An ASU history professor used his knowledge to help create a new PBS documentary that introduces Native American history as an integral part of the U.S. experience.
Donald Fixico is the series adviser for “We Shall Remain,” which highlights the lives of Native American leaders and the primary roles they play in American history.
The importance of the show is to get people to realize what it might be like to be an American Indian, Fixico said.
Fixico has taught at ASU for the past five years and at a total of 10 universities, six of which he served as a visiting professor.
“I always say I’ve been teaching American Indian history for 31 years, but I’ve lived Indian history for 58 years,” he said.
Fixico is a native Shawnee, Sac and Fox, Muscogee Creek and Seminole Indian from Oklahoma.
The five-part series documentary first aired on PBS last week and will continue through May 11.
One of the reasons Fixico was brought in to work on “We Shall Remain” is because of a similar book project he was working on that focused on American Indian leadership.
Fixico said he learned through his research that many native leaders had to overcome a personal tragedy earlier in their lives that prepared them to overcome any challenges they might later encounter.
Fixico said native leader Tecumseh, on whom the next episode focuses, is an example.
“He’s very diplomatic, but very charismatic at the same time, and yet very eloquent,” he said. “He’s quite the campaigner and very willing to put his life at risk and to die in battle.”
The same general abilities and qualities tend to show up among all these native leaders as a chart was put together for all of them, Fixico said.
As a core consultant on the documentary, Fixico stresses two main traits of Native Americans: leadership and Native reality.
A common misconception of native leaders is that too often they are seen as leaders of war, but many times that individual was actually a peace leader who was forced into a war position to do two primary things: protect their homeland and their people, Fixico said.
“I was very interested in trying to get that across — that native leaders have considerable abilities and different qualities. That they’re charismatic, very oratorical, very eloquent, big-picture oriented. They are really kind of intellectual, and they were intellectually superior to the average person,” he said.
In the documentary, actors and actresses play historical roles to show the deep cultural influence that affected the politics of leaders’ times, Fixico said.
Through his work on the documentary, as well as his teaching and writing, Fixico said he tries to challenge students and non-native people intellectually.
David Edmunds, the Watson Professor of American history at the University of Texas at Dallas, worked closely with Fixico as a series advisor on the documentary.
Edmunds said Fixico is interested in making sure the film reflects a tribal perspective on American Indian history.
“Don is always well-known for his balanced approach to the interaction of Native American and non-Indian people, as a voice of reason when other voices become more stringent,” he said.
Fixico said his passion lies in writing and teaching. He has been brought on to advise in more than 20 television documentaries because of his wide range of knowledge of Native American history.
Reach the reporter at brianna.mattox@asu.edu.
