First America

Native people have been written out of the American story, but without us you don’t know what happened. This summer the United States will celebrate the 250-year anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. When you read the Declaration, you realize it is a list of complaints. The last entry, the climax in our founders’ reasons for rebellion against the Crown, is this: “He has excited… the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.”

We have been told the Revolution was fought over taxation and representation. But what the founders were most angry about in our country’s most famous document was Indian affairs. How did generations of Americans miss this?

The first armed rebellion against the Crown was an attack on British forts that traded with tribes. When colonists threw tea into the Boston harbor, they dressed up like members of the Mohawk tribe—not for disguise, but because pretending to be Indian symbolized freedom and rebellion. The founding fathers’ first government failed because Indigenous nations were too powerful; war and diplomacy with Native people is why we have a central federal government.

Hosted and reported by Rebecca Nagle and  featuring leading Native historians,  First America unveils  how the founders’ treatment of Indigenous nations—and their resistance—shaped US democracy. The show  does not simply add another blemish to the image of the founding fathers, it reveals the real story of why the colonists rebelled, what kind of government they created, and, crucially, how our current political moment was 250 years in the making.

Email info.firstamerica@gmail.com for updates and partnership opportunities.

WRITTEN and REPORTED by Rebecca Nagle, citizen of Cherokee Nation

And dreamed into the world with an amazing group of Indigenous scholars:

Maggie Blackhawk, Fond du Lac OjibweNed Blackhawk, citizen of the Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone

Phil Deloria, descendant of the Standing Rock and Yankton Sioux tribes

Nick Estes, citizen of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe

PRODUCED by Critical Frequency and DISTRIBUTED by Pushkin Industries

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Rebecca Nagle, citizen of Cherokee Nation

MANAGING PRODUCER: Amy Westevelt 

SENIOR PRODUCER and SOUND DESIGNER: Brendan Baker 

STORY EDITOR: Audrey Quinn 

PRODUCERS: Jules Bradley, Sarah Ventre, Kim Nederveen Pieterse, and Jordan Gass-Pooré

EDITORIAL CONSULTANT: Connie Walker, citizen of the Okanese First Nation

FACT CHECKING: Naomi Barr

PARTNERSHIPS DIRECTOR: Lindsay Crowder

DEVELOPMENT CONSULTANT: Jenny Lawton

THEME SONG and SCORE: Raven Chacon, Diné

SCORE: Laura Ortman, citizen of the White Mountain Apache tribe

ARTWORK: Keli Gonzales, citizen of Cherokee Nation