The Mississippi - A journey through the heart of America | DW Documentary

The Mississippi stretches from the glacial lakes in northern Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico. For many Americans, the mighty, almost 4,000-kilometer-long river is closely linked to the nation's history.
People have lived along these riverbanks for several thousand years. Today, the river unites many different cultures and is considered the soul of America. When the Europeans arrived, they colonized the land here, killing and displacing the indigenous peoples. But before that, the Choctaw people lived between present-day Memphis and the mouth of the river near New Orleans. Today, their descendants form the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians.
But these central American regions have an image problem. "Flyover states" - places that you only fly over - has become a catchphrase. But if you take a closer look, you’ll discover small and large wonders here, including unique cultures and almost overwhelming nature, as well as old traditions imbued with new life.
Many things are being rediscovered on the banks of the Mississippi, including voodoo in New Orleans. Voodoo has been at home here for a long time and no longer needs to hide itself. Formerly demonized, people are now looking more and more respectfully at the religion.
The film takes us on a journey from the birthplace of rock'n'roll, Memphis, to the mighty delta of the Mississippi.
#documentary #dwdocumentary
______
DW Documentary gives you knowledge beyond the headlines. Watch top documentaries from German broadcasters and international production companies. Meet intriguing people, travel to distant lands, get a look behind the complexities of daily life and build a deeper understanding of current affairs and global events. Subscribe and explore the world around you with DW Documentary.
Subscribe to:
⮞ DW Documentary (English): / dwdocumentary
⮞ DW Documental (Spanish): / dwdocumental
⮞ DW Documentary وثائقية دي دبليو (Arabic): / dwdocarabia
⮞ DW Doku (German): / dwdoku
⮞ DW Documentary हिन्दी (Hindi): / dwdochindi
For more visit: www.dw.com/en/tv/docfilm/s-3610
Follow DW Documentary on Instagram: / dwdocumentary
Follow DW Documental on Facebook: / dwdocumental
We kindly ask viewers to read and stick to the DW netiquette policy on our channel: p.dw.com/p/MF1G

[@ColeyMing]

Always looking forward to DW docus. So educational as always

[@DWDocumentary]

Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment.

[@abdulgezawa683]

Absolutely! Just understand this is where they got the phrase “Sold Down the River” 😂 very educational as usual

[@annehersey9895]

Thanks again DW, for another great documentary! A native Californian, I am well versed in my country west of the Rocky Mountains but little about states east of there! This was a great glimpse of life along the Southern Mississippi.

[@ekno2506]

Thank you for making this wonderful documentary. My best wishes to the people of the Choctaw Nation! ❤

[@DWDocumentary]

Thanks for watching and for the feedback!

[@GloryDaze73]

Would like to see a longer documentary about the preservation of the Great Mississippi River. 😊

[@somaghosh2960]

After many days discussion centered around the river by DW documentary. Thank you.

[@abdulgezawa683]

DW make the best documentary ever. Im a big fan for years now. Kudos! 🎉

[@DWDocumentary]

Thank you for watching!

[@Anewfoundmindset]

This Is so True, Such a great doc. about America !

[@thalyatherese]

I just started following DW Documentary and I must say I am learning and unlearning a lot,I can't wait to share this with my network. Greetings from an anspring environmentalist and visual designer from Cameroon😉

[@RobertoPoncebk]

Sacred old river, impressive! ❤

[@El.Duder-ino]

Beautiful docu only from DW, thank u folks! U seriously need to make ALL of your docus available for download, including those u have removed and not even have accessible on your site.

[@GloryDaze73]

❤wonderful variety of stories and people. Great to learn more about different cultures with horses, cars, ecology etc.

[@c.p379]

Mississippi River is HUGE very underrated

[@MattTee1975]

How is it underrated? It's literally the most known river in the country, and possibly the entire world.

[@ModAMPM]

@@MattTee1975 Almost never when someone says something is underrated is it actually underrated. People value the Mississippi an appropriate amount.

[@BalboaBaggins]

@@MattTee1975 Stop overusing the word literally.

[@Anewfoundmindset]

LOve you all.. from Newfoundland

[@latigresadragon8]

Great doc thank you. *Extra credit for using some of the soundtrack from thelma & louise*

[@jmigoe75]

Wonderful documentary. Thank you for sharing these stories...

[@DWDocumentary]

Thanks for watching!

[@natu662]

This is amazing

[@amitKamble-mq4cw]

Mississippi river 😮😮

[@5GFarms]

Kudos for spelling it correctly! 😆

[@NguyenVinh-di6rl]

Great documentary. Thanks DW ❤

[@DWDocumentary]

Thanks a lot for watching and for your positive feedback. We appreciate you taking the time to comment and are glad you like our content!

[@RamaKrishnan-ml3mt]

Choctaw- mother mount- river- 🌎 earth...🌊🙏

[@user-cd1tt4le7h]

Louis Armstrong was discovered by New Orleans riverboat Captain Verne Streckfus, who brought Armstrong out from a French Quarter bar to play on the boat.

[@pissiole5654]

My questions is who discovered Captain Streckfus

[@Julia20508]

Loved this documentary. I've always wanted to visit the South. Might do one day to try the food and see the cultures.

[@user-mt8xk5zz7b]

Ireland will always be great full to the Choctaw people for their help during the Irish famine. We have built a beautiful monument in their honour.🇮🇪☘️

[@_GenePaul]

What a beautiful area. Great story. I'd love to travel to see it in it's natural beauty.

[@surferrosa8392]

What a pleasure seeing the African American cowboys pass along that aspect of their heritage to the younger generation.

[@BalboaBaggins]

What? Eating hamburgers and drinking coke?

[@davidcockrill7115]

"It’s important to note that although the mounds were named after the Cahokia tribe of the Illiniwek confederacy who arrived in the 17th century, they were not the original inhabitants. The original name of the city is shrouded in mystery." I lived nearby and attended Shawnee College. I visited the Mounds state park. I remember a historical plaque that read the original people moved away and who they were was a mystery.

[@lokeshgsadhmaya5499]

Love for dw.❤ Keep growing

[@DWDocumentary]

Thanks for watching!

[@7r3v0rc]

Amazing!

[@peterkinyoko6045]

nice work dw

[@grahamhorne6956]

A fabulous documentary but would like to have seen much more of the river especially its source.

[@visavo]

The legendary Choctaw Nation!!! Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians

[@farhadeditingandtechtube8832]

That's a nice doc..dw kudos

[@andahtheo4237]

America America America. God bless this country

[@Allen667sjja]

When I was in nursing school I asked if they had any “study abroad” programs. They told me that they used to do Haiti but stopped because apparently someone got murdered there, but they had Mississippi lol. Their was visible disappointment on my advisors face when I wasn’t interested

[@Allen667sjja]

There’s alottt of Red Cross and other health programs that try to do work in Mississippi due to the conditions there. I’ve heard of a story from one professor who went and said one woman even had a dirt floor (and two otherwise healthy kids), just shocked me to hear that existed here in the US.

[@Lisa1111]

One's assistance and learning is everywhere!

[@user-zb6fk1fq5j]

the film's English accent is very clear for a foreign audience. I enjoy listen to the story.

[@vitpham9722]

Great documentary. Little sad that music from the Delta was highlighted but a Mumford & Sons song was chosen to play in the background for most it..

[@marianfrances4959]

Awesome!! 👍😎🇨🇦

[@DanKonyak]

Sending ❤ to Messippi people from Nagaland! I want to visit, maybe if God grant me in the future. 😊

[@user-ys3ij9dy3i]

Just realised that Mississippi river isn't the longest river in U.S.Its Missouri River!! 😮

[@randomchannel-px6ho]

Which dumps onto the might Miss.

[@GloryDaze73]

But such an Interesting river though with lots of culture and mixed backgrounds.

[@jacobkuntflapp]

An Australian narrator with Germans production making a documentary on the Mississippi.

[@user-dt7wx5tk8k]

We also have mississipi river in Meru,Kenya .

[@pepelepewpewpew8573]

When she started singing Dumped

[@QuokkaInnerSpaceofCalm-qw7kg]

Nice.Very Nice

[@mohammedsaysrashid3587]

It was a wonderful documentary shared by an excellent ( DW) .video about a certain Indian tribe's native red Indian cultures. Documentary focused on Chikto tribe culture on Mississippi River ... thanks for sharing

[@ModAMPM]

I was waiting for the casino. Not disappointed.

[@randomchannel-px6ho]

Weh - Yah - Weh - Yah -Weh - Yah... יהוה‎

[@JynxFreeman]

I wish we would try to save more of our land in general... Although it seems farm's are not exactly enough to produce what's needed...

[@Alaskan-Armadillo]

Even though I live in the states the United States South/Mississippi River has always been an anomaly to me.

[@michaelfantus9656]

Chocktaw is Hebrew for "His Laugh," AKA Isaac, the Number is 1075, "Outcast, come home and we will reset."

[@EmilyKresl]

Is there a Hebrew meaning for Ojibwe, Navajo, Winnebago, Cherokee or Menominee?

[@asadbhuiyan5719]

Is my country beauty,, God bless USA ❤

[@gamingtonight1526]

The Mississippi has all sorts of problems currently. Having a huge impact on food distribution...

[@hinthegroove9740]

One Mississippi, two Mississippi…

[@bamanbuchem9885]

These are the real Americans

[@gilberttello08]

👌👌

[@EmilyKresl]

This was cool and everything but I still don't really know anything new about the Mississippi and I'm kinda bummed out you didn't even mention Wisconsin.

[@christopherlane9700]

BB King and Elvis are from Mississippi, and Louis Armstrong is more of a Louisiana legend.

[@RobertoPoncebk]

Correcto ❤

[@DeniseSkinner68DeniseSkinner68]

Thumbs up for Jhon Wayne a real cowboy 😅 with a personal blacksmith

[@DhooomKetu]

One Mississippi two Mississippi three Mississippi

[@frankthetank6558]

I want to do a journey from Leadville to little rock then the gulf, any way you would like to be apart?

[@frankthetank6558]

P.s. All by boat

[@danielgc1970]

This isn't about the river.

[@tysone1254]

exactly

[@Pasha8204]

Need 4k, go 1 billions km² 300 millions km² land!

[@bayersbluebayoubioweapon8477]

There were once pirates along this river, such as the former commander of Fort Henry, Samuel Mason, who was a hero in the founding of America

[@alexhope212009]

Seen a mound like that in Britain, apparently druids built it over centuries of praying to a local god and offerring small amounts of soil.

[@visavo]

Nanih Waiya

[@fowmart]

I like how the first place they go is over 100 miles from the Mississippi River

[@lisadolan689]

It’s called ‘context’. It’s a standard film making tool used to establish the connection or ‘context’ with the ‘greater’ overall narrative of the documentary. But hey, good for you 😉😉🤗😂😂😂😂

[@fowmart]

@@lisadolan689 what

[@streetsarecold]

more about this river-youtube real life lore

[@jodatkhan7648]

I think whoever is the author of this documentary did not do a great job. You should have started the doc by giving us details about Mississippi River, it’s history and geography but author has started diving into cultures instead

[@gardenlifelove9815]

I wish I could learn about ALL of America's native history. It sickens me that we have all been taught lies and a different way than what actually happened. It's all nothing but a giant cover up that is still being pulled out tooth by tooth.

[@d.wagnerRE]

I love a car show and the prom as much as anybody else I didn’t see very much on the Mississippi river. What I did see is 4 commercial breaks.l so I turned it off before it ended

[@abdulahaduygur6811]

Why did you delete the documentary you made about Uyghurs?

[@SkepticalTeacher]

M I double S I double S I double P I! 😂

[@darshanselghare6435]

Unsatisfactory they just talked about culture But what about the river

[@Limewire1984]

Mississippi - Was looking forward to some "Poor Boys."

[@davechristian7543]

why is an aussie speaking i wonder my child? Dockland greatest country in the world as us Aussies r a special type of racist pmsl.

[@user-wl1pf7xc6q]

Man, I think this was the worst DW documentary that I've come across so far. It's great that it showed some highly underrepresented cultures and I suppose you have to talk about the music scene a bit, but it's astounding how much got left out. St. Louis and the area where the Ohio and Missouri rivers meet the Mississippi don't exist and the river's the whole reason why Grant's Vicksburg campaign was so important, but they don't exist, either. There were some mentions about trade, but not about the steamships nor the Sultana disaster, which exploded near Memphis, and Mark Twain's probably the most famous author associated with the Mississippi. And finally, talking about Louisiana's erosion is definitely important, but the Mississippi also carries a ton of agricultural products downstream so uncontrolled algae growth has caused a massive dead zone in the Gulf. But hey, we got to watch a car show.

[@monsieurVi]

😌

[@WaynoGur]

Disappointing. I live in Southern Arizona in the shadow of the Colorado River. I'd have hoped you would have discussed the headwaters of the Mississippi, it's importance to commerce and trade, recreational uses, it's impact on farming, water rights, etc. Instead they concentrated on vignettes that, for the most part, had little to do with the river.

[@GillGuidesU]

There are other documentaries highlighting your concerns.

[@GloryDaze73]

Maybe they'll make another documentary. You have a good point.

[@Lisa1111]

God Did Not Plan for His children to be shoved aside by another man with a different history! ❤

[@weejatlarge5329]

What does this mean

[@ekkolima]

Use context clues.

[@Lisa1111]

Just what exactly needs to hit you in your noggin?

[@DeJulius_Caesar]

And how do you know what god planned or didn’t plan? If it happened, that means that god wanted it. Get out of here with your bs 😂

[@archibaldsamu5873]

God doesn't interfer in the matters of men

[@BalboaBaggins]

This video has 255 dislikes.

[@Worldaffairslover]

Most remarkable country to ever exist 🇺🇸 🦅

[@tafri961]

Funny that native americans are called Indians ...

[@Toads-pt2su]

Typical American why does everything have to be massive from steaks to rivers everything is massive,,😂

[@georgeg6036]

Such a great subject but the writing is horrible.

[@tsyka1]

Julie is very hot!

[@Titbitist]

well, they are americans on paper atleast

[@sabihatanveer8494]

The OG☻🐂boys 💌

[@rzomg]

Who is Hollywood? It is a better question.

[@parkingcase1447]

First

[@TheStockwell]

How sad an "achievement" that is. 🙄

[@Toads-pt2su]

AND,,? Umm DOH,,👎👺👺

[@parkingcase1447]

@@Toads-pt2su always wanted to write :D

[@user-ro8qq7nx3t]

Meh, mildly interesting.

[@nigusemandefero9065]

“…after the civil war, one in every four cowboys was black. But Hollywood wrote them out history.”

[@ericstevenson2188]

While I greatly appreciate many of DW's documentaries I must bring up a point of terminology that can be viewed as problematic at best that of "settlement" by Europeans in the Americas. All of these lands were settled long before Europeans even knew they were here. To claim otherwise is pejorative at best. I am sure this was not the intent and editing will occur in future work.

[@GrantDWilliams82]

No they weren't. The largest "city" was only the size of a very small modern town. Randomly building a hut a few times isn't "settling." A place. Vaguely waving your hand out towards the horizon and being like "I my dad or my great great grandfather built a temporary hut somewhere over there one time" isn't settlement. Stop diluting words. 99% of North America was never actually settled. No particular part of it ever belonged to anyone in particular, in any meaningful sense.

[@leandrodiaz851]

Correct the title, it is the US. America is the entire continent.

[@mistacoolie8481]

lowering standards DW.

[@takuan650]

Good ol' bland American conservatism along a troubled waterway. Coke , burgers, Mustang's, cowboys etc. America is on the rise again. Didn't manage to watch this pulp to the end.

[@johnydaa]

Make documentary about palenstine ... not this nonsense about mississippi

[@danielgardner394]

The Mississippi is a very long river. Thanks for the info on a couple miles of it. The old cars tossed in made so much sense. Lol! Bye!