PBS to air series on American Indians in Ohio

the vindicator

KENT — “We Shall Remain,” the new American Experience miniseries about American Indians, will air nationally on PBS stations beginning Monday at 9 p.m. Western Reserve PBS will celebrate the premiere by airing its own production, “One State, Many Nations: Native Americans of Ohio” at 10:30 p.m., directly after the first episode of the program. “We Shall Remain” will continue on Mondays through May 11. Encore presentations of “One State, Many Nations” will air Wednesday at 4:30 a.m., April 19 at 10:30 p.m. and April 21 at 4:30 a.m.

Originally created as a multimedia educational package for educators, “One State, Many Nations” is a half-hour production that looks at the cultural and historical heritage of Ohio’s American Indian tribes. Topics covered include prehistoric Ohioans, tribes’ spirituality, the decline of American Indians and influences today. A Web site, http://westernreservepublicmedia.org/onestate/index.htm, provides additional resources. “Many schools have used the lesson plans, videos and Web site since ‘One State, Many Nations’ was created in 2004,” said Maria Mastromatteo, Western Reserve PBS educational content producer. “The premiere of ‘We Shall Remain’ gives us an outstanding opportunity to share our own production with our viewers outside the classroom.”

The American Experience production of “We Shall Remain,” which is narrated by Benjamin Bratt, is a multimedia project that establishes American Indian history as an essential part of American history. Five 90-minute documentaries spanning 300 years tell the story of pivotal moments in U.S. history from the American Indian perspective.