Uncover some of the hidden histories of the period between the late 1920s and early 1940s as you learn how Native Americans set about making a New Deal for themselves and their communities during an era of uncertainty and convulsive change for the nation at large. You'll also get an introduction to the Indian New Deal.

Delve deeper into the struggle for lands in the Plains between the 1850s and the 1870s. You'll meet the fighters you've heard of, such as Sitting Bull, as well as those you may not have heard about, such as the Hunkpapa Gall. You'll also see the negative repercussions of the 1869 completion of the Transcontinental Railroad.

By 1887, the West was changing faster than ever before. Americans were moved by the same impulses that had always moved them, to better their own lives and transform the region in the process. Now their numbers soared, and they brought with them the tools of the new industrial age. Mining still lured people to the West from every corner of the globe, but it was a full-scale industry now. And the cities it created seemed little different from the grimy...

In 1971 Wandjuk Marika organised a Djang’kawu ceremony at Yirrkala. It was to be a memorial for his father, Mawalan, who died in 1967. Mawalan had been the highly respected head of the Rirratjingu clan, for whom the Djang’kawu are primary Creator Ancestors. The two Djang’kawu Sisters came from across the sea and travelled through northeast Arnhem Land, shaping the landscape and giving birth to the first children of the Dhuwa moiety. The Djang’kawu...

Examine the cultures that existed prior to the Spanish Invasion, the struggle for power through Hernando de Soto's entrada through the Southeast, and the Pueblo War for Independence in the Southwest. Dr. Cobb introduces the Native American worlds that were born in the aftermath of these transformative events.

A kangaroo has been shot. A man of the Western Desert guts it using the stone in the handle of his spear-thrower. After singeing off the fur in a blazing fire. The kangaroo is cooked in a trench covered with glowing ashes and soil. The cooked kangaroo is cut up according to custom.

In two separate sequences - A man of the Western desert demonstrates spear making, he uses a mulga tree for the shaft and shapes it with a metal axe. His sons play at spear fighting with toy spears.

A man of the Western Desert who is a mapantjara or healer operates on another man who has a headache. He takes powerful bones from his stomach and pushes these into the patients head. He then sucks at the back of his patients head to draw out the sickness.

In three separate sequences - An old deserted camp site in the Western Desert; A woman mends a cracked wooden dish with spinifex gum; A woman demonstrates the preparation of a headache lotion from Quandong fruit.

Every Year in New Orleans, Louisiana the Mardis Gras Indian tribes gather on the Sunday closest to St. Joseph’s Day to celebrate their pride and joy. Influenced by his father Les Blank, son Harrod Blank joins the parade with his camera. This is a tribute piece to “*Always for Pleasure*”.