The story of how North America was discovered is told through the eyes of the Native Americans and the European newcomers. A magnificent ensemble of paintings, photographs, wildlife films, and Native Americans voicing the words of their ancestors.

At the beginning of the 17th century, three ships arrive in "The New World," to found the settlement of Jamestown, in what will become the colony of Virginia. The English see a pristine Eden, and the inhabitants of the great native civilization see invaders. Captain John Smith -- sent on a reconnaissance mission to scope out "the Naturals'" fortifications -- is quickly captured and sentenced to death by the chief. At the last moment the chief's favorite...

A recreation of the first Thanksgiving reveals the actual events during the three days that the Wampanoag people and the colonists came together.

When Europeans first arrived in North America, they found an often harsh and unfamiliar land in the grip of the coldest age for millennia: the "Little Ice Age." Spanish, French, and English alike faced a century of disasters, setbacks, and failures on the way to their first enduring footholds on the continent. All the while, the vagaries and extremes of North America's Little Ice Age climate posed new threats and challenges, shaping the course of...

"In Masters of Empire, the historian Michael A. McDonnell reveals the pivotal role played by the native peoples of the Great Lakes in the history of North America. Though less well known than the Iroquois or Sioux, the Anishinaabeg, who lived across Lakes Michigan and Huron, were equally influential. Masters of Empire charts the story of one group, the Odawa, who settled at the straits between those two lakes, a hub for trade and diplomacy throughout...