The Legacy of Broken Treaties | The American Buffalo | A Film by Ken Burns | PBS

Official website: to.pbs.org/buf... | #AmericanBuffaloPBS
The U.S. government made treaties with Indigenous people when it was convenient, and broke these treaties when it was inconvenient. This recurring pattern made it increasingly difficult for Native people to live - and survive - as they once had.
This program is made possible by viewers like you. Support your local PBS station: www.pbs.org/do...
Subscribe to the PBS channel for more clips: / pbs
Enjoy full episodes of your favorite PBS shows anytime, anywhere with the free PBS App: to.pbs.org/2Qb...
FOLLOW US:
Facebook: / pbs
Twitter: / pbs
Instagram: / pbs
TikTok: / pbs
Shop: shop.pbs.org/
#kenburns #buffalo
More about THE AMERICAN BUFFALO
For thousands of generations, buffalo (species bison bison) have evolved alongside Indigenous people who relied on them for food and shelter, and, in exchange for killing them, revered the animal. The stories of Native people anchor the series, including the Kiowa, Comanche, and Cheyenne of the Southern Plains; the Lakota, Salish, Kootenai, Mandan-Hidatsa, and Blackfeet from the Northern Plains; and others.
Numbering an estimated 30 million in the early 1800s, the herds began declining for a variety of reasons, including the lucrative buffalo robe trade, the steady westward settlement of an expanding United States, diseases introduced by domestic cattle, and drought. But the arrival of the railroads in the early 1870s, and a new demand for buffalo hides to be used in the belts driving industrial machines back East, brought thousands of hide hunters to the Great Plains. In just over a decade the number of bison collapsed from 12-15 million to fewer than a thousand, representing one of the most dramatic examples of our ability to destroy the natural world. By 1900, the American buffalo teetered on the brink of disappearing forever, and Native people of the Plains entered one of the most traumatic moments of their existence.

[@bawintermage8351]

Thank you PBS and Ken Burns

[@cynthiah.3015]

The theft of America 😢

[@scottmcfarland2149]

Disgusting tragedy!!!

[@keithcummings691]

I still celebrate Columbus day and not indigenous day I'm proud of my white heritage warts and all

[@evelynlamoy8483]

The buffalo are returning. People are learning the medicine. The red road is widening. it is a truly beautiful thing to see!

[@Chris-ut6eq]

Genocide by any other name is still the same crime. If this had happened one hundred years later, it would have been the world who judged the United States. Instead, we just have a few within the USA who know the shame this country has in the way we treated the native peoples, and the world is silent.

[@scottohara9001]

JFC buddy the people alive today didn’t do anything and the chances of their ancestors being pushed out from where they came from are pretty high

[@dougbowling1844]

Seems like our government still practices the same tactics

[@DoctorJoanieTool]

I watched every moment of both parts. Absolutely amazing documentary. I thought ai knew how bad it was. I didn’t. I’m sickened by the eugenics and Teddy Roosevelt’s part in it all. Ken Burns is a genius and a hero. PBS makes all of this possible. So grateful to everyone involved in these amazing works of truth and art.

[@marilynjacobs6335]

To the person who wants to know who narrates this documentary, his name is Peter Coyote. But he sounds like Henry Fonda.

[@balsamforester959]

500 nation's documentary. Kevin Costner.

[@reddeercanoe]

As a Canadian watching these videos I see the same pattern that Americans seem to ignore. The government makes treaties with Indians but due to the American system that puts personal freedom above everything else, the government can’t control it’s own people. So an individual can break a treaty and the government then sides with that individual against the Indians.

[@anthonyhill503]

American Bison

[@traviswadezinn]

Compelling, important history

[@CapeLifePlayer]

Great idea with the theme of the video set this month

[@carlray8290]

They speak with forked tongue

[@marksykes3817]

PUTIN COULD LEARN 🤔 LOTS BY STUDYING 📖 🙄 THE WHITE MAN IN AMERICA 🇺🇸 !

[@GUNUFofficial]

"Hey daniel where is that box of treaties we had?" "It's probably nothing important."

[@nativestacker4185]

The US Supreme Court ruled that ALL TREATIES are valid and must be honored by The US , this means that most of The Ceded land outside reservations and Nationalized Land is still being held in Trust until The US finishes fulfilling their obligations . Also NO AMENDMENTS to any Treaties are valid until the original Treaty has been honored in full .

[@janesda]

Ooh, it's like Palestine today

[@Unplug_333]

After searching my family history I’ve found out that my great grandmother is apart of this tribe. She worked for Queen Victoria. treaties were made and broken they only received one payment from the us. ONE!!!!! After defeating the us army the army sent more troops to fight against the tribe. We are in a time RN where our ancestors are speaking loud and now the corpses (corporations) are building underground tenements to run!!! Because they cannot break the veil!!!!!!! Can’t go up they trying to go down!!! They won’t make it!!!!! Yet before this was turtle island. It’s deep history that been hidden from the real people of the earth! All shades not just one !

[@nilsanarvaez7947]

The narrator is an actor. I know his voice, but his name won’t come to me! Help! Is the whole documentary out? Thank you Ken Burns!

[@gemmeldrakes2758]

Peter Coyote, I think.

[@nilsanarvaez7947]

@@gemmeldrakes2758 yes that’s him! Thank you!

[@cpi23]

broke my heart to learn Ken Burns gets his money from the billionaire that funded Clarence Thomas. It felt like when you'd walk into a beautiful art gallery and see it sponsored by the Sacklers.

[@jaig]

Yeah. Let's shoot the messenger

[@beepboop204]

[@miguelleon129]

Seven eleven Indians 😂

[@nickinurse6433]

We are a wandering species. Conquest is part of that. All primates band together to expand the territory, for mating rights & resources. The native Americans did this among themselves before white men got here. Killing each other & stealing from each other. The English were just a bigger tribe with better weapons. Nothing has changed. While my family didnt come over from Europe until the potatoe famon, we knew what it was like to be beaten by the english also. We Irish had our land stolen, we were slaves to the English. But just like native Americans we got passed it. Accepted the things we can not change. We have become part of the UK, part of America. It's better than crying over the past. We see in Israel what happens when the loaer if a war just cant accept it. Festering revenge for generations is madness.

[@revolutionhamburger]

How many treaties did the Indians break?

[@climbnride58]

None

[@BottomLineBassin2]

All of them

[@abdulrahmanraheem423]

Let's do a comparison between the US gov and the Native Americans.

[@revolutionhamburger]

@@abdulrahmanraheem423 It would be interesting to the US gov build huge pyramids and start practicing ritualistic human sacrifice followed by celebratory communal cannibalism. That would be one comparison between the Natives and the colonialists.

[@BottomLineBassin2]

@@revolutionhamburger Well said

[@Cowskiman]

Natives got wrecked

[@jonsupp1744]

👌