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Home / Governance and Trade (Episode 5): 1491 - The Untold Story of the Americas Before Columbus

Governance and Trade (Episode 5): 1491 - The Untold Story of the Americas Before Columbus

Maple Leaf This item is only available for Canadian orders.
This title is a part of the series 1491: The Untold Story of the Americas Before Columbus


Catalogue Number:  149105
Producer:  1491 Productions Inc.
Producers:  Hager, Barbara
Directors:  Hager, Barbara
Producing Agencies:  1491 Productions Inc.
Subject:  Anthropology, Canadian World Studies, Documentary, First Nations Studies, History, Indigenous Issues, Indigenous Peoples, Science, Social Studies, Sociology
Language:  English
Grade Level:  3 - 5, 6 - 8, 9 - 12, Post Secondary, Adult
Country Of Origin:  Canada
Copyright Year:  2018
Running Time:  44:41
Closed Captions:  Yes


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Each Indigenous nation developed its own unique governance model to manage their citizens and expand their territories. These systems ranged from patriarchal and matrilineal-based societies to complex political systems governing multi-nation empires. Complex trade networks developed to satisfy political, social and economic goals.

Program Five contains the following chapters:  

  • Governance and Trade
  • Inka Civilization
  • Maya Trade
  • Hopewell Exchange
  • Cahokia
  • Aztec Empire
  • Potlatch Society
  • Pipe Ceremony

2018 Leo Award - Best Music Composition in a Documentary Series (Russell Wallace)

2018 Leo Award - Best Screenwriting in a Documentary Series (Barbara Hager) 

2018 Leo Award - Best Documentary Series (Producers Barbara Hager, Pat Ferns, Desiree Single and Vanessa Loewen)



“1491: The Untold Story of the Americas Before Columbus is a crash-course in First Nations history that should be taught and broadcast in Canadian schools. I took history all through high school and didn’t learn anything close to what was revealed to me in the first hour of this new series. 1491 boasts 20 dramatic scenes and an Indigenous cast that provide context and blows away long-held theories that prior to European contact, Indigenous peoples were largely nomadic, did not alter the natural landscape and were not as advanced as other civilizations in the world at the time.” - TV, eh? What’s Up in Canadian Television

“The first episode of ‘1491’ is an incredible introduction to what is sure to be the most-watched series of the year...will become an important and integral learning resource for all North American educational organizations and the public at large. Congratulations on an incredibly informing, engaging, educational, enlightening and validating series!” - Lou-ann Neel, Kwakwaka’wakw artist, writer, arts administrator and advocate of authenticity in Indigneous art

“The series is produced, directed and written by Indigenous Canadians and features an Indigenous cast of actors and cultural leaders who provide context. Bolstered by input from historians, archeologists, cultural experts and scholars, most of whom have Indigenous ancestry, the series dispels long-held theories - for instance, that before contact with Europeans, Indigenous peoples were largely nomadic, and not as advanced as other civilizations at the time.” - Times Colonist


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