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Episode 2: Nature to Nations

Premiere date: October 30, 2018
Explore the rise of great American nations, from monarchies to democracies. Investigate lost cities in Mexico, a temple in Peru, a potlatch ceremony in the Pacific Northwest and a tapestry of shell beads in upstate New York whose story inspired our own democracy.
 

Watch Nature to Nations

Full Episode
Explore the rise of great American nations, from monarchies to democracies.
Full Length 53m 31s
Totem Poles
Clip
Totem Poles
2m 24s
Alan Hunt and Beau Dick share the real story of totem poles and the great cedar trees they are made from.
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Corn is King
Clip
Corn is King
2m 40s
A look at traditional Native American crops and agricultural practices and their impact on the world today.
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Clan Mother
Clip
Clan Mother
1m 56s
The history and mythology of Clan Mothers and continued female leadership.
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Traditional Wampum Belts
Clip
Traditional Wampum Belts
2m 47s
Marcus Hendricks continues the tradition of making Wampum beads by hand.
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Haudenosaunee’s Legendary Founding
Full Length
Haudenosaunee’s Legendary Founding
5m 52s
The Hiawatha wampum belt tells the story of the Haudenosaunee’s legendary founding and wampum’s power to heal. It tells of
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Episode 2 Preview | Nature to Nations
Preview
Episode 2 Preview | Nature to Nations
30s
Explore the rise of great American nations, from monarchies to democracies. Investigate lost cities in Mexico, a temple in
Show More
Nature to Nations
Full Length
Nature to Nations
53m 31s
Explore the rise of great American nations, from monarchies to democracies. Investigate lost cities in Mexico, a temple in
Show More
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Watch Extended Interviews from the Episode

Extended Interview: Leigh Kuwanwisiwma on Corn as Teacher
Hopi elder Leigh Kuwanwisiwma has learned many life lessons from corn. These lessons are so important that he believes it is the duty of every Hopi person to be a farmer.
Clip 2m 30s
Extended Interview: Leigh Kuwanwisiwma on Corn as Teacher
Clip
Extended Interview: Leigh Kuwanwisiwma on Corn as Teacher
2m 30s
Hopi elder Leigh Kuwanwisiwma has learned many life lessons from corn. These lessons are so important that he believes it
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Extended Interview: G. Peter Jemison on the Longhouse
Clip
Extended Interview: G. Peter Jemison on the Longhouse
4m 41s
Seneca faithkeeper Pete Jemison speaks on how the longhouse was constructed and what it means to the Haudenosaunee people.
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Extended Interview: Jim Enote on Lessons from Farming
Clip
Extended Interview: Jim Enote on Lessons from Farming
1m 57s
Zuni elder Jim Enote reflects on lessons learned from farming and each person’s responsibility to take care of the earth.
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Extended Interview: Beau Dick on the Family of Mankind
Clip
Extended Interview: Beau Dick on the Family of Mankind
2m 10s
Beau Dick, the late great Kwakwaka’wakw chief and artist reflects on the power of family. Through thousands of years of tr
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Photo Gallery

Dr. Teresa Ryan, from the Tsimshian Nation in Vancouver, studies the connection between forest science and ancient belief
Dr. Teresa Ryan, from the Tsimshian Nation in Vancouver, studies the connection between forest science and ancient belief | Credit: Providence Pictures
This is an important dance in the potlatch ceremony that will make Alan Hunt a Kwakwaka'wakw Hereditary Chief.
This is an important dance in the potlatch ceremony that will make Alan Hunt a Kwakwaka'wakw Hereditary Chief. | Credit: Providence Pictures
This is an important dance in the potlatch ceremony that will make Alan Hunt a Kwakwaka'wakw Hereditary Chief.
This is an important dance in the potlatch ceremony that will make Alan Hunt a Kwakwaka'wakw Hereditary Chief. | Credit: Providence Pictures
These artists work tirelessly to carve a cedar tree into a prominent figure in the Kwakwaka’wakw culture - Moon.
These artists work tirelessly to carve a cedar tree into a prominent figure in the Kwakwaka’wakw culture - Moon. | Credit: Providence Pictures
Kwakwaka’wakw master carver Beau Dick is about to enter his workshop to craft a masterpiece from cedar wood.
Kwakwaka’wakw master carver Beau Dick is about to enter his workshop to craft a masterpiece from cedar wood. | Credit: Providence Pictures
Tito La Rossa evokes the jaguar spirit playing a shell trumpet in the underground temple at Chavin, Peru.
Tito La Rossa evokes the jaguar spirit playing a shell trumpet in the underground temple at Chavin, Peru. | Credit: Providence Pictures
Indigenous musician Tito La Rossa works with Stanford archaeologist John Rick to unlock acoustic engineering in an ancient Peruvian temple.
Indigenous musician Tito La Rossa works with Stanford archaeologist John Rick to unlock acoustic engineering in an ancient Peruvian temple. | Credit: Providence Pictures
John Rick oversees excavations at one of the earliest temple complexes in the Americas - Chavin de Huantar, Peru.
John Rick oversees excavations at one of the earliest temple complexes in the Americas - Chavin de Huantar, Peru. | Credit: Providence Pictures
Mary Miller contemplates how corn built a kingdom at Maya King Pakal’s Palace.
Mary Miller contemplates how corn built a kingdom at Maya King Pakal’s Palace. | Credit: Providence Pictures
Art Historian Mary Miller explores stone relief sculpture of captives - local lords who dared to defy King Pakal the Great - in the palace courtyard at Palenque
Art Historian Mary Miller explores stone relief sculpture of captives - local lords who dared to defy King Pakal the Great - in the palace courtyard at Palenque | Credit: Providence Pictures
Onondaga tribal elder Sid Hill reads a wampum shell-bead belt that commemorates the founding of the Iroquois Confederacy.
Onondaga tribal elder Sid Hill reads a wampum shell-bead belt that commemorates the founding of the Iroquois Confederacy. | Credit: Providence Pictures
Onondaga tribal member Pete Jemison tells his people's story from within the walls of a traditional Iroquois Long House.
Onondaga tribal member Pete Jemison tells his people's story from within the walls of a traditional Iroquois Long House. | Credit: Providence Pictures
Onondaga tribal member Ken Maracle passes on the tradition of making wampum belts to a new generation, here on the shores of their tribe's sacred lake.
Onondaga tribal member Ken Maracle passes on the tradition of making wampum belts to a new generation, here on the shores of their tribe's sacred lake. | Credit: Providence Pictures
Onondaga tribal elders read a wampum shell-bead belt that commemorates the founding of the Iroquois Confederacy.
Onondaga tribal elders read a wampum shell-bead belt that commemorates the founding of the Iroquois Confederacy. | Credit: Providence Pictures
Onondaga tribal member Angela Ferguson keeps her people fed through a mastery of maize cultivation that goes back to time immemorial.
Onondaga tribal member Angela Ferguson keeps her people fed through a mastery of maize cultivation that goes back to time immemorial. | Credit: Providence Pictures
Wampanoag Marcus Hendricks carries on the ancient tradition of wampum making.
Wampanoag Marcus Hendricks carries on the ancient tradition of wampum making. | Credit: Providence Pictures
Art historian Mary Miller uses an infrared camera to rediscover lost Maya hieroglyphs in the murals of Bonampak, Chiapas, Mexico.
Art historian Mary Miller uses an infrared camera to rediscover lost Maya hieroglyphs in the murals of Bonampak, Chiapas, Mexico. | Credit: Providence Pictures

More About This Episode

Centering on the democracy of New York’s Haudenosaunee Peoples — also known as the Iroquois Confederacy — Nature to Nations reveals how elements of the natural world drive governance in Native America. The story of Hiawatha and the Peacemaker, as told by native elders, demonstrates how shell helped end war among five tribes and bring about America’s first democracy 500 years before the United States. Ben Franklin and the Founding Fathers would later integrate key ideas from their government into the United States Constitution.

Building on these revelations, the episode traces evidence that nations across Native America use beliefs from the natural world to support governmental systems, from dynastic kingdoms to shamanistic rulers. Science and oral tradition reveal how corn, cedar, shell, and the jaguar each inspire new nations and plant the seeds of great empires. All are part of an incredible 3000-year narrative of nature, nations and cultural sophistication in Native America.

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