500 Nations is a colossal set, more than six hours in duration, about the Native Americans from ancient times to the late 1800s. It is hosted by Kevin Costner, narrated by Gregory Harrison and features the voices of many prominent Native American actors, including Wes Studi, Graham Greene, Floyd "Red Crow" Westerman, Tantoo Cardinal, Gary Framer, Gordon Tootoosis and Eric Schweig.

This crew did a magnificent job of creating native villages through set construction and computer imaging. They take on virtual tours of these ancient dwellings and leave you feeling as if you have actually taken a stroll through these villages and homes.

When America was "discovered," there were more than 500 nations already on the continent. They numbered in the tens of millions, spoke more than 300 languages and had some of the most advanced cities found anywhere in the world.

Costner makes it very plain in his introduction that this is not, by any means, a complete history nor is it all-inclusive of the people, cities or events. It is an overview to give honor and respect to people that have been ignored by historians.

Composer Peter Buffett produced a wonderful soundtrack for this series. At times it is so haunting and soulful that you get chill bumps.

500 Nations is one heck of a documentary series. It packs so much information that it is like getting a course in Native American history. It is fascinating and yet, totally heartbreaking. It will engage all of your emotions and challenge you to question your own beliefs and feelings, as well as examining the world in which we live.

If you have any interest in learning about Native Americans, this is the set to get. You will not be disappointed ... but you might be prompted to action! Everybody should see 500 Nations.

Let's look at the individual chapters.

Wiping the Tears of Seven Generations begins where the series will end: on the Great Plains in the late 1800s. "Wounded Knee: The Darkest Hour" will make your blood run cold as you witness the massacre of women and children by the Seventh Cavalry. This segment explains the Ghost Dance and shows a few photographs. "The Ancestors" begins with a variety of creation stories and a comparison to the Christian creation story, then moves to "The Anasazi" of the southwest desert.

The section on the pyramid builders begins with the story of how the Mississippian Peoples got their name and why the eagle has black on his tail feathers. It relates how their leader came down from the sun to govern and teach. It looks at major mounds and the items created and traded. Next we go to "Palenque: The Maya" and take a virtual tour, observe how the civilization spread, and marvel at the Temple of the Inscription, as we learn of their written records.

The Aztec begins in "The Valley of Mexico." In 1519, the Aztecs were more than 10 million in number. The ruler had horrific, prophetic dreams. He knew that disaster was coming. Twenty miles away, there were ruins of Teotihuacan, "the Home of the Gods," so he knew that cultures move in cycles.

We see the events leading up to the Aztecs and witness "The Rise of the Aztecs." After a thrilling look at the Aztec way of life, "The Invasion of Mexico" brings the Spanish conquistadores, under the command of Hernando Cortez, to their shores. This led to "The Fall of the Aztecs."

A Clash of Cultures examines the events when Columbus's flag ship, the Santa Maria, ran aground in the Caribbean. The natives rescued him and his men. There were more than a million natives in the Caribbean, and Columbus tried to enslave all of them for mining gold. By 1496, only a third remained. Many killed their families and then themselves. By 1503, only a few scattered populations were left. "Enrique's Rebellion" shows how Enrique fought the Spanish until they agreed to peace. But their population, which the priest Las Cassas had estimated at 2 million, was reported as officially extinct by 1600.

"Gulf Coast of Florida" reveals how Hernando De Soto wiped out entire villages as he swept inland and then annihilated every last member of the Timicuah Nation. "De Soto's March" took him toward Columbia, South Carolina, across the Appalachians, south to Mobile and west to the Mississippi, where he died. His army traveled to Texas, but was driven into the coast when they returned. This man wiped out entire civilizations throughout his route. Fifteen years later when Spanish explorers arrived, they did not find any of the thriving communities. All they found were small pockets of survivors. Two decades wiped out the majority of natives in the southeast United States.

Invasion of the Coast focuses on the English invasion along the Atlantic coast of North America. "Baffin Island" looks at the Inuit, the one people that the English would never conquer. An English explorer looking for a passage to Asia accidentally left five men. When he returned, he found English items and handmade things that copied English items. Frobisher captured a man, woman and child to take back to England, but all three died.

"The Powhatan Confederacy" was composed of 30 nations in 1607 when John Smith arrived and settled Jamestown. "Thanksgiving 1621" covers Plymouth and the Pilgrims. One native, Samoset, was left. The Pilgrims made a truce with the Wampanoag, who taught them to raise corn and offer a ceremony of thanksgiving. "King Phillip's War: New England" came about because the Puritans tried to force the Wampanoag to adopt the Puritan ways. Basically, it was "Pray or be shot!" King Phillip's head was kept on display in Plymouth for 20 years, but his wife and son were sold as slaves in Bermuda.

A Cauldron of War follows the trading inward. "The Northern Trade" shows how the whites wanted furs and sought trade because of the beaver felt hat fad. Commercial hunting changed native culture, annihilated wildlife, brought alcoholism to the natives and pitted tribes against each other. "The Southern Trade: The Sewee" goes to the Charleston, South Carolina, area, where the Sewee Nation decided to establish independent trade with England. Their better mousetrap failed and they ended up on a slave ship bound for the Indies. The slave trade began with the Native Americans before the Africans. In 1730, one-fourth of the slaves in the South were natives.

"The French & Indian War: Pontiac" tells the story of how Pontiac decided to rid the area of the English and how Jeffrey Amhurst decided to rid the area of the Indians. Amhurst used germ warfare and sent them blankets contaminated with small pox. "The Haudenosaunee: America's First Democracy" was the result of the Great Peacemaker bringing the Great law to the Five Nations. The United States government was modeled after the Iroquois. "Revolution" finds the Iroquois divided by civil war. This relates how they were split between the colonists and the British and how George Washington repaid his native allies by burning their capitol and seizing their lands.

Torn from the Land picks up the settlers movements across the Appalachians to the "new frontier" of the Ohio Valley. Enter Tecumseh. "The Ohio Valley" sees Tecumseh spread the vision of giving up the white man's ways and start teaching cultural revitalization at Prophet's Town. "Tecumseh" is the story of how this one native organized his people, joined the British in the War of 1812, and the results.

"The American Southeast: Southern Removal" looks at the "Five Civilized Tribes" -- Choctaw, Chickasaw, Cherokee, Creek, and Seminole. It covers the discovery of gold in Georgia, the Indian Removal Act, and the actual removal of the natives. "The Cherokee" reveals how John Ross filed the lawsuit against the state of Georgia and the Supreme Court ruling that the Cherokee are a sovereign nation not bound by Georgia law. President Andrew Jackson challenged the Chief Justice to enforce his ruling. Major Ridge illegally signed a treaty, the Cherokees ignored it, and the government sent troops. The rest is too ugly to relate.

Struggle for the West discusses the movie image of Native Americans and how that image is beginning to change. "The Other Coast -- California" takes a glance at the 300,000 natives of California, their 80 languages, their vastly diverse cultures and the disaster that befell them in the form of Spanish missionaries. Meanwhile, the whites were arriving from the east in search of gold. "The Southern Plains" evaluates the changes in culture after the natives got horses from the Spanish. Gold brought settlers and that brought military forts to protect them.

Next, we see the ordeals with Black Kettle, White Antelope and the Sand Creek Massacre. Soldiers arrived back at Denver with more than 100 scalps. Four years later, Custer attacked the last of Black Kettle's people on a government reservation by Washita Creek. "Southern Plains: Kiowa Resistance" explains how the government wiped out the buffalo because the Kiowa were dependent upon them and how the Army rounded up 10,000 Indian horses, killed 1,000 of them and sold the rest. "Sitting Bull & Crazy Horse -- Standing against the Tide" gives an overview of the Battle of Little Bighorn and Custer's death.

Attack on Cultures goes to the reservation of the late 1800s, but first looks at two of the last free leaders and the legacies they left behind. "The Nez Perce -- Chief Joseph" shows us the Nez Perce Flight for Freedom and some of the atrocities committed against the Nez Perce. "The Apache -- Cochise & Geronimo" covers Cochise's fight with the government and the treaty that allowed his people to stay in the Dragoon Mountains, which was broken two years later when the Apaches were ordered to San Carlos Reservation. They resisted. Geronimo kept them free for another decade. They served 28 years as POWs.

"Attack on Cultures" is a horrendous look at reservation life, corruption among Indian agents and government men, and the "reservation Indian." This examines the eastern reformers and their attempts to force the Indians to act white and accept white ways. It includes the removal of Indian children and the Indian boarding schools.