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Hello, I'm Kevin Costner.

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Welcome to 500 Nations.

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The settling of this country has always
been of interest to me.

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It's fired my imagination and shaped my
life both personally and professionally.

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But my knowledge of history has been
limited by what I was taught.

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As far as I was concerned, the history
of the continent started 500 years ago

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when Columbus discovered the New World.

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But we know that's not true.

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There were people here.

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So how is it we know so little about
this past, the human history of North

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America, our own story?

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Could it be that we don't think it
worthy of mention?

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The way history has remembered the
ancient civilizations of Greece, Rome,

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or China?

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The truth is we have a story worth
talking about.

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We have a history worth celebrating.

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Long before the first Europeans arrived
here, there were some 500 nations

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already in North America.

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They blanketed the continent from coast
to coast, from Central America to the

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Arctic.

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There were tens of millions of people
here speaking over 300 languages.

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Many of them lived in beautiful cities,
among the largest and most advanced in

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the world.

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In the coming hours, 500 Nations looks
back on these ancient cultures, how they

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lived and how many survived.

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We turn for guidance to hundreds of
Indian people across the continent.

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You'll meet many of them in our
programs.

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To bring the past alive, we searched
archives for the oldest and most

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images of Indian people.

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We sought out rare books and manuscripts
for the actual words of participants

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and eyewitnesses to history.

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Our camera crews traveled throughout
North America to film at the actual

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where important events in Indian history
occurred.

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We filmed incredible treasures of Indian
creativity from museums across North

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America and Europe.

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Historians and archaeologists work with
visual artists and advanced computer

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technology to allow us for the first
time to walk through virtual realities

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ancient Indian worlds.

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What you're about to see is what
happened.

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It's not all that happened, and it's not
always pleasant.

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We can't change that.

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We can't turn back the clock.

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But we can open our eyes and give the
First Nations of this land the

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and respect they deserve, their rightful
place in the history of the world.

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With that in mind, we take you first to
where our story ends, on the Great

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Plains in the late 1800s.

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The rumor got about the school.

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The dead are to return.

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The buffalo are to return.

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The Lakota people will get back their
own way of life.

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That part about the dead returning was
what appealed to me.

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To think I should see my dear mother,
grandmother, brothers and sisters again.

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But boy, like, I soon forgot about it.

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until one night when I was rudely
awakened in the dormitory.

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Get up.

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Put your clothes on and slip downstairs.

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We are running away.

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A boy was hissing into my ear.

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Soon 50 of us little boys, about 8 to
10, started out across country, over

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and valleys, running all night.

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I know now that we ran almost 30 miles.

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There on the Porcupine Creek, thousands
of Lakota people were in camp.

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By the late 1880s, a message of hope
spread across the Great Plains.

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It was called the Ghost Dance, a dance
to restore the past when Indian nations

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were free.

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They danced without rest, on and on.

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Occasionally, someone thoroughly
exhausted and dizzy fell unconscious

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center and lay there dead.

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The visions ended the same way, like a
chorus describing a great encampment of

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all the Lakotas who had ever died, where
there was no sorrow, but only joy,

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where relatives thronged out with happy
laughter.

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The people went on and on and could not
stop.

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And so I suppose the authorities did
think they were crazy.

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But they weren't.

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They were only terribly unhappy.

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Driven off their lands, Indian nations
were confined to desolate reservations,

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dependent on corrupt government agencies
for food and supplies.

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The people were desperate from
starvation.

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We felt that we were mocked in our
misery.

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We held our dying children and felt
their little bodies tremble as their

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went out and left only a dead weight in
our hands.

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Red Cloud, Oglala.

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The ghost dance hurt no one, but as it
spread, white settlers panicked. The

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United States government outlawed the
dance.

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The white men were frightened and called
for soldiers.

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We had begged for life, and the white
men thought we wanted theirs.

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On a mild day just after Christmas of
1890, a band of Hokwoju Sioux, under

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leader Bigfoot, left the Cheyenne River
Agency in South Dakota.

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heading for a meeting at Pine Ridge with
Oglala leader Red Cloud.

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Traveling with Bigfoot were 106 men and
252 women and children.

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Among them was a boy, Dewey Beard, who
would later tell his children and

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grandchildren about that day.

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Grandpa Dewey Beard being the last
survivor, I would listen to what he had

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say.

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It's beautiful because it's bringing
back history.

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One thing that he would say is that had
the soldiers, had the government left

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them alone, in time they would have
looked outside and seen how things were

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changing and the change would come about
from within the bands.

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Bigfoot's band was intercepted by the
7th Cavalry.

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The officer in charge found Bigfoot
wrapped in heavy blankets, dying from

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pneumonia in the back of a wagon.

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Bigfoot was ordered to make camp along
Wounded Knee Creek.

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In the morning, his people would be
stripped of their weapons and escorted

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Pine Ridge.

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Bigfoot made assurances of his peaceful
intentions, and the band made camp.

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He's a peaceful man. He's always say
that think about the elderly, think

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the children and the woman.

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And don't start the trouble.

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Morning broke after a sleepless night
surrounded by soldiers.

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Hakwoju witnesses would later recall
what happened next.

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Bigfoot, who was sick, came up with a
flag of truce tied to a stick.

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Dewey Beard.

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As soldiers trained their guns on them,
Bigfoot and his men brought forth all

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their weapons, placing them near the
white flag of truce Bigfoot had planted

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front of his lodge.

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The soldiers then searched their tents
and wagons for arms, even confiscating

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cooking and sewing tools.

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As Bigfoot's people gathered around the
flag of truce outside his tent, four

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powerful Hotchkiss rapid -repeating guns
were mounted above the camp.

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I noticed that they were erecting
cannons up here, also hauling up quite a

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of ammunition for it.

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They encircled us like a band of sheep.

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I could see that there was commotion
amongst the soldiers, and I saw on

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back they had their guns in position
ready to fire.

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Thomas Tibbles, a white reporter who
followed the troops to Wounded Knee,

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recorded what happened next.

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Suddenly I heard a single shot from the
direction of the troops.

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Then three or four, a few more, and
immediately a volley.

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At once came a general rattle of rifle
firing.

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Then the Hotchkiss gun.

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An awful noise was heard, and I was
paralyzed.

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for a time.

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Then my head cleared and I saw nearly
all the people on the ground

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bleeding.

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My father, my mother, my grandmother,

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my older brother, and my younger brother
were all

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killed.

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And he saw his mother walking toward
him. She was walking along, and she was

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shot.

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Dewey, she said, keep walking, my son.

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She said, keep going.

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She said, I'm going to die.

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And that was the last time he saw his
mother.

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The women, as they were fleeing with
their babies, were killed together, shot

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right through.

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and after most of them had been killed,
a cry was made that all those not killed

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or wounded should come forth and they
would be safe.

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Little boys came out of their places of
refuge, and as soon as they came in

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sight, a number of soldiers surrounded
them and butchered them there.

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American Horse, Oglala.

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The firing continued for an hour or two,
wherever a soldier saw a sign of life.

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With the sunset, the weather turned
intensely cold.

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About 7 o 'clock that night, the 7th
Cavalry brought in the long train of

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and wounded soldiers and Indians from
Wounded Knee.

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49 wounded Sioux women and children had
been piled into a few old wagons.

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The wounded Indian women and children.

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were eventually carried into an agency
church where they lay in silence on the

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floor beneath a pulpit decorated with a
Christmas banner reading, Peace on

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Earth, Goodwill to Men.

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Nothing I have seen in my whole life
ever affected or depressed or haunted me

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like the scenes I saw that night in that
church.

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One, unwounded.

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Old woman held a baby on her lap.

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I handed a cup of water to the old
woman, telling her, give it to the

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grabbed it as if parched with thirst.

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As he swallowed it hurriedly, I saw it
gush right out again.

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A blood -stained stream through a hole
in her neck.

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Heart -sick, I went to find the surgeon.

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For a moment, he stood there near the
door, looking over the mass of suffering

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and dying women and children.

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Ah, the silence.

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The silence they kept was so complete it
was oppressive.

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And then to my amazement, I saw that the
surgeon, who I knew had served in the

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Civil War, attending the wounded from
wilderness to Appomattox, he began to

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pale.

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This is the first time I've seen a lot
of women and children shot to pieces, he

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said.

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And I can't stand it.

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Thomas Tibbles, reporter.

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For three days, the frozen bodies of the
dead, including Bigfoot, lay where they

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fell at Wounded Knee.

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Finally, the army dug a large trench at
the massacre site.

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Then, as they collected the bodies, a
blanket was seen moving.

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Beneath it, snuggled against her dead
mother, was a baby girl.

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The official military history is called
Wounded Knee, the last battle in the

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Indian Wars.

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But the tenacious struggle for Indian
survival, as symbolized by a child

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clinging to life for three days on a
frozen field, continues to this day.

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500 nations will follow a path that
covers thousands of years and will bring

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full circle to 1890.

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In this hour, we will travel back in
time to three stunning civilizations.

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that flourished long before the arrival
of Europeans, to the Anasazi of the

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Southwest, the mound builders of the
Mississippi, and the great pyramid

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of the Maya.

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But when we return, we'll go back even
farther, to creation, as seen through

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eyes of Indian people.

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When Earth was still young and giants
still roamed the Earth, a great sickness

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came upon them.

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All of them died, except for a small
boy.

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One day while he was playing, a snake
bit him.

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The boy cried and cried.

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The blood came out, and finally he died.

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With his tears our lakes became.

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With his blood, the red clay became.

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With his body, our mountains became.

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And that was how Earth became.

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Taos Pueblo.

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Pleasant it looked, this newly created
world.

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Along the entire length and breadth of
the Earth, our grandmother extended the

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green reflection of her covering, and
the escaping odors were pleasant to

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inhale.

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Winnebago.

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God created the Indian country, and that
was the time this river started to run.

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Then God created fish in this river and
put deer in the mountains.

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Then the Creator gave Indians life.

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We walked, and as soon as we saw the
game and fish, we knew they were made

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us.

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My strength, my blood is from the fish.

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from the roots and berries and game.

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I did not come here.

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I was put here by the Creator.

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In the Old

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Testament, Adam and Eve were forced from
the Garden of Creation and

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expelled to a cruel world.

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For most North American Indian nations,
it was and is very different.

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They stayed in the garden, the place of
their creation, the single place on

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earth most perfect for them.

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The crow country is a good country.

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The creator has put it exactly in the
right place.

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While you are in it, you fare well.

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Whenever you go out of it, whichever way
you travel, you fare worse.

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The crow country is exactly in the right
place.

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Allapuish. Crow.

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There is a song in everything.

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Mdegs. Tim Shen.

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Make my eyes ever behold the red and
purple sunsets.

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Make me wise so that I may know the
things you have taught my people, the

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lessons you have hidden in every leaf
and rock.

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00:20:27,900 --> 00:20:34,080
Make me ever ready to come to you with
clean hands and straight eye so that

240
00:20:34,080 --> 00:20:39,080
life fades as the fading sunset, my
spirit may come to you without shame.

241
00:20:39,960 --> 00:20:42,360
Tom Whitecloud, Ojibwe.

242
00:21:02,220 --> 00:21:07,360
To the outsider, the sun -beaten deserts
of the American Southwest are a harsh

243
00:21:07,360 --> 00:21:10,960
and unforgiving land, reluctant to
support life.

244
00:21:14,600 --> 00:21:19,240
To the ancient people who lived there,
it was a place where the Creator

245
00:21:19,240 --> 00:21:20,240
everything.

246
00:21:22,300 --> 00:21:26,620
There is nothing there that you can see,
even to this day.

247
00:21:27,320 --> 00:21:28,380
Very little vegetation.

248
00:21:28,900 --> 00:21:30,920
You see a lot of rocks. You see a lot of
sand.

249
00:21:31,880 --> 00:21:35,820
The Hopis, the world was maintained that
that's a chosen place for them. It was

250
00:21:35,820 --> 00:21:39,440
chosen for them by the creator, the
great spirit for the Hopis.

251
00:21:41,440 --> 00:21:45,740
The ancient people of the desert were
the ancestors of all the modern Pueblo

252
00:21:45,740 --> 00:21:50,380
nations. To their Hopi descendants, they
are known as the Hisatsunam.

253
00:21:50,980 --> 00:21:54,960
But to most of the world, they are known
by the Navajo name, Anasazi.

254
00:21:57,320 --> 00:22:02,740
Around 900 A .D., The Anasazi flourished
in a wide circle covering parts of

255
00:22:02,740 --> 00:22:06,440
modern -day Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and
New Mexico.

256
00:22:22,880 --> 00:22:25,980
The Anasazi found balance with their
world.

257
00:22:26,280 --> 00:22:30,090
They learned where to find water, and
how to harness it.

258
00:22:30,950 --> 00:22:35,330
Villages joined together to build dams,
reservoirs and irrigation canals,

259
00:22:35,490 --> 00:22:38,530
turning deserts into gardens of corn and
squash.

260
00:22:40,730 --> 00:22:43,830
They were a people intimately connected
to their land.

261
00:22:45,130 --> 00:22:48,970
In a very real sense, they emerged from
it.

262
00:22:53,690 --> 00:22:58,540
Generations before the time of Christ,
The Anasazi lived in subterranean pit

263
00:22:58,540 --> 00:23:04,400
houses, sunken homes with stonework
walls and broad, strong roofs,

264
00:23:04,400 --> 00:23:07,940
protection against the searing sun and
bitter cold of the desert.

265
00:23:10,200 --> 00:23:14,780
With time, they adapted their above
-ground storage houses into living

266
00:23:15,280 --> 00:23:17,920
But the underground pit houses were not
abandoned.

267
00:23:18,840 --> 00:23:24,540
They were retained as spiritual places
of teaching, the place of origin.

268
00:23:25,520 --> 00:23:26,520
The Kiva.

269
00:23:29,820 --> 00:23:34,940
100 years before the first Gothic
cathedrals were built in Europe, the

270
00:23:34,940 --> 00:23:39,880
architects and stonemasons of the
Anasazi were building great kivas that

271
00:23:39,880 --> 00:23:41,140
hold 500 people.

272
00:23:44,980 --> 00:23:51,080
Around 900 AD, the Anasazi leadership
embarked upon a bold and visionary plan.

273
00:23:51,660 --> 00:23:53,740
Create a mecca for pilgrimages.

274
00:23:54,110 --> 00:23:58,510
and a focal point for trade at the very
center of their land. They chose the

275
00:23:58,510 --> 00:24:04,470
barren, treeless Chaco Canyon, 100 miles
northwest of present -day Albuquerque,

276
00:24:04,550 --> 00:24:05,550
New Mexico.

277
00:24:07,890 --> 00:24:09,850
It was a monumental undertaking.

278
00:24:10,490 --> 00:24:16,150
They built 400 miles of distinctive
graded roads and broad avenues, all

279
00:24:16,150 --> 00:24:17,150
to the canyon.

280
00:24:21,040 --> 00:24:25,320
At distant points, signal stations were
constructed where fires blazed to

281
00:24:25,320 --> 00:24:29,420
communicate across the vastness of the
desert and to guide travelers at night.

282
00:24:31,800 --> 00:24:36,700
Over 50 ,000 trees were cut down in the
surrounding mountains to build the towns

283
00:24:36,700 --> 00:24:37,700
of Chaco Canyon.

284
00:24:38,820 --> 00:24:43,840
Along with traders and pilgrims, the
roads carried resources to maintain

285
00:24:43,840 --> 00:24:49,240
of communities, none compared with the
largest single complex the Anasazi ever

286
00:24:49,240 --> 00:24:50,240
built.

287
00:25:02,640 --> 00:25:05,260
Pueblo Bonito, the wonder of the canyon.

288
00:25:15,940 --> 00:25:20,620
At its peak, Pueblo Bonito's 800 rooms
may have housed over a thousand

289
00:25:20,620 --> 00:25:21,620
residents.

290
00:25:21,820 --> 00:25:26,060
Some sections overlooking the main plaza
loomed five stories above the canyon

291
00:25:26,060 --> 00:25:29,020
floor. The plaza pulsated with life.

292
00:25:29,740 --> 00:25:34,320
Women gathered the colored corn
blanketing the rooftops and knelt in

293
00:25:34,320 --> 00:25:35,099
grind it.

294
00:25:35,100 --> 00:25:36,240
Children played.

295
00:25:36,800 --> 00:25:39,880
Men returning from the fields gathered
to talk.

296
00:25:50,040 --> 00:25:55,480
37 sacred kivas scattered throughout the
complex speak to Pueblo Bonito's rich

297
00:25:55,480 --> 00:25:56,660
ceremonial life.

298
00:25:58,960 --> 00:26:03,240
During ceremony, the feet of dancers
pounded the ground smooth as spectators

299
00:26:03,240 --> 00:26:06,180
huddled against buildings and thronged
the roofs to watch.

300
00:26:08,840 --> 00:26:13,860
But Chaco Canyon was more than a
spiritual mecca. It was also a center of

301
00:26:13,860 --> 00:26:14,860
and commerce.

302
00:26:16,700 --> 00:26:21,700
And trade in one stone more valuable to
Chaco's Mexican trading partners than

303
00:26:21,700 --> 00:26:25,500
gold or jade was the engine of the
canyon's economic growth.

304
00:26:32,860 --> 00:26:37,600
turquoise. Here, raw stone arrived from
distant mines for the craftsmen of

305
00:26:37,600 --> 00:26:42,160
Pueblo Bonito to cut and shape into
small tiles and beads, which were then

306
00:26:42,160 --> 00:26:44,820
traded south to merchant centers in the
heart of Mexico.

307
00:26:45,400 --> 00:26:48,620
There they were transformed into
extraordinary creations.

308
00:26:53,480 --> 00:26:57,060
For 150 years, trade fueled the Chaco
economy.

309
00:26:57,700 --> 00:27:00,720
But the wealth and power of the canyon
was fleeting.

310
00:27:03,060 --> 00:27:08,080
Chaco's major turquoise consumer, Tolan,
in central Mexico, fell to civil

311
00:27:08,080 --> 00:27:12,580
strife. Extended drought or hostilities
also may have contributed to the

312
00:27:12,580 --> 00:27:13,760
downfall of Chaco Canyon.

313
00:27:26,960 --> 00:27:31,640
By 1150, it was in decline. The great
turquoise road over the Mexican High

314
00:27:31,640 --> 00:27:32,640
Sierra abandoned.

315
00:27:35,180 --> 00:27:40,640
But the Anasazi world still flourished.
The people of Chaco Canyon simply moved

316
00:27:40,640 --> 00:27:41,660
to other locations.

317
00:27:42,120 --> 00:27:47,220
Many went north to Mesa Verde, which at
that time was reaching its cultural and

318
00:27:47,220 --> 00:27:48,220
architectural height.

319
00:27:49,780 --> 00:27:54,320
There, under the shelter of the pine
-studded mesas of southern Colorado, the

320
00:27:54,320 --> 00:27:58,300
architects of Chaco Canyon would help
create some of the most stunning

321
00:27:58,300 --> 00:27:59,300
of all time.

322
00:28:04,440 --> 00:28:10,240
The largest of these is known as Cliff
Palace, though it is a palace in name

323
00:28:10,240 --> 00:28:15,700
only. These beautiful stone buildings of
the Anasazi were home to common

324
00:28:15,700 --> 00:28:16,700
families.

325
00:28:17,120 --> 00:28:19,460
It was a society based on equality.

326
00:28:20,440 --> 00:28:23,140
Men rotated service on public works.

327
00:28:23,600 --> 00:28:25,260
Women plastered houses.

328
00:28:26,250 --> 00:28:28,510
The man who farmed also carved.

329
00:28:28,870 --> 00:28:31,190
Spiritual leaders tilled the field.

330
00:28:34,870 --> 00:28:41,410
Each time when I see and visit any
ancient dwelling, I feel close because

331
00:28:41,410 --> 00:28:45,170
are my ancestors, my forefathers for
centuries.

332
00:28:45,730 --> 00:28:52,530
With little meditation, looking at their
dwellings, within a few minutes, half

333
00:28:52,530 --> 00:28:54,050
hour, I get refreshed.

334
00:29:01,680 --> 00:29:07,020
The people of Mesa Verde and many other
Anasazi towns relocated around 1300.

335
00:29:07,640 --> 00:29:12,880
The period of the ancestors came to an
end and the modern -day Pueblo world

336
00:29:12,880 --> 00:29:13,880
shape.

337
00:29:18,460 --> 00:29:23,500
Traditions that live today in the
American Southwest, the way of life, the

338
00:29:23,500 --> 00:29:29,080
architecture, the religion, are the
resonance of a heritage reaching back

339
00:29:29,080 --> 00:29:30,480
thousands of years.

340
00:29:59,780 --> 00:30:03,360
The kocha wanted to send a prayer to the
sun.

341
00:30:03,980 --> 00:30:05,940
So he called on his friend the bear.

342
00:30:06,500 --> 00:30:11,500
And the bear came and he said, oh, I'm
very honored to be asked to do this, but

343
00:30:11,500 --> 00:30:14,660
I can only take it to the top of the
highest tree.

344
00:30:15,220 --> 00:30:16,700
But I know someone who can.

345
00:30:17,960 --> 00:30:19,640
So let's call Eagle.

346
00:30:20,320 --> 00:30:24,180
And so Eagle was called, and Eagle said,
yes, I can try.

347
00:30:24,720 --> 00:30:28,540
And so Eagle flew and flew and flew up,
up, up.

348
00:30:30,000 --> 00:30:33,360
and got to the sun and delivered the
prayer.

349
00:30:33,820 --> 00:30:39,080
And the sun was so taken with this, he
said, give me one of your feathers.

350
00:30:39,400 --> 00:30:43,520
And so the eagle plucked out a tail
feather and gave it to the sun, and the

351
00:30:43,520 --> 00:30:47,780
kissed that feather, which is why, you
know, eagle feathers are black on the

352
00:30:47,780 --> 00:30:53,160
end, and it's because the sun sends them
there. He said, take this back, and

353
00:30:53,160 --> 00:30:55,560
forever this will be my.

354
00:30:56,170 --> 00:30:58,610
recognition of my special people.

355
00:31:06,510 --> 00:31:11,810
Along the Mississippi River, six miles
from present -day St. Louis, Missouri,

356
00:31:12,090 --> 00:31:15,970
there stood a city that once dominated
the heart of the continent.

357
00:31:16,410 --> 00:31:19,350
At its center was a powerful leader.

358
00:31:22,290 --> 00:31:24,650
A great number of years ago,

359
00:31:25,580 --> 00:31:29,640
there appeared among us a man who came
down from the sun.

360
00:31:30,860 --> 00:31:37,800
This man told us that he had seen from
on high that we did not govern ourselves

361
00:31:37,800 --> 00:31:44,180
well, that we had no master, that each
of us had

362
00:31:44,180 --> 00:31:50,420
presumption enough to think himself
capable of governing others while he

363
00:31:50,420 --> 00:31:51,980
not even conduct himself.

364
00:31:56,040 --> 00:32:02,100
A thousand years ago, the Great Sun, a
leader who was both king and pope,

365
00:32:02,300 --> 00:32:06,900
lived atop a man -made royal mountain
ten stories high.

366
00:32:07,360 --> 00:32:11,540
Its 16 -acre base, larger than any
pyramid in Egypt.

367
00:32:13,600 --> 00:32:19,780
He told us that in order to live in
peace among ourselves, we must

368
00:32:19,780 --> 00:32:22,220
observe the following points.

369
00:32:23,440 --> 00:32:27,380
We must never kill anyone but in defense
of our own lives.

370
00:32:28,000 --> 00:32:31,560
We must never know any woman besides our
own.

371
00:32:32,060 --> 00:32:36,040
We must never take any things that
belong to another.

372
00:32:36,720 --> 00:32:40,120
We must never lie nor get drunk.

373
00:32:40,760 --> 00:32:43,240
We must not be avaricious.

374
00:32:43,940 --> 00:32:50,280
We must give generously and with joy and
share our subsistence

375
00:32:50,280 --> 00:32:52,680
with those who are in need of it.

376
00:32:56,330 --> 00:33:01,430
From the heights of his royal estate,
the Great Sun mediated between the

377
00:33:01,430 --> 00:33:05,070
and the people, between the Sun and the
Earth.

378
00:33:06,390 --> 00:33:09,570
This is Cahokia, City of the Sun.

379
00:33:13,150 --> 00:33:17,630
The Great Sun ruled the thriving center
of a vast Mississippian culture.

380
00:33:18,610 --> 00:33:23,150
Outside the walled city, communities of
farmers, hunters, and fishermen

381
00:33:23,660 --> 00:33:26,820
stretched for miles, surrounded by
fields of corn.

382
00:33:28,160 --> 00:33:34,700
With 20 ,000 residents, no city in the
United States would surpass Cahokia's

383
00:33:34,700 --> 00:33:36,800
historic size before 1800.

384
00:33:37,600 --> 00:33:42,020
Only then would Philadelphia's
population eclipse the ancient center.

385
00:33:45,870 --> 00:33:51,470
These people lived in daub and wattle
houses on top of the principal people

386
00:33:51,530 --> 00:33:53,050
the priest and the royalty.

387
00:33:53,530 --> 00:34:00,530
They lived in very substantial houses,
not teepees, not teepees, teepees,

388
00:34:00,530 --> 00:34:02,310
western plains people.

389
00:34:03,280 --> 00:34:07,700
Down here they lived in houses. They
were sedentary. They were farmers. They

390
00:34:07,700 --> 00:34:14,060
used the rivers and the miles and the
streams as not only for commerce but for

391
00:34:14,060 --> 00:34:15,460
sustenance as well.

392
00:34:16,280 --> 00:34:21,300
With the Mississippi and other major
rivers as its highways, Cahokia was

393
00:34:21,300 --> 00:34:23,520
by trade to a third of the continent.

394
00:34:25,100 --> 00:34:28,980
Copper arrived from the Great Lakes,
obsidian from Yellowstone.

395
00:34:29,420 --> 00:34:34,739
mica and crystal from the Appalachians,
gold and silver from Canada, shell from

396
00:34:34,739 --> 00:34:35,739
the Gulf of Mexico.

397
00:34:59,050 --> 00:35:04,330
Look at these old, live oak trees that
have seen so much pass by them.

398
00:35:06,070 --> 00:35:11,390
Magnificently dressed Indian people
coming down that by in a dugout,

399
00:35:11,390 --> 00:35:16,810
people, standing right here on this bank
of having a good time, because they

400
00:35:16,810 --> 00:35:20,930
did. You know, Indian people have always
known how to have a good time.

401
00:35:21,330 --> 00:35:23,170
And there would be a feast prepared.

402
00:35:23,930 --> 00:35:27,550
The women would put the corn together.
They'd make safki.

403
00:35:28,510 --> 00:35:30,470
They would roast a deer.

404
00:35:30,910 --> 00:35:34,670
People would bring gifts. You never go
to an Indian's house without bringing

405
00:35:34,670 --> 00:35:36,730
something. That's as old as the sunrise.

406
00:35:54,760 --> 00:35:58,920
Cahokia was the pinnacle of a mound
-building culture with traditions dating

407
00:35:58,920 --> 00:36:01,300
back to before 1000 B .C.

408
00:36:05,680 --> 00:36:10,340
Thousands of mounds still dot the
landscape from the Great Lakes to the

409
00:36:10,340 --> 00:36:11,340
Mexico.

410
00:36:11,860 --> 00:36:16,300
An average funeral mound in the Ohio
Valley was three stories tall.

411
00:36:16,880 --> 00:36:22,680
Construction could represent 200 ,000
man -hours of labor or 100 men carrying

412
00:36:22,680 --> 00:36:23,740
the baskets of earth.

413
00:36:24,060 --> 00:36:25,060
for a year.

414
00:36:26,400 --> 00:36:32,060
But few mounds compare with the
religious effigy located 50 miles east

415
00:36:32,060 --> 00:36:35,180
Cincinnati, Ohio, the Great Serpent
Mound.

416
00:36:36,680 --> 00:36:40,480
The enormous snake stretches over 400
yards in length.

417
00:36:44,880 --> 00:36:50,000
While their earthworks are the mound
builders' most visible legacy, their

418
00:36:50,000 --> 00:36:52,420
smaller creations are their most
beautiful.

419
00:37:01,100 --> 00:37:05,020
Only glimpses remain of the people who
changed the course of life on the

420
00:37:05,020 --> 00:37:06,020
northern continent.

421
00:37:06,540 --> 00:37:12,000
Most of their material world, wooden
buildings, boats, baskets, woven

422
00:37:12,000 --> 00:37:16,160
leather footwear and clothes, have long
since turned to dust.

423
00:37:20,560 --> 00:37:26,540
An old Caddo relative of mine said that
I used to go outside and hold my hands

424
00:37:26,540 --> 00:37:29,140
up and bless myself with the sun hot.

425
00:37:29,940 --> 00:37:34,560
Well, I can't do that anymore because
they say we sun worshipers. We didn't

426
00:37:34,560 --> 00:37:35,560
worship the sun.

427
00:37:35,720 --> 00:37:40,120
We worship what was behind it, the power
behind it.

428
00:38:14,320 --> 00:38:20,340
In the 19th century, 2 ,000 miles south
of Cahokia, a group of European

429
00:38:20,340 --> 00:38:24,380
explorers carved their way into the
jungles of southern Mexico.

430
00:38:28,080 --> 00:38:34,560
There, buried for centuries and
surrounded by massive pyramids, they

431
00:38:34,560 --> 00:38:39,480
royal palace resplendent with grand
rooms, courts, and a tower.

432
00:38:41,360 --> 00:38:46,680
The Europeans recognized that by their
own standards, the site was a legacy of

433
00:38:46,680 --> 00:38:47,680
greatness.

434
00:38:48,460 --> 00:38:53,560
Standing in the middle of the largest
Indian nation in North America, the

435
00:38:53,720 --> 00:38:59,120
descendants of the pyramid builders, the
explorers could not imagine that the

436
00:38:59,120 --> 00:39:02,420
towering architecture was the work of
Indian people.

437
00:39:04,180 --> 00:39:08,580
Instead, they speculated wildly about
the lost civilization that could have

438
00:39:08,580 --> 00:39:10,420
built so grand an existence.

439
00:39:13,850 --> 00:39:18,110
Refugees from the sunken continent of
Atlantis, a lost tribe of Israel,

440
00:39:18,330 --> 00:39:21,930
seafarers from the Orient, even beings
from another planet.

441
00:39:23,150 --> 00:39:26,430
They considered everything but the
obvious.

442
00:39:30,610 --> 00:39:37,350
In 1949, a Mexican archaeologist came to
the same magnificent ruins now known

443
00:39:37,350 --> 00:39:38,490
as Palenque.

444
00:39:44,590 --> 00:39:48,710
He climbed the steps to the top of the
largest pyramid, the Temple of the

445
00:39:48,710 --> 00:39:49,710
Inscription.

446
00:39:51,750 --> 00:39:55,230
There he noticed holes in the floor
below the capstones.

447
00:39:56,750 --> 00:40:02,870
He removed the slabs and discovered a
rubble -filled passageway descending

448
00:40:02,870 --> 00:40:03,970
into the pyramid's heart.

449
00:40:04,990 --> 00:40:09,090
After three years of excavation, the
passage was cleared.

450
00:40:11,890 --> 00:40:16,750
At the bottom, was a tomb that had been
buried for over 1 ,200 years.

451
00:40:17,390 --> 00:40:23,170
It would unlock the history of Palenque
and help to reveal the path of the Mayan

452
00:40:23,170 --> 00:40:27,450
people, a path they left for the future
to read.

453
00:40:29,070 --> 00:40:34,070
For centuries, Mayan glyphs were
considered complex picture stories like

454
00:40:34,070 --> 00:40:35,370
Egyptian hieroglyphics.

455
00:40:35,730 --> 00:40:41,230
Only in the 1980s did archaeologists
finally recognize that it was true

456
00:40:42,060 --> 00:40:46,720
They were not looking at pictures to be
interpreted, but symbols for sounds to

457
00:40:46,720 --> 00:40:47,720
be read.

458
00:40:47,820 --> 00:40:49,660
It was the Maya language.

459
00:40:50,920 --> 00:40:53,280
Instantly, a door was opened on the
path.

460
00:40:56,240 --> 00:41:02,260
Beneath the five -ton sarcophagus cover
at Palenque lay Pakal, shield in the

461
00:41:02,260 --> 00:41:03,260
Maya language.

462
00:41:05,860 --> 00:41:08,780
He was born in 603 A .D.

463
00:41:09,280 --> 00:41:11,380
His head was bound at birth.

464
00:41:11,720 --> 00:41:15,820
to enlarge his forehead, a fashion that
marked him as a member of the royal

465
00:41:15,820 --> 00:41:16,820
elite.

466
00:41:17,080 --> 00:41:22,140
He wore a cosmetic bridge on his nose
and decorated his hair with water

467
00:41:23,400 --> 00:41:26,120
Pakal rose to power at the age of 12.

468
00:41:29,480 --> 00:41:35,920
He would build a holy city and rule for
nearly 70 years, leading Palenque during

469
00:41:35,920 --> 00:41:38,800
a time of greatness and growth in the
Mayan world.

470
00:41:51,340 --> 00:41:58,000
the Maya expanded over 60 capital cities
emerged their growth fueled by a

471
00:41:58,000 --> 00:41:59,700
successful agricultural society

472
00:42:33,550 --> 00:42:38,470
The roots of Mayan agriculture reached
back thousands of years and stretched

473
00:42:38,470 --> 00:42:40,970
across Mexico and into Central America.

474
00:42:42,730 --> 00:42:47,290
Now, friends and brothers, listen to
these words of dreaming.

475
00:42:48,110 --> 00:42:53,670
Spring rains give us life and bring
forth the golden corn silk.

476
00:42:58,370 --> 00:43:02,570
By the time of Christ, there were
millions of people in the region.

477
00:43:02,960 --> 00:43:07,160
with agriculture allowing populations to
settle and expand.

478
00:43:24,840 --> 00:43:30,400
Art, mathematics, astronomy,
architecture,

479
00:43:30,920 --> 00:43:35,120
priesthood, and royalty all flourished.

480
00:44:01,550 --> 00:44:08,150
By the mid -700s, at Palenque alone, the
sons of Pakal ruled over 200

481
00:44:08,150 --> 00:44:14,690
,000 Maya living in regional communities
of farmers, weavers, stonemasons,

482
00:44:14,930 --> 00:44:16,010
and feather workers.

483
00:44:22,410 --> 00:44:28,250
But the golden age of building and
growth would be transformed by a new era

484
00:44:28,250 --> 00:44:29,470
war and destruction.

485
00:44:30,960 --> 00:44:36,140
For reasons still locked in the past,
the Mayan world turned against itself.

486
00:44:37,240 --> 00:44:39,480
Farmers became soldiers.

487
00:44:46,340 --> 00:44:53,220
By 800 AD,

488
00:44:53,500 --> 00:44:55,080
an era had ended.

489
00:44:55,800 --> 00:45:00,060
Most of the capitals that had been among
the living wonders of human creativity.

490
00:45:00,560 --> 00:45:05,500
including Palenque, were deserted and
reclaimed by the jungle.

491
00:45:10,980 --> 00:45:12,740
South of here, there's a desert.

492
00:45:13,060 --> 00:45:15,920
It's a forbidding barrier stretching
hundreds of miles.

493
00:45:16,460 --> 00:45:19,420
On the other side of that desert is
Mexico.

494
00:45:20,200 --> 00:45:25,080
Over thousands of years, skilled
travelers managed to cross this barrier,

495
00:45:25,080 --> 00:45:26,680
widespread contact was impossible.

496
00:45:27,560 --> 00:45:30,160
and so each side developed in their own
unique way.

497
00:45:31,040 --> 00:45:35,640
In Mexico, millions of Indian people, 80
% of the continent's population,

498
00:45:36,120 --> 00:45:40,840
created art and architecture that was
unparalleled in its sheer size and

499
00:45:40,840 --> 00:45:41,840
physical ambition.

500
00:45:42,400 --> 00:45:44,700
They developed writing and astronomy.

501
00:45:45,560 --> 00:45:49,800
Their wars were waged between massive
armies, even by contemporary standards.

502
00:45:50,800 --> 00:45:55,500
In this hour, we follow an epic story,
told through the actual words of those

503
00:45:55,500 --> 00:45:56,500
who took part in it.

504
00:45:56,910 --> 00:46:01,430
along with eyewitness illustrations of
events that occurred almost 500 years

505
00:46:01,430 --> 00:46:02,430
ago.

506
00:46:02,750 --> 00:46:08,170
We take you to the present -day site of
Mexico City, to the heart of the most

507
00:46:08,170 --> 00:46:12,670
powerful military empire in the
continent's history, the Aztec.

508
00:46:40,490 --> 00:46:47,070
Extended lies the city, lies Mexico,
spreading circles of emerald light,

509
00:46:47,250 --> 00:46:50,210
radiating splendor like a quetzal plume.

510
00:46:52,070 --> 00:46:56,810
Oh, author of life, your house is here.

511
00:46:57,650 --> 00:47:00,350
Your song is heard on earth.

512
00:47:01,090 --> 00:47:03,290
It spreads among the people.

513
00:47:04,810 --> 00:47:06,330
Behold, Mexico.

514
00:47:09,840 --> 00:47:16,760
By the Aztec calendar, it was the year 1
Reed, and Motekuzoma, emperor of the

515
00:47:16,760 --> 00:47:20,160
Aztec, was the most powerful man in the
Americas.

516
00:47:20,800 --> 00:47:24,800
By many standards, the most powerful man
in the world.

517
00:47:28,100 --> 00:47:33,700
From his capital, Etenochtitlan,
Motekuzoma ruled over 10 million

518
00:47:34,700 --> 00:47:39,180
For almost 90 years, his people had
built an empire with their armies.

519
00:47:39,580 --> 00:47:42,000
and become rich from the tribute of
defeated states.

520
00:47:45,840 --> 00:47:48,320
But Motekuzoma was troubled.

521
00:47:49,100 --> 00:47:55,220
Prophetic nightmares disturbed his
sleep, and he had been reading ominous

522
00:48:03,020 --> 00:48:07,220
A huge tongue of fire burning in the
night sky to the east.

523
00:48:07,800 --> 00:48:11,260
A major temple mysteriously destroyed by
fire.

524
00:48:15,360 --> 00:48:18,780
A comet blazing across the daytime sky.

525
00:48:20,100 --> 00:48:25,340
Signs and dreams were vital to the
Aztec. They guided decisions of state.

526
00:48:27,220 --> 00:48:34,060
Motekuzoma thought, as Nahuatl do in our
villages today, that when important

527
00:48:34,060 --> 00:48:36,380
things happen, you will dream of it.

528
00:48:36,960 --> 00:48:39,940
They too saw things, perhaps in the
night sky.

529
00:48:40,440 --> 00:48:41,680
A shooting star.

530
00:48:43,140 --> 00:48:46,380
Motekuzoma and others at the time would
have thought, I have seen it.

531
00:48:48,200 --> 00:48:52,920
Motekuzoma could feel disaster
approaching, but he did not know what

532
00:48:52,920 --> 00:48:53,920
his empire.

533
00:48:57,480 --> 00:49:02,920
He did know that nations lived in
cycles, like all things in nature,

534
00:49:02,920 --> 00:49:04,940
fullness. were followed by fall.

535
00:49:19,320 --> 00:49:23,940
The cycles of nations had been played
out many times in the Valley of Mexico.

536
00:49:25,080 --> 00:49:28,440
Ruins of ancient cultures were scattered
across the region.

537
00:49:30,560 --> 00:49:35,280
Motekuzoma had only to look 20 miles to
the east, to the ruins of a long

538
00:49:35,280 --> 00:49:40,660
-abandoned city so magnificent the Aztec
called it the home of the gods.

539
00:49:41,320 --> 00:49:46,320
In the cycle of nations, even the home
of the gods had fallen.

540
00:49:56,400 --> 00:49:58,680
900 years before Motekuzoma.

541
00:49:59,150 --> 00:50:03,390
Workers had come from throughout Mexico
to build Teotihuacan.

542
00:50:08,490 --> 00:50:13,390
The city, among the grandest in the
world, was a monumental work of art.

543
00:50:22,830 --> 00:50:25,830
Its largest building, the Pyramid of the
Sun.

544
00:50:26,380 --> 00:50:29,400
had a base the size of the biggest
pyramid in Egypt.

545
00:50:31,220 --> 00:50:34,760
Teotihuacan's military might controlled
central Mexico for centuries.

546
00:50:37,040 --> 00:50:43,440
When I first saw this place, Teotihuacan

547
00:50:43,440 --> 00:50:49,220
and the pyramids, I thought, this is
truly beautiful, that which our

548
00:50:49,220 --> 00:50:52,080
grandfathers, our fathers before, have
done.

549
00:50:52,660 --> 00:50:57,410
And I thought, when I looked at it
again, It is like having your father

550
00:50:57,410 --> 00:51:01,790
died or your brother that died and
meeting them again here.

551
00:51:02,370 --> 00:51:07,090
You remember them and you see their
greatness when you contemplate what they

552
00:51:07,090 --> 00:51:08,090
left behind.

553
00:51:09,110 --> 00:51:15,170
With all its power, Teotihuacan was
still trapped in the cycle of nations.

554
00:51:16,110 --> 00:51:22,150
In one of history's great unsolved
mysteries, the city was systematically

555
00:51:22,150 --> 00:51:24,430
and abandoned at its height.

556
00:51:27,790 --> 00:51:33,230
With the dissolving of the empire,
central Mexico turned to chaos, with

557
00:51:33,230 --> 00:51:36,650
rival kingdoms locked in a struggle for
power and survival.

558
00:51:48,190 --> 00:51:52,990
Elite warriors fought for kings on the
field of honor, like knights in medieval

559
00:51:52,990 --> 00:51:56,370
Europe. It was a world of royal
bloodlines, betrayal.

560
00:51:56,910 --> 00:51:57,910
and revenge.

561
00:52:01,430 --> 00:52:06,590
In central Mexico, the small kingdoms
would struggle for 200 years before the

562
00:52:06,590 --> 00:52:11,090
cycle would turn again, and they would
begin to unify under the leadership of

563
00:52:11,090 --> 00:52:13,990
the Toltec people from the city -state
of Tolan.

564
00:52:16,030 --> 00:52:22,710
Over 500 years before the rise of the
Aztec, the Toltec redefined leadership

565
00:52:22,710 --> 00:52:25,130
central Mexico, enforcing power.

566
00:52:25,580 --> 00:52:29,280
not through military might, but through
the moral force of their teachings.

567
00:52:29,940 --> 00:52:35,400
They coordinated trade between states
and arbitrated disputes, all within the

568
00:52:35,400 --> 00:52:36,600
framework of their religion.

569
00:52:39,540 --> 00:52:44,360
Their capital functioned like Wall
Street, the Vatican, and the Supreme

570
00:52:44,360 --> 00:52:45,360
combined.

571
00:52:48,240 --> 00:52:53,400
It was also here, in Tolan, that a
priest who held the name of the god

572
00:52:53,400 --> 00:53:00,030
Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent,
would be exiled, eventually

573
00:53:00,030 --> 00:53:05,530
sailing into the Gulf of Mexico, vowing
to return in another time as a savior

574
00:53:05,530 --> 00:53:06,530
for the people.

575
00:53:16,430 --> 00:53:22,250
After less than two centuries, Tolan,
like Teotihuacan before it, was

576
00:53:22,250 --> 00:53:23,250
destroyed.

577
00:53:23,760 --> 00:53:28,940
But while the city burned, the
sophisticated Toltec leadership escaped,

578
00:53:28,940 --> 00:53:31,520
the elite families moving to the Valley
of Mexico.

579
00:53:32,820 --> 00:53:38,940
For 150 years, in the shadows of the
ruins of Teotihuacan, the Toltec

580
00:53:38,940 --> 00:53:41,440
established control over the city
-states of the valley.

581
00:53:42,160 --> 00:53:46,860
Their influence was so great that their
bloodlines became the benchmark of

582
00:53:46,860 --> 00:53:48,520
nobility throughout the region.

583
00:53:51,320 --> 00:53:56,540
During the same time, A nomadic tribe
far to the west was in the midst of an

584
00:53:56,540 --> 00:53:57,800
epic search for a homeland.

585
00:53:58,600 --> 00:54:02,280
They were the Meshika, Motekuzoma's
ancestors.

586
00:54:27,180 --> 00:54:34,060
Behold, a new sun is risen, a new god is
born, new laws

587
00:54:34,060 --> 00:54:38,140
are written, and new men are made.

588
00:54:42,400 --> 00:54:48,660
Around 1300, after nearly two centuries
of wandering, the Mexica people came to

589
00:54:48,660 --> 00:54:52,740
the Valley of Mexico, a valley long
dominated by the Toltec.

590
00:54:58,000 --> 00:55:03,420
The Mexica, with no Toltec blood, were
seen by the refined city -state as

591
00:55:03,420 --> 00:55:07,040
violent barbarians, a threat to the
stability of the valley.

592
00:55:10,880 --> 00:55:15,420
The local states attacked the nomad
nation, killing many and driving the

593
00:55:15,420 --> 00:55:19,560
survivors to a rocky area covered with
cactus and infested with snakes.

594
00:55:23,600 --> 00:55:26,260
The exile was meant to destroy them.

595
00:55:27,020 --> 00:55:29,040
But the Mexica were used to adversity.

596
00:55:29,560 --> 00:55:30,800
They flourished.

597
00:55:32,180 --> 00:55:36,540
Soon their resilience and skills in
warfare impressed their sophisticated

598
00:55:36,540 --> 00:55:37,540
neighbors.

599
00:55:37,840 --> 00:55:42,860
They began to sell their services as
mercenaries. And within a generation,

600
00:55:42,860 --> 00:55:46,860
Mexica were accepted as part of the
social and political fabric of the lush

601
00:55:46,860 --> 00:55:47,860
mountain valley.

602
00:55:52,040 --> 00:55:58,080
In 1325, they asked the neighboring lord
of Colhuacan, to send his daughter to

603
00:55:58,080 --> 00:55:59,660
become the wife of a Mexica ruler.

604
00:56:00,800 --> 00:56:06,100
Flattered and seeing the opportunity for
unity, the lord of Colhuacan complied.

605
00:56:12,500 --> 00:56:18,020
Days later, when he and the other lords
of the valley went to the Mexica town to

606
00:56:18,020 --> 00:56:24,580
honor the new princess, instead of
seeing his young child emerge, a priest

607
00:56:24,580 --> 00:56:25,580
appeared.

608
00:56:25,820 --> 00:56:27,020
dressed in her skin.

609
00:56:33,460 --> 00:56:37,100
Horrified, the lord of Colhuacan called
for revenge.

610
00:56:39,120 --> 00:56:40,120
Here.

611
00:56:40,800 --> 00:56:43,060
Come here, my vassals from Colhuacan.

612
00:56:43,620 --> 00:56:46,820
Come avenge the hideous crime committed
by these Mexica.

613
00:56:47,240 --> 00:56:48,320
Let them die.

614
00:56:48,880 --> 00:56:51,600
Destroy them, such depraved men of evil.

615
00:56:52,280 --> 00:56:53,380
My vassals.

616
00:56:54,120 --> 00:56:57,960
We shall finish them off and leave no
trace or memory of them.

617
00:57:00,960 --> 00:57:06,440
Kol Huacan and its allies attacked the
Mexica, driving those they did not kill

618
00:57:06,440 --> 00:57:08,540
into a lake in the center of the valley.

619
00:57:09,880 --> 00:57:15,160
Almost annihilated, the Mexica again
proved resilient. As they gathered on a

620
00:57:15,160 --> 00:57:18,980
swampy island in the lake, they saw an
eagle perch on a cactus.

621
00:57:19,800 --> 00:57:22,440
The prophetic sign they were told they
would see.

622
00:57:22,920 --> 00:57:25,680
when they reached the end of their long
search for a homeland.

623
00:57:33,680 --> 00:57:36,920
The place that would be called
Tenochtitlan.

624
00:57:49,840 --> 00:57:54,560
Now we have found the land promised to
us. We have found peace for the weary

625
00:57:54,560 --> 00:57:55,560
Mexican people.

626
00:57:56,440 --> 00:57:57,900
Now we want for nothing.

627
00:57:58,660 --> 00:58:03,460
Be comforted, children, brothers and
sisters, because we have obtained the

628
00:58:03,460 --> 00:58:04,460
promise of our God.

629
00:58:11,380 --> 00:58:16,360
For 100 years, the people of
Tenochtitlan built up the island through

630
00:58:16,360 --> 00:58:17,360
sacrifice.

631
00:58:17,840 --> 00:58:22,740
They reclaimed land from the swampy lake
and erected stone temples and public

632
00:58:22,740 --> 00:58:23,740
buildings.

633
00:58:26,500 --> 00:58:30,520
Causeways of hewn stone were constructed
to the north, south, and west.

634
00:58:31,080 --> 00:58:35,860
An aqueduct was built to bring in fresh
water from a mainland spring three miles

635
00:58:35,860 --> 00:58:36,860
away.

636
00:58:37,300 --> 00:58:41,180
Canals were dug throughout the island to
transport goods and people.

637
00:58:42,160 --> 00:58:46,520
They gained trade wealth and again hired
themselves out as mercenary soldiers

638
00:58:46,520 --> 00:58:48,760
for the powerful city -states of the
valley.

639
00:58:50,020 --> 00:58:55,100
Marriages were arranged that finally
brought them honored Toltec bloodlines.

640
00:58:58,680 --> 00:59:00,960
Tenochtitlan was a city on the rise.

641
00:59:04,900 --> 00:59:10,320
The cycle of power was turning toward
the Mexica, and when war again broke out

642
00:59:10,320 --> 00:59:13,550
in the valley, the Mexica and their
allies prevailed.

643
00:59:14,790 --> 00:59:20,370
In victory, they called themselves the
Aztec, after the Mexica place of origin,

644
00:59:20,570 --> 00:59:23,150
Aztlan, land of the Herons.

645
00:59:28,550 --> 00:59:32,950
From this point, Aztec prophecy foretold
a glorious future.

646
00:59:34,230 --> 00:59:38,570
The might of our powerful arms and the
spirit of our hearts shall be felt.

647
00:59:39,720 --> 00:59:44,820
With them we will conquer all nations
near and far, rule over all villages and

648
00:59:44,820 --> 00:59:50,180
cities from sea to sea, become lords of
gold and silver, jewels and precious

649
00:59:50,180 --> 00:59:52,720
stones, feathers and tributes.

650
00:59:53,440 --> 00:59:57,680
And we shall become lords over them and
their lands and over their sons and

651
00:59:57,680 --> 01:00:00,820
their daughters who will serve us as our
subjects.

652
01:00:03,960 --> 01:00:09,240
For over 80 years, The Aztec launched
far -reaching campaigns of conquest,

653
01:00:09,540 --> 01:00:12,360
expanding their domain from Gulf to
Pacific.

654
01:00:13,080 --> 01:00:16,800
They fought epic battles with city
-states throughout the region.

655
01:00:17,940 --> 01:00:23,040
Most were conquered and turned into
tributaries, forced to supply slave

656
01:00:23,040 --> 01:00:26,260
for Aztec public works and pay high
taxes in goods.

657
01:00:26,860 --> 01:00:29,740
Aztec scribes recorded the taxes of many
states.

658
01:00:32,240 --> 01:00:33,700
Bolts of fine cloth.

659
01:00:34,360 --> 01:00:40,520
Disks of hammered gold, exotic plants
and feathers, precious stones, feathered

660
01:00:40,520 --> 01:00:41,520
military uniforms.

661
01:00:50,120 --> 01:00:55,240
Built on the backs of the tributary
states, the island capital of the Aztec

662
01:00:55,240 --> 01:00:56,940
into one of the wonders of the world.

663
01:01:06,150 --> 01:01:10,730
When I first opened my eyes in this
world, I was born of this heritage.

664
01:01:11,730 --> 01:01:17,710
I have seen the beautiful festivals we
have in our villages, our dances, and it

665
01:01:17,710 --> 01:01:18,750
would have been like that there.

666
01:01:19,790 --> 01:01:24,130
They had many festivals in this place
with many beautiful dancers wearing many

667
01:01:24,130 --> 01:01:25,130
brilliant colors.

668
01:01:26,910 --> 01:01:31,030
I think it was even more beautiful then,
much more beautiful when our

669
01:01:31,030 --> 01:01:33,530
grandfathers lived there and followed
their ways.

670
01:01:37,390 --> 01:01:42,190
The two -story houses of the elite were
adorned with beautiful gardens.

671
01:01:43,730 --> 01:01:49,330
Royal aviaries housed thousands of rare
birds, and storehouses swelled with the

672
01:01:49,330 --> 01:01:50,330
wealth of empire.

673
01:01:52,510 --> 01:01:58,090
The city was cleaned daily by thousands
of sweepers, its refuse collected and

674
01:01:58,090 --> 01:01:59,250
shipped away on barges.

675
01:02:04,430 --> 01:02:08,870
The central market thronged with
professional traders whose travels took

676
01:02:08,870 --> 01:02:10,070
far distant locations.

677
01:02:10,610 --> 01:02:14,970
Men who spoke many languages and often
carried with them news of the world.

678
01:02:42,350 --> 01:02:48,010
The center of Tenochtitlan was dominated
by the great temple, its twin pyramids

679
01:02:48,010 --> 01:02:52,310
representing deities who embodied the
conflict at the heart of Aztec society,

680
01:02:52,650 --> 01:02:58,190
the eternal struggle between life and
death, fertility and war.

681
01:03:02,730 --> 01:03:07,210
Their private rituals, which on special
occasions included the sacrifice of

682
01:03:07,210 --> 01:03:10,130
human prisoners, incorporated this
duality.

683
01:03:10,640 --> 01:03:15,940
Life required death to exist, and death
required life.

684
01:03:19,300 --> 01:03:24,460
Tenochtitlan became a city of hundreds
of thousands, a bustling metropolis

685
01:03:24,460 --> 01:03:27,620
by the Aztec emperor from the grand
imperial palace.

686
01:03:29,520 --> 01:03:33,660
But in the year 1 Reed, the Christian
year 1519,

687
01:03:34,400 --> 01:03:39,880
Mutecu Zoma could feel a shadow across
his empire, and he could not forget.

688
01:03:40,320 --> 01:03:46,680
that the prophecy of Aztec greatness had
a dark side, a prophecy long held in

689
01:03:46,680 --> 01:03:47,680
their oral tradition.

690
01:03:49,780 --> 01:03:55,300
I shall make war against all provinces
and cities, towns and settlements, and

691
01:03:55,300 --> 01:03:57,700
make all of them my subjects, my
servants.

692
01:03:58,760 --> 01:04:05,160
But just as I will subjugate them, so
too will they be snatched from me and

693
01:04:05,160 --> 01:04:09,480
turned against me by strangers who will
drive me out of this land.

694
01:04:30,220 --> 01:04:35,260
Ever since their years as a wandering
tribe, the Aztec believed their destiny

695
01:04:35,260 --> 01:04:36,860
was to rule the world.

696
01:04:41,760 --> 01:04:47,640
Now, at the height of empire, Motecuzoma
listened to his dreams and saw the

697
01:04:47,640 --> 01:04:50,560
signs. They foretold disaster.

698
01:04:55,680 --> 01:04:59,140
Then word came of strange happenings in
the east.

699
01:04:59,690 --> 01:05:02,190
Boats and men landing on the Mexican
coast.

700
01:05:03,190 --> 01:05:05,830
Men unlike any they had encountered
before.

701
01:05:06,430 --> 01:05:08,830
Their bodies sheathed in metal.

702
01:05:16,030 --> 01:05:21,390
Matekuzoma sent scouts to the coast to
find out more about the new arrivals.

703
01:05:22,470 --> 01:05:24,050
They were very white.

704
01:05:24,570 --> 01:05:26,390
Their eyes were like chalk.

705
01:05:27,310 --> 01:05:30,870
Their hair, on some it was yellow and on
some it was black.

706
01:05:31,790 --> 01:05:33,430
They wore long beards.

707
01:05:34,190 --> 01:05:35,590
They were yellow too.

708
01:05:37,850 --> 01:05:40,290
The strangers had landed on the Gulf
Coast.

709
01:05:40,690 --> 01:05:42,830
That was also disturbing information.

710
01:05:44,150 --> 01:05:47,730
Centuries earlier, the banished priest
from the cult of the feathered serpent,

711
01:05:47,970 --> 01:05:53,410
Quetzalcoatl, had left Mexico from the
same coast, promising one day to return.

712
01:05:54,370 --> 01:05:55,450
Another prophecy.

713
01:05:55,950 --> 01:05:57,290
that threatened Motecuzoma.

714
01:05:58,750 --> 01:06:04,070
If he comes in the year one reed, he
strikes at kings.

715
01:06:05,910 --> 01:06:09,030
It was now the Aztec year one reed.

716
01:06:09,370 --> 01:06:13,690
Whether Motecuzoma believed the prophecy
or not was of little importance.

717
01:06:14,190 --> 01:06:18,970
He knew that many subjugated people
throughout the empire embraced the story

718
01:06:18,970 --> 01:06:21,190
the feathered serpent and awaited his
return.

719
01:06:24,110 --> 01:06:28,330
For it was in their hearts that he would
come, that he would come to land to

720
01:06:28,330 --> 01:06:29,330
reclaim his kingdom.

721
01:06:31,750 --> 01:06:37,290
Whoever these invaders were, whether
they represented Quetzalcoatl or a

722
01:06:37,290 --> 01:06:41,770
power, Motecuzoma could feel the threat
to his empire.

723
01:06:44,670 --> 01:06:46,790
And his fears were justified.

724
01:06:47,510 --> 01:06:52,070
Spanish conquistador Hernando Cortes had
landed in Mexico.

725
01:06:56,500 --> 01:07:00,340
It was said that first he dreamt that
Quetzalcoatl would return.

726
01:07:01,100 --> 01:07:06,020
After that, when he saw Hernán Cortés
and the others, he thought, he has come.

727
01:07:07,040 --> 01:07:08,040
Quetzalcoatl has come.

728
01:07:08,940 --> 01:07:10,220
Only he was wrong.

729
01:07:10,500 --> 01:07:16,040
Another had come, someone with evil
intentions, because Cortés did not come

730
01:07:16,040 --> 01:07:18,140
religious faith or to do good things.

731
01:07:18,940 --> 01:07:22,140
He came to commit terrible crimes
against the Mexica.

732
01:07:24,490 --> 01:07:29,770
As a diplomatic gesture, Motecuzoma sent
emissaries carrying the costume of

733
01:07:29,770 --> 01:07:33,670
Quetzalcoatl, which they presented to
Cortes aboard his ship.

734
01:07:34,290 --> 01:07:36,870
Cortes responded with a display of
force.

735
01:07:37,250 --> 01:07:42,550
He ordered the Aztec delegation shackled
and forced to watch as his men fired a

736
01:07:42,550 --> 01:07:47,530
Lombard cannon in a thunderous hail of
fire and smoke, blowing apart a tree on

737
01:07:47,530 --> 01:07:52,590
shore. The astonished emissaries were
released, and they raced back to

738
01:07:52,590 --> 01:07:53,590
Tenochtitlan.

739
01:07:54,750 --> 01:07:57,050
Motekuzoma received the news with alarm.

740
01:07:59,070 --> 01:08:03,750
Spanish weapons and armor were
formidable, and it would be only a

741
01:08:03,750 --> 01:08:08,810
before tributary states, chafing under
the yoke of Aztec oppression, would join

742
01:08:08,810 --> 01:08:09,810
the conquistador.

743
01:08:10,210 --> 01:08:14,790
They would lead him to the wealth that
lay at the center of the empire, to the

744
01:08:14,790 --> 01:08:18,590
one thing Spanish conquistadors craved
above all else.

745
01:08:21,200 --> 01:08:27,300
We Spanish suffer from a disease of the
heart, which only gold can cure.

746
01:08:29,060 --> 01:08:32,800
Cortes ordered his 450 -man army inland.

747
01:08:33,620 --> 01:08:37,760
When some of his men resisted, he sank
his ships.

748
01:08:38,160 --> 01:08:40,220
There would be no turning back.

749
01:08:54,120 --> 01:08:56,740
The army moved relentlessly toward the
valley of Mexico.

750
01:08:59,479 --> 01:09:04,620
As Motecuzoma had anticipated, Cortes
formed alliances along the way with

751
01:09:04,620 --> 01:09:06,060
rebellious city -states.

752
01:09:06,439 --> 01:09:09,460
One tributary leader spoke for the fears
of many.

753
01:09:10,680 --> 01:09:13,819
Motecuzoma and the Mexica have given us
much pain.

754
01:09:14,160 --> 01:09:18,100
They have imposed a tribute upon us.
They have become our rulers.

755
01:09:18,800 --> 01:09:25,189
If the Spaniards should abandon us in
haste, If they should go, so

756
01:09:25,189 --> 01:09:27,729
perverse are the Mexica that they will
kill us.

757
01:09:31,330 --> 01:09:36,910
While many nations lived in fear of the
Aztec, one city -state less than 50

758
01:09:36,910 --> 01:09:40,490
miles east of Tenochtitlan had never
fallen to the empire.

759
01:09:42,470 --> 01:09:43,470
Tlaxcala.

760
01:09:44,130 --> 01:09:46,710
There, Cortes forged his key alliance.

761
01:09:51,529 --> 01:09:54,410
6 ,000 Tlaxcalan troops joined the
Spanish.

762
01:10:00,910 --> 01:10:06,550
As reports reached the Aztec capital,
some of Motecuzoma's advisors argued for

763
01:10:06,550 --> 01:10:08,030
decisive military campaign.

764
01:10:08,770 --> 01:10:13,570
But Motecuzoma held his armies in check,
unwilling to leave the capital

765
01:10:13,570 --> 01:10:16,570
unprotected or risk setting off a
general rebellion.

766
01:10:17,430 --> 01:10:22,860
Stalling for time, He sent emissaries to
protest Cortes' advance and even had a

767
01:10:22,860 --> 01:10:27,000
wall of trees planted across the road to
disguise the route to Tenochtitlan.

768
01:10:28,360 --> 01:10:32,980
Paralyzed with doubt, the emperor was
fast becoming only a player in a

769
01:10:32,980 --> 01:10:33,980
being fulfilled.

770
01:10:37,940 --> 01:10:42,860
And he must have thought, these men, why
have they come? What do they want?

771
01:10:43,640 --> 01:10:46,380
Maybe we can attack and kill some of
them, but not all of them.

772
01:10:47,040 --> 01:10:48,980
For that reason, some did not want to
fight.

773
01:10:49,880 --> 01:10:52,920
They had seen that if they shot arrows
at them, they did not fall.

774
01:10:53,320 --> 01:10:56,500
They made a clanging sound as they
bounced off their armor.

775
01:10:57,400 --> 01:11:02,340
Even if they fired at the horses, they
did not die because the horses had

776
01:11:03,560 --> 01:11:07,880
Cortez and the Tlaxcalan army turned
first to a city -state that remained

777
01:11:07,880 --> 01:11:10,000
to the Aztec emperor, Cholula.

778
01:11:11,440 --> 01:11:13,020
Eyewitness accounts were recorded.

779
01:11:14,190 --> 01:11:20,230
Then there arose from the Spaniards a
cry, summoning all the noblemen, lords,

780
01:11:20,330 --> 01:11:23,010
war leaders, warriors, and common folk.

781
01:11:23,950 --> 01:11:29,070
And when they had crowded into the
temple courtyard, then the Spaniards and

782
01:11:29,070 --> 01:11:31,950
their allies blocked the entrances and
every exit.

783
01:11:32,770 --> 01:11:38,870
There followed a butchery of stabbing,
beating, killing of the unsuspecting

784
01:11:38,870 --> 01:11:41,850
Chalulans, armed with no bows and
arrows.

785
01:11:42,410 --> 01:11:48,890
Protected by no shields, with no
warning, they were treacherously,

786
01:11:48,890 --> 01:11:49,890
slain.

787
01:11:51,250 --> 01:11:55,490
Six thousand Cholulan citizens lay dead
in the streets.

788
01:12:03,810 --> 01:12:09,570
Tenochtitlan received the news of the
massacre in shock, and as Tech

789
01:12:09,570 --> 01:12:10,610
later recalled,

790
01:12:15,310 --> 01:12:22,030
The city rose in tumult, alarmed as if
by an earthquake, as if there were a

791
01:12:22,030 --> 01:12:24,170
constant reeling of the face of the
earth.

792
01:12:26,490 --> 01:12:30,210
Motecuzoma's worst nightmare was about
to reveal itself.

793
01:12:33,290 --> 01:12:37,870
Do the former rulers know what is
happening in their absence?

794
01:12:38,950 --> 01:12:39,950
Oh.

795
01:12:40,650 --> 01:12:46,850
that any of them might see, might wonder
at what has befallen me, at what I am

796
01:12:46,850 --> 01:12:49,070
seeing now that they have gone.

797
01:12:50,270 --> 01:12:52,070
For I cannot be dreaming.

798
01:13:14,790 --> 01:13:19,090
Proudly stands the city of Mexico,
Tenochtitlan.

799
01:13:19,910 --> 01:13:22,650
Here no one fears to die in war.

800
01:13:23,390 --> 01:13:25,770
Keep this in mind, oh princes.

801
01:13:26,790 --> 01:13:29,150
Who could attack Tenochtitlan?

802
01:13:29,910 --> 01:13:33,290
Who could shake the foundations of
heaven?

803
01:13:37,030 --> 01:13:43,170
On November 8th, 1519, in the Aztec
year, one read.

804
01:13:43,850 --> 01:13:49,490
Hernando Cortes arrived at the gates to
the imperial city of the Aztec Empire,

805
01:13:50,390 --> 01:13:51,390
Penochtitlan.

806
01:13:51,950 --> 01:13:58,530
An Aztec eyewitness later recalled,
Mexico lay stunned,

807
01:13:58,970 --> 01:13:59,970
silent.

808
01:14:00,530 --> 01:14:02,370
None went out of doors.

809
01:14:02,970 --> 01:14:04,910
Mothers kept their children in.

810
01:14:05,290 --> 01:14:09,470
The roads were deserted, as if it were
early morning.

811
01:14:18,320 --> 01:14:21,080
Motekuzoma walked out onto the grand
causeway.

812
01:14:21,740 --> 01:14:27,420
Coming face to face with Cortes, the
emperor offered his hospitality, leading

813
01:14:27,420 --> 01:14:30,560
the Spaniards through the city gates to
his imperial palace.

814
01:14:34,240 --> 01:14:38,660
The people of Tenochtitlan watched, and
their words were remembered.

815
01:14:39,520 --> 01:14:43,300
The iron of their lances glistened from
afar.

816
01:14:44,300 --> 01:14:47,720
The shimmer of their swords was as of a
sinuous watercourse.

817
01:14:48,260 --> 01:14:53,460
Their iron breast and back pieces, their
helmets, clanked.

818
01:14:54,800 --> 01:15:00,080
Some came completely encased in iron, as
if turned to iron.

819
01:15:00,640 --> 01:15:06,600
And ahead of them ran their dogs,
panting, with foam continually dripping

820
01:15:06,600 --> 01:15:07,600
their muzzle.

821
01:15:08,840 --> 01:15:12,320
The Spanish soldiers were themselves
struck with awe.

822
01:15:13,550 --> 01:15:14,590
We were astounded.

823
01:15:15,470 --> 01:15:20,670
The majestic towers and houses, all of
massive stone and rising out of the

824
01:15:20,670 --> 01:15:24,950
waters were like enchanted castles we
had read of in books.

825
01:15:26,290 --> 01:15:29,710
Indeed, some of our men even asked if
what we saw was not a dream.

826
01:15:31,190 --> 01:15:32,970
Even Cortes was amazed.

827
01:15:35,510 --> 01:15:39,970
Considering that these people are
barbarous, lacking the knowledge of God

828
01:15:39,970 --> 01:15:42,090
cut off from all civilized nations,

829
01:15:43,120 --> 01:15:46,160
It is truly remarkable to see what they
have achieved.

830
01:15:50,020 --> 01:15:54,880
Once they reached the palace,
Motecuzoma's diplomatic plans were

831
01:15:55,880 --> 01:15:59,060
Cortes turned on his host, seizing the
emperor hostage.

832
01:16:00,920 --> 01:16:02,580
What now, my warriors?

833
01:16:03,320 --> 01:16:05,440
We have come to the end.

834
01:16:06,480 --> 01:16:08,860
We have taken our medicine.

835
01:16:11,310 --> 01:16:14,870
Is there anywhere a mountain we can run
away to and climb?

836
01:16:16,970 --> 01:16:19,870
Motekusoma was forced to lead Cortez to
the treasury.

837
01:16:23,110 --> 01:16:27,570
Motekusoma's own property was then
brought out. Precious things like

838
01:16:27,570 --> 01:16:33,330
with pendants, armbands tufted with
kettled feathers, golden armbands,

839
01:16:33,330 --> 01:16:35,950
bracelets, golden anklets with shells.

840
01:16:37,070 --> 01:16:41,430
Turquoise diadems, turquoise nose rods,
no end of treasure.

841
01:16:43,630 --> 01:16:49,490
They took all, seized everything for
themselves, as if it were theirs.

842
01:16:51,770 --> 01:16:53,670
Cortes wrote to the King of Spain.

843
01:16:55,090 --> 01:17:01,610
Your Highness, there is so much to
describe that I do not know how to begin

844
01:17:01,610 --> 01:17:03,490
to recount some part of it.

845
01:17:04,690 --> 01:17:10,450
Motekuzoma has all the things to be
found under the heavens, fashioned in

846
01:17:10,450 --> 01:17:11,510
and silver.

847
01:17:13,190 --> 01:17:17,270
The Spaniards melted the beautifully
crafted gold into blocks.

848
01:17:18,110 --> 01:17:23,590
For five months, holding Motekuzoma
prisoner in his own palace, they lived

849
01:17:23,590 --> 01:17:25,870
splendor and pillaged the city from
within.

850
01:17:29,790 --> 01:17:32,690
They thought, this isn't Quetzalcoatl.

851
01:17:33,430 --> 01:17:34,430
This isn't a god.

852
01:17:35,290 --> 01:17:38,670
They said, look at them, how they eat
just as we do.

853
01:17:39,270 --> 01:17:41,670
Look at them, they go about just as we.

854
01:17:42,530 --> 01:17:46,610
When they saw him, they knew he wasn't
really Quetzalcoatl.

855
01:17:47,950 --> 01:17:53,410
They said among themselves to their
people, look, brothers, this isn't a

856
01:17:53,570 --> 01:17:58,310
Our gods do good things, and this one,
he wants to destroy us.

857
01:18:00,270 --> 01:18:05,210
Among the Aztec people, A resistance
began to organize under the direction of

858
01:18:05,210 --> 01:18:07,350
Motecuzoma's brother, Cuitlahuac.

859
01:18:08,910 --> 01:18:13,210
In an effort to cripple the movement,
the Spaniards attacked a large, unarmed

860
01:18:13,210 --> 01:18:15,830
religious gathering in April of 1520.

861
01:18:23,350 --> 01:18:28,050
One man, who saved his life by playing
dead, later recounted the scene.

862
01:18:30,510 --> 01:18:35,170
They charged the crowd with their iron
lances and hacked us with their iron

863
01:18:35,170 --> 01:18:38,070
swords. They slashed the backs of some.

864
01:18:39,350 --> 01:18:43,270
They hacked at the shoulders of others,
splitting their bodies open.

865
01:18:43,550 --> 01:18:47,810
The blood of the young warriors ran like
water. It gathered in pools.

866
01:18:48,750 --> 01:18:52,570
And the Spaniards began to hunt them out
of the administrative buildings,

867
01:18:52,890 --> 01:18:57,170
dragging and killing anyone they could
find, even starting to take those

868
01:18:57,170 --> 01:18:58,810
buildings to pieces as they searched.

869
01:19:07,470 --> 01:19:12,270
The Aztec counterattacked, forcing the
conquistadors to retreat behind the

870
01:19:12,270 --> 01:19:13,270
of the great palace.

871
01:19:13,910 --> 01:19:19,230
The Spaniards then brought Motecuzoma
out in chains before his people to order

872
01:19:19,230 --> 01:19:20,310
them to stop fighting.

873
01:19:21,290 --> 01:19:24,030
But the emperor could not bring himself
to speak.

874
01:19:24,810 --> 01:19:27,910
He stood by while another hostage
delivered his message.

875
01:19:29,750 --> 01:19:33,190
Mexicans, men of Tenochtitlan.

876
01:19:34,190 --> 01:19:38,650
Your ruler, the lord of men, Moctezuma,
implores you.

877
01:19:39,250 --> 01:19:45,650
He says, listen Mexicans, we are not
equal to the Spaniards.

878
01:19:46,910 --> 01:19:48,270
Abandon the battle.

879
01:19:49,110 --> 01:19:50,610
Steal your arrows.

880
01:19:51,230 --> 01:19:53,330
Hold back your shields.

881
01:19:54,470 --> 01:20:01,390
Otherwise, evil will be the fate of the
miserable old men and women of

882
01:20:01,390 --> 01:20:02,390
the people.

883
01:20:02,590 --> 01:20:08,770
of babes in arms, of the toddlers, of
the infants crawling on the ground or

884
01:20:08,770 --> 01:20:09,950
still in the cradle.

885
01:20:11,930 --> 01:20:14,970
But the Aztec were not a people to be
subjugated.

886
01:20:15,310 --> 01:20:20,530
They reformed their government and
elected Motecuzoma's brother,

887
01:20:20,530 --> 01:20:21,530
the 10th emperor.

888
01:20:22,550 --> 01:20:26,650
Under his direction, the Aztec continued
the siege of the palace.

889
01:20:46,600 --> 01:20:50,200
After 30 days, Motekuzoma was killed.

890
01:20:52,760 --> 01:20:57,400
The Aztec accused the Spaniards of
strangling him and hurling his body from

891
01:20:57,400 --> 01:20:58,400
top of the palace.

892
01:20:59,500 --> 01:21:02,920
The Spaniards claimed he was stoned to
death by his own people.

893
01:21:15,850 --> 01:21:21,590
One of the most powerful men on earth
had fallen, trapped in a play of

894
01:21:24,490 --> 01:21:26,590
Prophecy had become reality.

895
01:21:30,590 --> 01:21:34,770
Days later, the Spaniards, trapped in
the palace without food or water,

896
01:21:34,870 --> 01:21:37,390
attempted to escape under cover of
darkness.

897
01:21:38,630 --> 01:21:41,090
Aztec witnesses recounted the events.

898
01:21:41,690 --> 01:21:44,850
That night at midnight, the enemy came
out.

899
01:21:45,280 --> 01:21:46,280
crowded together.

900
01:21:46,960 --> 01:21:53,880
The Spaniards in the lead, Tlaxcalans
following, screened by a fine drizzle, a

901
01:21:53,880 --> 01:21:55,200
fine sprinkle of rain.

902
01:21:56,160 --> 01:21:59,540
They were able, undetected, to cross the
canals.

903
01:22:00,400 --> 01:22:04,720
Just as they were crossing the canal, a
woman drawing water saw them.

904
01:22:05,960 --> 01:22:08,100
Mexicas, come all of you.

905
01:22:08,420 --> 01:22:11,960
They are already leaving. They are
already secretly getting out.

906
01:22:12,750 --> 01:22:17,050
Then a watcher at the top of a temple
also shouted, and his cries pervaded the

907
01:22:17,050 --> 01:22:18,050
entire cities.

908
01:22:18,630 --> 01:22:24,010
Brave warriors, mexicas, your enemy
already leaves. Hurry with the shield

909
01:22:24,010 --> 01:22:25,010
and along the road.

910
01:22:25,890 --> 01:22:30,730
As the Spaniards moved out onto one of
the main causeways over the lake, canoe

911
01:22:30,730 --> 01:22:35,690
after canoe full of Aztec soldiers under
Cuitlahuac's direction showered them

912
01:22:35,690 --> 01:22:36,850
with spears and arrows.

913
01:22:37,290 --> 01:22:42,170
Many Spaniards weighted down with gold
stolen from the palace, fell into the

914
01:22:42,170 --> 01:22:45,270
water, and drowned, carried to the
bottom by the weight.

915
01:22:49,310 --> 01:22:52,730
The canal was filled, crammed with them.

916
01:22:54,070 --> 01:22:57,230
Those who came along behind walked on
corpses.

917
01:22:58,530 --> 01:23:01,370
It was as if a mountain of men had been
laid down.

918
01:23:02,350 --> 01:23:06,790
They had pressed against one another,
smothered one another.

919
01:23:11,080 --> 01:23:15,240
Three quarters of the Spanish army never
reached the outskirts of Tenochtitlan.

920
01:23:16,300 --> 01:23:19,260
Cortes and the rest of the survivors
escaped into the countryside.

921
01:23:20,280 --> 01:23:23,000
For a moment, the great city was free.

922
01:23:25,060 --> 01:23:30,900
And when the Spaniards thus disappeared,
we thought they had gone for good.

923
01:23:31,740 --> 01:23:33,380
Never more to return.

924
01:23:37,450 --> 01:23:40,830
Once again, the temples could be swept
out.

925
01:23:41,250 --> 01:23:42,850
The dirt removed.

926
01:23:43,450 --> 01:23:45,450
They could be adorned.

927
01:23:46,670 --> 01:23:47,670
Ornamented.

928
01:23:51,850 --> 01:23:55,890
But the fleeing Spaniards left behind
another enemy.

929
01:23:56,410 --> 01:23:58,630
An Aztec survivor remembers.

930
01:24:00,570 --> 01:24:03,850
At about the time that the Spaniards had
fled from the city,

931
01:24:04,560 --> 01:24:08,600
there came a great sickness, a
pestilence, the smallpox.

932
01:24:09,560 --> 01:24:12,500
It spread over the people with great
destruction of men.

933
01:24:12,760 --> 01:24:14,320
It caused great misery.

934
01:24:15,440 --> 01:24:18,620
The brave Mexica warriors were indeed
weakened by it.

935
01:24:22,520 --> 01:24:25,000
Even the new emperor died of the
disease.

936
01:24:29,100 --> 01:24:33,660
It was after all this had happened that
the Spaniards came back.

937
01:24:37,580 --> 01:24:41,420
Cortes and his men had healed their
wounds and rebuilt their army.

938
01:24:42,000 --> 01:24:43,720
New alliances were made.

939
01:24:43,940 --> 01:24:50,020
The Spaniards and 75 ,000 Tlaxcalan and
allied Indian soldiers set siege to

940
01:24:50,020 --> 01:24:51,020
Tenochtitlan.

941
01:24:53,800 --> 01:24:57,420
The entire population rose to defend
their city.

942
01:25:00,060 --> 01:25:02,680
Aztec witnesses would remember the
struggle.

943
01:25:03,440 --> 01:25:04,600
Fighting continued.

944
01:25:05,930 --> 01:25:07,750
Both sides took captives.

945
01:25:08,390 --> 01:25:10,470
On both sides there were deaths.

946
01:25:11,510 --> 01:25:14,030
Great became the suffering of the common
folk.

947
01:25:15,010 --> 01:25:16,130
There was hunger.

948
01:25:16,930 --> 01:25:18,390
Many died of famine.

949
01:25:19,290 --> 01:25:21,830
There was no more good pure water to
drink.

950
01:25:22,490 --> 01:25:23,690
Many died of it.

951
01:25:24,330 --> 01:25:25,950
The people ate anything.

952
01:25:26,630 --> 01:25:30,130
Lizards, barn swallows, corn leaves,
salt grass.

953
01:25:30,930 --> 01:25:33,170
Never had such suffering been seen.

954
01:25:34,320 --> 01:25:36,400
The enemy pressed about us like a wall.

955
01:25:36,900 --> 01:25:38,200
They herded us.

956
01:25:38,820 --> 01:25:42,340
The brave warriors were still hopelessly
resisting.

957
01:25:45,060 --> 01:25:51,960
After two and a half long months, the
Spaniards, with their overwhelming

958
01:25:51,960 --> 01:25:55,340
numbers, brought Pinochetitlan to its
knees.

959
01:26:03,020 --> 01:26:05,440
Finally, the battle just quietly ended.

960
01:26:06,080 --> 01:26:07,500
Silence reigned.

961
01:26:08,560 --> 01:26:09,780
Nothing happened.

962
01:26:11,260 --> 01:26:14,160
All was quiet and nothing more took
place.

963
01:26:15,740 --> 01:26:19,660
Night fell, and the next day nothing
happened either.

964
01:26:21,120 --> 01:26:22,780
No one spoke aloud.

965
01:26:24,260 --> 01:26:25,940
The people were crushed.

966
01:26:33,450 --> 01:26:35,450
Great was the stench of the dead.

967
01:26:36,890 --> 01:26:42,770
Your grandfathers died, and with them
died the son of the king and his

968
01:26:42,770 --> 01:26:43,770
and kingsmen.

969
01:26:45,330 --> 01:26:47,990
So it was that we became orphans, O my
sons.

970
01:26:49,450 --> 01:26:51,350
So we became when we were young.

971
01:26:52,810 --> 01:26:54,150
All of us were thus.

972
01:26:55,770 --> 01:26:58,170
We were born to die.

973
01:27:05,599 --> 01:27:10,440
Tenochtitlan was leveled. The
magnificent gardens, the marvel of their

974
01:27:10,540 --> 01:27:11,540
were destroyed.

975
01:27:12,980 --> 01:27:17,480
The rivers and canals that so amazed the
Spaniards were filled in.

976
01:27:18,800 --> 01:27:21,340
Then Cortes set fire to the aviaries.

977
01:27:21,660 --> 01:27:27,100
Thousands of birds, vermilion
flycatchers, iridescent hummingbirds,

978
01:27:27,100 --> 01:27:29,280
canagers, green and blue macaws.

979
01:27:29,540 --> 01:27:33,220
The beauty that was Mexico was turned to
ashes.

980
01:27:36,200 --> 01:27:42,840
Some say the Mexica came to an end. It's
gone, finished.

981
01:27:43,940 --> 01:27:45,560
We're still here.

982
01:27:46,240 --> 01:27:51,980
We, the people who ignorant outsiders
insult by calling us Indians, we are

983
01:27:52,740 --> 01:27:54,880
This culture was not finished off.

984
01:27:55,400 --> 01:28:00,660
The culture is gone as an empire, as a
social, political, religious structure.

985
01:28:01,280 --> 01:28:04,620
But what remains is what the people
have.

986
01:28:06,090 --> 01:28:07,250
We weren't finished off.

987
01:28:23,650 --> 01:28:27,930
Proudly stands the city of Mexico,
Tenochtitlan.

988
01:28:29,350 --> 01:28:31,890
Here no one feels to die in war.

989
01:28:33,840 --> 01:28:36,100
Keep this in mind, oh prince.

990
01:28:37,600 --> 01:28:40,020
Who could attack the Nuchtiglan?

991
01:28:41,280 --> 01:28:44,540
Who could shake the foundations of
heaven?

992
01:29:05,260 --> 01:29:09,980
Our next program will begin far to the
east of Mexico, on a Caribbean island

993
01:29:09,980 --> 01:29:14,860
where a meeting between Spanish and
Indian people appeared at first glance

994
01:29:14,860 --> 01:29:17,700
merely an encounter between two
potential trading partners.

995
01:29:18,460 --> 01:29:23,360
But that first encounter between
Christopher Columbus and the Taino

996
01:29:23,360 --> 01:29:27,200
1492 was in reality a world -shattering
event.

997
01:29:28,020 --> 01:29:32,120
Please join us for 500 Nations, A Clash
of Cultures.