# 500 Nations (1995)

> An eight-part documentary chronicling the many nations of North and Central America from pre-Columbian times to the close of the nineteenth century.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/6031

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 8
- Episode runtime: 60 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: documentary, history
- Network: CBS
- Cast: Kevin Costner, Gordon Tootoosis, Tom Jackson, Timothy Bottoms, Castulo Guerra, Edward James Olmos, Tony Plana, Patrick Stewart
- TMDB rating: 8.5/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111868/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: moderate
- Tone: solemn, reflective, respectful, elegiac, earnest

## What critics say

Critics respected the series' ambition and its use of Native voices to tell a continental history, but found its broad sweep superficial in places and its celebrity host distracting.

## Synopsis

500 Nations (1995) is a US documentary miniseries created for CBS, a single eight-episode run of one-hour installments. Hosted by Kevin Costner, with narration by Gregory Harrison, it surveys the many indigenous nations of North and Central America from the pre-Columbian era to the end of the nineteenth century. Rather than following a single protagonist, the series builds its story from eyewitness accounts, pictorial records and computer graphic reconstructions of ancient cities and daily life. Voice performances by Native actors including Eric Schweig, Gordon Tootoosis, Wes Studi and Tantoo Cardinal, along with Edward James Olmos and Patrick Stewart, give the historical testimony its emotional weight. Each episode moves across regions and centuries, showing how these cultures lived, adapted and endured colonial encounters. The tone is solemn, reflective and respectful, with an earnest insistence on recognition and dignity for peoples too often left out of the national story. Viewers drawn to the epic sweep of a history documentary, the reenactment style of Civilization, or the cultural scope of The Conquistadors will find resonance in its patient, panoramic approach to the past.

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