy of greatness standing in the middle of the largest Indian nation in North America the Maya descendants of the pyramid Builders the EXP explorers could not imagine that the Towering architecture was the work of Indian people instead they speculated wildly about the Lost Civilization that could have built so Grand an existence refugees from the sunken continent of Atlantis a lost tribe of Israel seafarers from the Orient even beings from another planet they considered everything but the obvious [Music] in 1949 a Mexican archaeologist came to the same magnificent ruins now known as [Music] pen he climbed the steps to the top of the largest pyramid the Temple of the inscription there he noticed Holes in the Floor below the capstones he removed the slabs and discovered a rubble-filled passageway descending deep into the pyramid's heart after 3 years of excavation the passage was cleared at the bottom was a tomb that had been buried for over 12200 years it would unlock the history of pelen and help to reveal the past of the Mayan people a past they left for the future to to read for centuries Mayan glyphs were considered complex picture stories like Egyptian hieroglyphics only in the 1980s did archaeologists finally recognize that it was true writing they were not looking at pictures to be interpreted but symbols for sounds to be read it was the Maya language instantly a door was opened on the past beneath the 5 ton sarcophagus cover at pelen lay Paka shield in the Maya language he was born in 603 ad his head was bound at Birth to enlarge his forehead a fashion that marked him as a member of the royal Elite he wore a cosmetic bridge on his nose and decorated his hair with water lies pakal Rose to power at the age of 12 he would build a holy city and rule for nearly 70 years leading pelen during a time of greatness and growth in the Mayan [Music] world as the Maya expanded over 60 Capital Cities emerged their growth fueled by a successful Agricultural Society [Music] [Music] the roots of Mayan agriculture reached back thousands of years and stretched across Mexico and into Central America now friends and brothers listen to these words of dreaming spring rains give us life and bring forth the golden corn silk by the time of Christ there were millions of people in the region with agriculture allowing populations to settle and [Music] expand art mathematics astronomy architecture priesthoods and royalty all flourished [Music] [Music] by the mid 700s at pelen alone the sons of pakal ruled over 200,000 Maya living in Regional communities of farmers Weavers stonemasons and feather [Music] workers but the Golden Age of building and growth would be transformed by a new era of war and Destruction for reasons still locked in the past the Mayan World turned against itself Farmers became [Applause] Soldiers by 800 ad an era had ended most of the capitals that had been among the living wonders of human creativity including pelen were deserted and reclaimed by the jungle south of here there's a desert it's a forbidding barrier stretching hundreds of miles on the other side of that desert is Mexico over thousands of years skilled Travelers managed to cross this barrier but widespread contact was impossible ible and so each side developed in their own unique way in Mexico millions of Indian people 80% of the continent's population created art and architecture that was unparalleled in its sheer size and physical ambition they developed writing and astronomy their wars were waged between massive armies even by contemporary standards in this hour we follow an epic story told through the actual words of those who took part in it along with eyewitness illustrations of events that occurred almost 500 years ago we take you to the present day sight of Mexico City to the heart of the most powerful military Empire in the continent's history the Aztec [Music] [Applause] [Music] extended lies the city lies meico spreading Circles of emerald light radiating Splendor like a ketsa plume oh author of Life your house is here here your song is heard on Earth it spreads among the people behold Mexico by the Aztec calendar it was the year one Reed and Moma emperor of the Aztec was the most powerful man in the Americas by many standards the most powerful man in the world from his Capital at tenot Tian Motu zoma ruled over 10 million subjects for almost 90 years his people had built an Empire with their armies and become rich from the tribute of defeated States but Motu zoma was troubled prophetic nightmares Disturbed his sleep and he had been reading ominous signs [Music] a huge tongue of fire burning in the night sky to the east a major Temple mysteriously destroyed by [Music] fire a comet blazing across the daytime Sky signs and dreams were vital to the Aztec they guided decisions of State thought as naal do in our Villages today that when important things happen you will dream of it they too saw things perhaps in the night sky a shooting star Motu zoma and others at the time would have thought I have seen it Motu zoma could feel disaster approaching but he did not know what threatened his Empire he did know that Nations lived in Cycles like all things in nature growth and fullness were followed by [Music] Fall the cycles of Nations had been played out many times in the valley of Mexico ruins of ancient cult cultures were scattered across the region Motu zoma had only to look 20 mi to the east to the ruins of a long abandoned city so Magnificent the Aztec called it the home of the Gods in the cycle of Nations even the home of the Gods had fallen [Music] 900 years before Moma workers had come from throughout Mexico to build teot hakan the city among the grandest in the world was a Monumental work of [Music] art its largest building the pyramid of the Sun had a base the size of the biggest Pyramid in Egypt teote hakan's military might controlled Central Mexico for centuries when I first saw this place teot wakan and the pyramids I thought this is truly beautiful that which our grandfathers our fathers before have done and I thought when I looked at it again it is like having your father that died or your brother that died and meeting them again here you remember them and you see their greatness when you contemplate what they left behind with all its power toote hakan was still trapped in the cycle of nations in one of History's great Unsolved Mysteries the city was systematically burned and abandoned at its height [Music] with the dissolving of the Empire Central Mexico turned to chaos with small rival kingdoms locked in a struggle for power and [Applause] survival Elite Warriors fought for Kings on the field of Honor like knights in medieval Europe it was a world of royal bloodlines betrayed and [Music] revenge in central Mexico the small kingdoms would struggle for 200 years before the cycle would turn again and they would begin to unify under the leadership of the toltech people from the city state of Tolan over 500 years before the rise of the Aztec the toltech redefined leadership in central Mexico enforcing power not through military Ary might but through the moral force of their teachings they coordinated trade between states and arbitrated disputes all within the framework of their religion their Capital functioned like Wall Street the Vatican and the Supreme Court combined it was also here in toan that a priest who held the name of the god kitel KOAT The Feathered serpent would be exiled eventually sailing into the Gulf of Mexico vowing to return in another time as a savior for the [Music] people after less than two centuries Tolan like toot wakan before it was violently destroyed but while the city burned the sophisticated toltech leadership escaped many of the elite families moving to the valley of Mexico for 15 years in the shadows of the ruins of teot hakan the toltech established control over the city states of the valley their influence was so great that their bloodlines became the Benchmark of nobility throughout the region during the same time a nomadic tribe far to the West was in the midst of an epic search for a Homeland they were the mishika moma's ancestors [Music] Behold a new son is risen a new God is born new laws are written and new men are made around 1300 after nearly two centuries of wandering the mesika people came to the valley of Mexico a valley long dominated by the toltech [Music] the mishika with no toltech blood were seen by the refined city states as violent barbarians a threat to the stability of the [Applause] valley the local States attacked The Nomad Nation killing many and driving the survivors to a rocky area covered with Cactus and infested with [Music] snakes the Exile was meant to destroy them them but the mesika were used to adversity they flourished soon the resilience and skills and warfare impressed their sophisticated neighbors they began to sell their services as mercenaries and within a generation the mishika were accepted as part of the social and political fabric of the Lush Mountain Valley in 1325 they asked the neighboring Lord of Co wakan to send his daughter to become the wife of a mishika ruler flattered and seeing the opportunity for Unity the Lord of kakan complied days later when he and the other Lords of the valley went to the mesika town to honor the new princess instead of seeing his young child emerge a priest appeared dressed in her skin horrified the Lord of kakan called for Revenge here come here my vassals from kakan come Avenge the Hideous crime committed by these mesika let them die destroy them such depraved men of Evil My vassals we shall finish them off and leave leave no trace or memory of them K hakan and its allies attacked the mesika driving those they did not kill into a lake in the center of the valley almost annihilated the Mika again proved resilient as they gathered on a swampy island in the lake they saw an eagle perch on a cactus the prophetic sign they were told they would see when they reached the end of their long search for a Homeland the place that would be called [Music] Tenochtitlan now we have found the land promised to us we have found peace for the weary Mexican people now we want for nothing be comforted children brothers and sisters because we have obtained the promise of our [Music] God for 100 years the people of Tenochtitlan built up the island through great sacrifice they reclaimed Land from the swampy Lake and erected stone temples and public buildings causeways of Hune Stone were constructed to the north south and west an aqueduct was built to bring in fresh water from a Mainland spring 3 Mi away canals were dug throughout the island to transport goods and people they gained trade wealth and again hired themselves out as mercenary soldiers for the powerful city states of the valley marriages were arranged that finally brought them honored toltech bloodlines tenlan was a city on the rise the cycle of power was turning toward the mishika and when War again broke out in the valley the mishika and their allies prevailed in Victory they called themselves the Aztec after the mishika place of origin Aslan land of the herand [Music] from this point Aztec prophecy foretold a glorious future the might of our powerful arms in the spirit of our hearts shall be felt with them We Will Conquer All Nations near and far rule over all Villages and cities from sea to Sea become Lords of gold and silver jewels and precious stones feathers and tributes and we shall become Lords over them and their lands and over their sons and their daughters who will serve us as our subjects for over 80 years the Aztec launched far-reaching campaigns of Conquest expanding their domain from Gulf to Pacific they fought epic battles with city states throughout the region most were conquered and turned into tributaries forced to supply slave laborers for Aztec Public Works and pay high taxes and goods Aztec scribes recorded the taxes of many states bolts of fine cloth discs of hammered gold exotic plants and Feathers precious stones feathered military uniforms built on the backs of the tributary States the island capital of the Aztec grew into one of the wonders of the world when I first opened my eyes in this world I was born of this Heritage I have seen the beautiful festivals we have in our Villages our dances and it would have been like that there they had many festivals in this place with many beautiful dancers wearing many brilliant colors I think it was even more beautiful then much more beautiful when our grandfathers lived there and followed their [Music] ways the two-story houses of the elite were adorned with beautiful gardens Royal aviaries housed thousands of rare birds and storehouses swelled with the wealth of Empire the city was cleaned daily by thousands of sweepers its refuges collected and shipped away on barges the Central Markets thronged with professional Traders whose travels took them to far distant locations men who spoke many languages and often carried with them News of the World [Music] [Music] the center of Teno titlan was dominated by the Great temple its twin pyramids representing deities who embodied the conflict at the heart of Aztec society the eternal struggle between life and death fertility and War their private rituals which on special occasions included the sacrifice of human prisoners Incorporated this Duality life required death to exist and death required life Tolan became a city of hundreds of thousands a bustling Metropolis ruled by the Aztec Emperor from the grand Imperial Palace but in the year one read the Christian year 1519 matua could feel a shadow across his Empire and he could not forget that the prophecy of astech greatness had a dark side a prophecy L held in their oral tradition I shall make war against all provinces and cities towns and settlements and make all of them my subjects my servants but just as I will subjugate them so too will they be snatched from me and turned against Me by strangers who will drive me out of this land [Applause] [Music] ever since their years as a Wandering tribe the Aztec believed their Destiny was to rule the world now at the height of Empire Moma listened to his dreams and saw the signs they fortold disaster then word came of strange happenings in the East boats and Men landing on the Mexican Coast men unlike any they had encountered before their bodies sheathed in metal matua sent Scouts to the coast to find out more about the new arrivals they were very white their eyes were like chalk their hair on some it was yellow and on some it was black they wore long beards they were yellow too The Strangers had landed on the Gulf Coast that was also disturbing information centuries earlier the banished priest from The Cult of The Feathered Serpent katel KOAT had left Mexico from the same Coast promising one day to return another prophecy that threatened Moma if he comes in the year one read he strikes at Kings it was now the Aztec year one read whether Moma believed the prophecy or not was of little importance he knew that many subjugated people throughout the Empire embraced the story of The Feathered Serpent and awaited his return for it was in their hearts that he would come that he would come to land to reclaim his kingdom whoever these Invaders were whether they represented kitel KOAT or a foreign power Moma could feel the threat to his Empire and his fears were Justified Spanish conquistador Hernando Cortez had landed in Mexico it was said that first he dreamt that K Kat would return after that when he saw heran Cortez and the others he thought he has come ketal Kat has come only he was wrong another had come someone with evil intentions because Cortez did not come with religious Faith or to do good things he came to commit terrible crimes against the mishika as a diplomat atic gesture Moma sent emissaries carrying the costume of Kel KOAT which they presented to Cortez aboard his ship Cortez responded with a display of force he ordered the Aztec delegation Shackled and forced to watch as his men fired a Lombard cannon in a thunderous hail of fire and smoke blowing apart a tree on Shore the astonished emissaries were released and they raced back to tenoch Tian Motu received the news with alarm Spanish weapons and armor were formidable and it would be only a matter of time before tributary States chafing under the Yoke of Aztec oppression would join the Conquistador they would lead him to the wealth that lay at the center of the Empire to the one thing Spanish conquistadors craved above all else we Spanish suffer from a disease of the heart which only gold can cure Cortez ordered his 450 man army Inland when some of his men resisted he sank his ships there would be no turning back the Army moved relent LLY toward the valley of Mexico as Moma had anticipated Cortez formed alliances along the way with rebellious city states one tributary leader spoke for the fears of many Moma and the mishika have given us much pain they have imposed a tribute upon us they have become our rulers if the Spaniards should abandon us in haste if they should go so perverse are the mishika that they will kill us while many nations lived in fear of the Aztec one city state less than 50 Mi east of Teno titlan had never fallen to the Empire tashala there Cortez forged his key Alliance 6,000 plash calan troops joined the Spaniards as reports reached the Aztec capital some of moma's advisers argued for a decisive military campaign but motua held his armies in check unwilling to leave the capital unprotected or risk setting off a general Rebellion stalling for time he sent emissaries to protest Cortez's advance and even had a wall of trees planted across the road to to disguise the route to Teno Tian paralyzed with doubt the emperor was fast becoming only a player in a prophecy being fulfilled and he must have thought these men why have they come what do they want maybe we can attack and kill some of them but not all of them for that reason some did not want to fight they had seen that if they shot arrows at them they did not fall they made a clanging sound as they bounced off their armor even if they fired at the horses they did not die because the horses had armor Cortez and the Tashan Army turned first to a citystate that remained loyal to the Aztec Emperor Cholula eyewitness accounts were recorded and there arose from the Spaniards a cry summoning all the noblemen Lords War leaders Warriors and common folk and when they had crowded into the temple Courtyard then the Spaniards and their allies blocked the entrances and every exit there followed a Butchery of stabbing beating killing of the unsuspecting challans armed with no bows and arrows protected by no Shields with no warning they were treacherously deceitfully slain 6,000 chulan citizens lay dead in in the streets Teno titlan received the news of the massacre in shock and aztech eyewitness later [Music] recalled the city Rose in tumult alarmed as if by an earthquake as if there were a constant reeling of the face of the Earth moma's worst nightmare was about to reveal itself do the former rulers know what is happening in their absence oh that any of them might see might wonder at what has befallen me at what I am seeing now that they have gone for I cannot be dreaming [Music] proudly stands the city of Mexico denan here no one fears to die in war keep this in mind o princes who could attack Tolan who could shake the foundations of Heaven on November 8th 1519 in the Aztec year one read Hernando Cortez arrived at the gates to the Imperial City of the aztech Empire ten Tian and Aztec eyewitness later recall called Mexico lay stunned silent none went out of doors mothers kept their children in the roads were deserted as if it were early morning motua walked out onto the grand Causeway coming face to face with Cortez the Emperor offered his Hospitality leading the Spaniards through the city gates to his Imperial Palace the people of tenot Tian watched and their words were remembered the iron of their lances glistened from afar the Shimmer of their swords was as of a sinuous water course their iron breast and back pieces their helmets clanked some came completely encased in Iron as if turned to iron and ahead of them ran their dogs panting with foam continually dripping from their muzzles the Spanish soldiers were themselves struck with awe we were astounded The Majestic towers and houses all of massive Stone and rising out of the waters were like Enchanted castles we had read of in books indeed some of our men even asked if what we saw was not a dream even Cortez was amazed considering that these people are barbarous lacking the knowledge of God and cut off from all civilized Nations it is truly remarkable to see what they have achieved once they reached the palace moma's diplomatic plans were shattered Cortez turned on his host seizing the emperor hostage what now my Warriors we have come to the end we have taken our medicine is there anywhere a mountain we can run away to and climb Moma was forced to lead Cortez to the treasury Mosa's own property was them brought out precious things like necklaces with pendants armbands tufted with kettel feathers golden armbands bracelets golden anklets with shells turquoise diadems turquoise nose rods no end of treasure they took all seized everything for themselves as if it were theirs Cortez wrote To the King of Spain your highness there is so much to describe that I do not know how to begin even to recount some part of it motua has all the things to be found under the heavens fashioned in gold and silver the Spaniards melted the beautifully crafted gold into blocks for 5 months holding Moma prisoner in his own Palace they lived in splendor and pillar the city from within they thought this isn't K this isn't a god they said look at them how they eat just as we do look at them they go about just as we when they saw him they knew he wasn't really Kat they said among themselves to their people look Brothers this isn't a God our God do good things and this one he wants to destroy us among the Aztec people a resistance began to organize under the direction of moma's brother quit laak in an effort to [ __ ] the movement the Spaniards attacked a large unarmed religious gathering in April of [Applause] 1520 one man who saved his life by playing dead later recounted the scene they charged the crowd with their iron lances and hacked us with their iron swords they slashed the backs of some they hacked at the shoulders of others splitting their bodies open the blood of the Young Warriors ran like water it gathered in pools and the Spaniards began to hunt them out of the administrative buildings dragging and killing any when they could find even starting to take those buildings to Pieces as they [Music] searched the Aztec counterattacked forcing The Conquistadors to retreat Behind the Walls of the great palace the Spaniards then brought Moma out in chains before his people to order them to stop fighting but the emperor could not bring himself to speak he stood by while another hostage delivered his message Mexicans men of tlan your ruler the Lord of men mooma implores you he says listen Mexicans we are not equal to the Spaniards abandon the battle Ste your arrows hold back your Shields otherwise evil will be the fate of the miserable old men and women of the people of Babes in Arms of the toddlers of the infants crawling on the ground or still in the Cradle but the Aztec were not a people to be subjugated they reformed their government and elected mom's brother quit laak as the 10th Emperor under his Direction the Aztec continued the siege of the palace after 30 days Wu zoma was killed the Aztec accused the Spaniards of strangling him and hurling his body from the top of the palace the Spaniards claimed he was stoned to death by his own people one of the most powerful men on Earth had fallen trapped in a play of Destiny prophecy had become [Music] reality days later the Spaniards trapped in the palace without food or water attempted to escape under cover of Darkness Aztec Witnesses recounted the events that night at midnight the enemy came out crowded together the Spaniards in the lead Clin following screened by a fine drizzle a fine sprinkle of rain they were able undetected to cross the canals just as they were crossing the canal a woman drawing water saw them mikas come all of you they are already leaving they are already secretly getting out then a watcher at the top of a temple also shouted and his cries pervaded the entire cities brave warriors mikas your enemy already leaves hurry with the shield bools in along the road as the Spaniards moved out onto one of the main causeways over the lake canoe after canoe full of aztech soldiers under quid laak's Direction showered them with Spears and arrows many Spaniards weighted down with gold stolen from the palace fell into the water and drowned carried to the Bottom by the weight the canal was filled crammed with them those who came along behind walked on corpses it was as if a mountain of men had been laid down they had pressed against one another smothered one another 3/4s of the Spanish Army never reached the outskirts of Teno Tian Cortez and the rest of the survivors escaped into the countryside for a moment the great city was free and when the Spaniards thus disappeared we thought they had gone for good never more to return once again the temples could be swept out the dirt removed they could be adorned ornamented but the fleeing Spaniards left behind another enemy an Aztec Survivor remember at about the time that the Spaniards had fled from the city there came a great sickness a pestilence the smallpox it spread over the people with great destruction of men it caused Great Misery the brave mishika warriors were indeed weakened by it even the new emperor di of the disease it was after all this had happened that the Spaniards came back Cortez and his men had healed their wounds and rebuilt their army new alliances were made the Spaniards and 75,000 Clash Calen and Allied Indian soldiers set Siege to tenot Tian the entire population Rose to defend their City Aztec Witnesses would remember the struggle fighting continued both sides took captives on both sides there were deaths great became the suffering of the common folk there was Hunger many died of famine there was no more good pure water to drink many died of it the people ate anything lizards barn swallows corn leaves Salt Grass never had such suffering been seen the enemy pressed about us like a wall they hurted us the brave warriors were still hopelessly resisting after 2 and A2 long months the Spaniards with their overwhelming numbers brought Teno land to its knees finally the battle just quietly ended silence rained nothing happened all was quiet and nothing more took place night fell and the next day nothing happened either no one spoke aloud the people were crushed great was the stench of the Dead your grandfathers died and with them died the son of the king and his brothers and Kingsmen so it was that we became orphans oh my sons so we became When We Were Young all of us were the us we were born to die tenot TI Lan was leveled the Magnificent Gardens the Marvel of their world were destroyed the rivers and canals that so amazed the Spaniards were filled in then Cortez Set Fire to the aviaries thousands of birds Vermillion fly catchers iridescent hummingbirds Scarlet tanagers green and blue MAA the beauty that was Mexico was turned to ashes some say the Mika came to an end it's gone finished we're still here we the people who ignorant Outsiders insult by calling us Indians we are here this culture is not finished off the culture is gone as an Empire as a social political religious structure but what remains is what the people have we weren't finished [Music] off proud loudly stands the city of Mexico denan here no one fears to die in war keep this in mind o princes who could attack denan who could shake the foundations of Heaven [Music] our next program will begin far to the east of Mexico on a Caribbean Island where a meeting between Spanish and Indian people appeared at first glance to be merely an encounter between two potential trading partners but that first encounter between Christopher Columbus and the tyo people in 149 92 was in reality a world shattering event please join us for 500 Nations a clash of cultures [Music] h [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] f [Music] h [Music] h h [Music]

Transcript for:History of Native Nations in North America

Transcript for:
History of Native Nations in North America