Documentary

All Episodes of 500 Nations

Browse all episodes of 500 Nations

Binge this in 8h 0m•Peaking at 8.6/10

500 Nations is an eight-part documentary on the Native Americans of North and Central America. It documents from pre-Columbian to the end of the 19th century. Much of the information comes from text, eyewitnesses, pictorials,

Airs on
CBS
BestEpisodes
WorstEpisodes
BestSeasons
AllEpisodes
Select Season:

Season 1

  • Attack On Culture: 'I Will Fight No More Forever'
    8.6/1018 votes

    Attack On Culture: 'I Will Fight No More Forever'

    Season 1 Episode 8 - Aired 4/28/1995

    The Indian resistance of the late 19th-century is examined, including Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce, the Apache leader Cochise and Geronimo, who surrenders and is imprisoned into the 20th-century. The government-mandated suppression of Native American culture culminates in the massacre at Wounded Knee, bringing the series full circle.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • The Ancestors: Early Cultures of North America
    8.5/1034 votes

    The Ancestors: Early Cultures of North America

    Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 4/20/1995

    This volume takes a look at the massacre of the Sioux at Wounded Knee then flashes back to examine societies of Native Americans prior to the arrival of European settlers.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • Removal: War And Exile In The East
    8.5/1019 votes

    Removal: War And Exile In The East

    Season 1 Episode 6 - Aired 4/27/1995

    After Tecumseh's Shawnee people side with the British in the War of 1812, President Andrew Jackson signs the Indian Removal Act, forcing all tribes to move into "Indian Territory," along the famed trail of tears.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • Mexico: The Rise and Fall of the Aztecs
    8.4/1025 votes

    Mexico: The Rise and Fall of the Aztecs

    Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 4/20/1995

    The rise and fall of the Aztec Empire is examined from their defeat of the Toltec regime to Cortez's ultimate conquest of the Aztecs and all of Mexico.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • Clash of Cultures: The People Who Met Columbus
    8.4/1015 votes

    Clash of Cultures: The People Who Met Columbus

    Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired 4/21/1995

    Columbus' arrival and the subsequent defeat of the Caribbean tribes are chronicled, along with De Soto's destruction of the Southeast tribes such as the Coosa and the Mobile nation.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • Invasion Of The Coast: The First English Settlements
    8.4/1020 votes

    Invasion Of The Coast: The First English Settlements

    Season 1 Episode 4 - Aired 4/21/1995

    An examination of the Native Americans of New England and their experiences with the British who settled at Jamestown and Plymouth. Includes background to the first Thanksgiving.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • Cauldron Of War: Iroquois Democracy And The American Revolution
    8.4/1020 votes

    Cauldron Of War: Iroquois Democracy And The American Revolution

    Season 1 Episode 5 - Aired 4/27/1995

    Hostilities between Native Americans and European settlers erupt across the eastern part of the continent as the colonists prepare for revolution. Pontiac's siege of Detroit and the splintering of the Iroqois Confederacy are examined.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown

  • Roads Across The Plains: Struggle For The West
    8.3/1019 votes

    Roads Across The Plains: Struggle For The West

    Season 1 Episode 7 - Aired 4/28/1995

    The twin gold rushes in California and Colorado bring hordes of settlers into the Western Territories where such Native American leaders as Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull and the Kiowa chief Satanta organize futile resistance.

    Director: Unknown

    Writer: Unknown