A Powerful New Perspective On Native American History
From the award-winning PBS series American Experience comes We Shall Remain, the most ambitious primetime television series and media project on Native history ever produced.
We Shall Remain will present a multifaceted story of Native ingenuity and perseverance that spans more than three hundred years. The tale of European settlement of North America has been told countless times, but never before from the perspective of the land's original inhabitants.
At the heart of the project is a five-part television series that shows how Native peoples adapted and fought back-from the Wampanoags of New England in the 1600s who used their alliance with the English to weaken rival tribes, to the bold new leaders of the 1970s who harnessed the momentum of the civil rights movement to forge a Pan-Indian identity. Each historical episode of We Shall Remain will be paired with a short, contemporary story showing how the past resonates in Native American lives today.
Multiple Platforms, Maximum Impact
PBS Television Series
A five-part, primetime PBS television series for broadcast in 2009 will present a multifaceted look at Native ingenuity and perseverance over the course of more than three centuries. Each of the episodes focuses on important historical events and concludes with a short contemporary story that links the past to the present.
Mentoring Program
We Shall Remain will have a lasting impact on the telling of Native American stories, thanks to a mentoring program that is cultivating the talent of emerging Native filmmakers. Participants in the program will have access to the resources and expertise of a flagship PBS series and some of the nation's most respected documentary filmmakers. The program was formally launched in March 2006 with intensive training for participants, who are now assuming full-time paid positions as producers, associate producers or production assistants.
Web & New Media
An in-depth Web site will serve the general public, educators, and students alike, offering interactive learning resources and several hours of streaming video. Part of PBS Online, one of the leading dot-org sites on the Internet, the We Shall Remain site will also feature behind-the-scenes production stories and original podcasts. American Experience is a leading provider of history-related podcasts on iTunes.
ReelNative
This groundbreaking outreach project encourages Native Americans to give voice to their heritage and address contemporary issues by training them to produce their own short videos. About 50 people will participate in ReelNative workshops across the nation. Their videos will be given prominence on the We Shall Remain Web site as part of an interactive feature that invites other Native Americans to share their stories.
Community Engagement Campaign
Collaborating with the 300+ public television stations across the country, We Shall Remain will create a series of community coalitions to make local and regional connections to the national story presented by We Shall Remain. Each coalition will also include a public library, college or university, tribal organization, museum or film center. These partners will develop programs and outreach activities to help deepen public understanding of Native history and contemporary experiences.
Educator Resources
To support middle and high school teachers and their students, resources will include a teacher's guide with lesson plans, activities, and discussion questions on the We Shall Remain Web site. In addition, the Web site will feature educational activities and resources created by the We Shall Remain community coalitions.
National Library Initiative
Working closely with the American Library Association (ALA), with guidance from the 2007Ð08 president of ALA, Dr. Loriene Roy (Anishinabe (Ojibwe)), We Shall Remain will target the general public, families, and young people, who are using the nation's libraries in record numbers. Each of the 18,000 main and branch public libraries will receive an event kit to help libraries plan programs -- such as book groups featuring Native American authors, film screenings, or cross-cultural programs for teens -- in conjunction with the We Shall Remain broadcast.
Strategic Partnerships
We Shall Remain is developing a number of partnerships with national organizations, media outlets, and high-profile institutions to extend the reach of the project. Early partnerships have been forged with Native American Public Telecommunications, the National Congress of the American Indian and the Native Media and Technology Network.
Radio Documentary
We Shall Remain will include a series of companion radio stories for national distribution on public radio in the days running up to, and in conjunction with, the television broadcast.
© New content 2006 PBS Online/WGBH
PBS Privacy Policy