Explore the splendor and ingenuity of the world created by America’s First Peoples, 15,000 years ago. Combining modern science with Native knowledge, the series shines a spotlight on these ancient cultures and the communities that still thrive today.
9 p.m.
From Caves to Cosmos
Who are America’s First Peoples and how did they create their unique world? Answers emerge from Hopi Elders on pilgrimage at sacred Chaco Canyon in the New Mexico desert, scientists examining ancient cave painting in the Amazon jungle, Chumash boat builders exploring their tribe’s ancient migration legacy off California’s coast, and an archaeologist digging deep below a towering pyramid near Mexico City.
10 p.m.
Nature to Nations
Explore the rise of great American nations, from dynastic monarchies to participatory democracies. What lies behind these diverse and sophisticated governments? Answers emerge from an archaeologist excavating America’s oldest temple in the Peruvian Andes, a tribe initiating a new chief at a ceremony surrounded by cedar totem poles in the Pacific Northwest, an expert reading ancient hieroglyphs from a sarcophagus to tell a forgotten history of Maya kings, and the return of an ancient shell wampum belt to the birthplace of democracy near Syracuse, New York.
Native America, Tuesday, beginning at 9 p.m. on PBS 6.
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