University of Wisconsin - Extension

Traditionalist Eddie Benton-Benai shares the legacy of his people in Ojibwe History, a new production from Wisconsin Public Television (WPT).

Benton-Benai speaks of events such as the prophecies that led the Ojibwe from the East Coast to Wisconsin. The program offers a rare opportunity to experience the Native American oral tradition, and it airs at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 1, with an encore at 10 p.m. Friday, Nov. 2, on WPT.

¿The true history of the original people of this part of the world has never been written,¿ Benton-Benai says in the program. ¿It¿s recorded in our genetic memories and is acted out in our songs, our stories, our rituals.¿

He talks of the importance of the lodge, where the original teachings are kept. ¿They are not available in print,¿ he says. ¿The key to it is the language. Without the language, you¿re a very, very handicapped person.¿

Touched on as well are prophecies that pointed the Ojibwe nation to a land where food grew on water, predicted the arrival of the ¿longcoats¿ ¿ Christian missionaries ¿ and spoke of a time when ¿the rivers will run with poison and the fish will become unfit to eat.¿

Benton-Benai speaks to dominant culture¿s misconceptions about native people. ¿There are a lot of distortions we haven¿t corrected,¿ he says. ¿Some distortions hide sacred places. ¿ America still has a lot to learn about us and from us. Some day, our white brothers are going to come ask, ¿How do we live in peace?¿¿

Ojibwe History, produced by Mik Derks, is a moving half-hour in the presence of a master storyteller.

WPT is a service of the Wisconsin Educational Communications Board and University of Wisconsin-Extension. Wisconsin Public Television celebrates and connects the diverse people of Wisconsin through programs like Ojibwe History on WHA-TV/Madison, WPNE-TV/Green Bay, WHLA-TV/La Crosse, WHRM-TV/Wausau, WLEF-TV/Park Falls and WHWC-TV/Menomonie-Eau Claire.