Native Peoples of North America

De: Daniel M. Cobb, The Great Courses

Narrado por: Daniel M. Cobb

History, for all its facts and figures, names and dates, is ultimately subjective. You learn the points of view your teachers provide, the perspectives that books offer, and the conclusions you draw yourself based on the facts you were given. Hearing different angles on historical events gives you a more insightful, accurate, and rewarding understanding of events - especially when a new viewpoint challenges the story you thought you knew.

Now the Great Courses has partnered with Smithsonian to bring you a course that will greatly expand your understanding of American history. This course, Native Peoples of North America, pairs the unmatched resources and expertise of the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian with the unparalleled knowledge of Professor Daniel M. Cobb of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to provide a multidisciplinary view of American history, revealing new perspectives on the historical and contemporary experiences of indigenous peoples and their impact on the history of our country.

This insightful and unique 24-lecture course helps disprove myths and stereotypes that many people take as fact. Professor Cobb presents a different account of the Seven Years' War, the American Revolution, the War of 1812, the Civil War, the Gold Rush, the Transcontinental Railroad, and beyond, providing the stories of the American Indian people who fought and negotiated to preserve their ancestral lands.

Native Peoples of North America recounts an epic story of resistance and accommodation, persistence and adaption, extraordinary hardship and survival across more than 500 years of colonial encounter. As the Smithsonian curators stated, "The past never changes. But the way we understand it, learn about it, and know about it changes all the time." Be prepared - this course is going to change how you understand American history. And no matter how much you know about this subject, you will be surprised.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2016 The Great Courses (P)2016 The Teaching Company, LLC

covers only part of the native American story

These lectures covered in great detail the relations between native Americans and the non-native people. I learned a lot, particularly form the perspective of the indigenous people. The indigenous peoples' perspective is usually given short shrift in popular history, so these lectures are important in presenting that point of view. The lectures, however, were not intended to be, and were not, objective in this respect. Overall, very well presented and for me, new information and perspective.

I thought that the course description was misleading. I expected the lectures to cover Indian family life, the differences between tribes and the evolution thereof, the various ways of obtaining sustenance, the various religions, social and political structure, migrations, housing, relations between the tribes, artistic expression, technological development, languages and language groups. None of this was touched on, except in the context of and for the purpose of explaining native-non-native relations. I guess these topics are for another lecture series.

About the struggle, not the peoples

What I was hoping for was to gain an understanding of the distinctions of various Native American groups. There is precious little coverage of the substance of particular native cultures. (The part covering the Iroquois is closest to what I was hoping for, but it still just scratches the surface.)

Author gives a good chronological overview of the past 500 years through native perspectives, which has its benefits. (Like getting to see how taking sides in the Revolution effected the Iroquois, for example.)

And now the rant:
It is preachy. Too preachy. Polemic. Moralizing. One-sided. Condescending toward people in history who probably did the same things we would do in their shoes, without really addressing the nuances of their motivations so we can examine the roots of their injustices in our own hearts. Instead it leaves us feeling better than them - like we’re definitely more enlightened.

Makes some good points (like the key part of “reservation” is “reserve” - they are something held back by right, not given by government).

Still I feel like I didn’t learn much about the different tribes themselves and their unique histories and cultures, which is really the gap in my knowledge I was hoping to fill with this course.

Excellent content, solid delivery.

The lecture series was informative and led me to other quality sources of information on indigenous peoples and their ways of life.

The narrator's performance was good on the whole but not perfect.

Highly informative!

This audiobook helped make the familiar stories I've heard of native American culture seem unfamiliar, from the perspective of about 500 Indian cultures subjected to 500 years of colonial encounters. It saddens me to learn of the reference to the savagery of native Americans in our 1776 Declaration of Independence.

Honest history of Native America

I absolutely loved it! it's refreshing to hear the real history and struggle of Native Americans.

History since European contact well told

I had actually been looking for a longer span of history, but was not disappointed. Most of the more recent history was unknown to me, even though I was aware of the major items from the news. That first draft of history was not so good.

Worthwhile, but frustrating

Any additional comments?
The last half of the course is much better than the first since it recounts more recent history and Native Americans are allowed to speak for themselves through their writings. In the first half, Prof. Cobb too frequently ascribes thoughts, feelings and intentions to Native historical figures who left no records on which to base such conclusions. In Lecture 4, for example, he somehow intuits Matoaka’s motives in assisting the Virginia colony and divines that her actions were orchestrated by her father, Powhatan. No evidence is cited to support this interpretation of events, and the PDF Course Guide contains no documentation other than a thin suggested reading list. Prof. Cobb may be right, but it would be nice if listeners could somehow follow the path which led him to his often revisionist view of history.

I learned so much

This gives a very different understanding of Native Americans and their contributions to our country, while showing how poorly they have been treated. So glad I invested the time in listening.

I Love The Positive Perspective

Regardless of how disheartening the information provide was Daniel kept to his theme of not playing the victim. Although many of the most courageous people lost their lives in the battle for sovereignty and although there are many disparities plaguing the community they have and continue to survive.

Native lectures

Very informative Helpful in expanding my perspectives. Thank you for this growth in diversity understanding