Redman's America; Indians of the Great Basin and Plateau
Description:
Redmans America represents the combined efforts of museums, universities, anthropologists and the Indians of America themselves to give television audiences an accurate portrait of our oldest inhabitants. The histories, languages, customs and crafts of tribes stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from the Great Plains to the seacoast of the Northwest are the subject of this series, which presents to the viewer their artifacts, their rituals, and their own descriptions of their lives. Thanks to the rich diversity of artifacts available, and to the flexibility of the television medium, the episodes emphasize chiefly the material aspects of Indian culture, although their social and theological institutions, and their reactions to the white settlers of the region, also are portrayed. The series uses films and artifacts from Chappell House, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the Smithsonian Institution and is the anthropologists story of the material culture of the American Indian from his first appearance on the North American continent down to the coming of the white man. Each episode follows a general format of lecture and illustration, making use of authentic artifacts of the American Indian. Dr. Ruth Underhill, host for the series, is a nationally recognized authority in the field of American anthropology and Indian studies. She is the author of four books about the Indians, and has been active on behalf of tribes and Indian families throughout the West and Southwest. Her experience with television as a classroom medium dates from 1956, when she first began lecturing to a television audience on a variety of topics in anthropology. The 30 half-hour episodes that comprise this series were originally recorded on kinescope. (Description adapted from documents in the NET Microfiche)
