Always the enemy ; The only good Indian is a dead Indian . How the West was lost ; v. 2. 1993. 1 videocassette (ca. 100 min.). Always the enemy: describes the Apaches' struggle under Cochise and Geronimo and the 27 years they endured as prisoners of war even though they were not defeated. -- The only good Indian is a dead Indian: shows how massacres of peaceful Cheyenne turned them toward vengeance and how the whites' slaughter of buffalo herds destroyed their way of life. VHS 2192

America becoming . 1990? 1 videocassette (93 min.). Looks at the United States as it becomes an increasingly diverse nation. Tracing the history of significant changes in the Immigration and Nationality Act beginning in 1965, this program introduces a dramatic vision of a multi-cultural America where people of color are the new majority. The feelings and stories of ordinary people are featured in everyday context in six cities across the county. Interviews with residents of Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, Miami and several other places probe the changing relationships between newcomers and established residents. VHS 2195

America dances!: 1897-1948 a collector's edition of social dance in film . 2003. 1 videodisc (79 min.). Includes 60 historical dance film clips from the first part of the 20th century in the United States, recording changing dance trends, expertise, and taste, and reflecting United States culture through the years. This dance retrospective spans the panorama from average Americans dancing in newsreels to top quality performers who have left a legacy of dance moves across the ballroom floor. DVD 757

America the dancing ground . 199? 1 videocassette (28 min.). Shows the importance of dance in American culture from the native American dances and dances brought from Europe by the earliest settlers to the twentieth century innovations by Isadora Duncan, Ted Shawn, Ruth St. Dennis, Martha Graham and others. Excerpts from works by several dance companies show the variety of dance types that are part of American culture. VHS 2289

America's brutal prisons . 2005. 1 videodisc (48 min.). Visits correctional institutions in Texas, Florida and California, uncovering penal systems with deeply ingrained cultures of punishment, where prisoners are routinely abused, even tortured, by prison guards. The film features videos recorded by prison surveillance cameras and correction officers themselves, supplemented by interviews with former prisoners, a warden, a prison doctor, inmates' relatives, attorneys and former correction officers who have broken the code of silence. DVD 1699

The Americans . Americas. 1993. 1 videocassette (60 min.). One of a series of programs focusing on contemporary Latin America. This segment returns to the United States to profile California's Mexican population and the Latin American communities of Miami and New York City. Poses questions about assimilation, national identity, and how these communities are changing what it means to be an American. VHS 2130

The Americas in the 21st century . 1999. 1 videocassette (ca. 60 min.). Looks at the economic future of the western hemisphere where 800 million people in 34 nations will either be beneficiaries or victims of a huge free trade zone. Lays out the key issues facing the Americas including economic integration, free trade, cultural nationalism, and the wide disparity of income and wealth. VHS 6689

American tongues . 1987. 1 videocassette (56 min). Illustrates several dialects of the English language within the United States and various attitudes about regional, social, and ethnic differences in American speech. VHS 2147

And the dish ran away with the spoon . Developing stories. 1992. 1 videocassette (50 min.). Using poetry, interviews, music, and clips from television shows, this film highlights the effects of American television broadcasts on local cultures in the Caribbean. The film looks at Cuba's attempts to produce locally-oriented broadcasting, and the response to this from the United States by introducing the anti-Castro station TV Marti. VHS 3471

Another wind is moving: The off-reservation Indian boarding school . 1985. 1 videocassette (58 min.). Interviews American Indians regarding their experiences at boarding schools and examines their positive and negative impacts. VHS 580

Appalachian journey . 1991. 1 videocassette (60 min.). Folklorist Alan Lomax explores America's diverse cultural heritage through songs, dance, story and festival. This episode takes a journey into the Smoky Mountain valleys where country music was born. Looks at how a mix of British and African-American cultures, urban influences and contact with the Cherokee Indians resulted in the region's unique blend of ballads, legends, handmade toys and square dancing. Includes some great fiddling, banjo-picking, flat-foot dancing and lonesome songs. VHS 1407

The Appalachians: A land shaped by the people, a people shaped by the land . 2005. 3 videodiscs (180 min.). The Appalachian mountains have been called America's "first frontier." The story of the brave poineers who settled this great wilderness is the story of America: immigration, settlement, the Revolution and the Civil War, the growth of industry and the use and abuse of land. In addition, Appalachia has had a powerful impact on American music, folklore and culture, giving birth to what we know today as country music. Appalachia has always played a critical role in American history. It has been closely tied to the nation's economic fate--in particular, the roller-coaster cycles of boom and bust with coal, timber and steel. In every era, life in the mountains was reflected in song. --from back cover. DVD 1281

At the caribou crossing place . Netsilik Eskimos. 1990? 1 videocassette (29 min.). Presents the traditional way of life of the Netsilik Eskimos of the Pelly Bay Region in the Canadian Arctic as it was lived before European acculturation. Two men arrive at the camp and the four build from stones a long row of manlike figures, inukshult, down toward the water. They wait for caribou and then chase them toward the stone figures and so into the water where other men in kayaks spear them. The dead animals are floated ashore and skinned. The boy plays with the visitors, the woman cooks the meat, the men crack the bones and eat the marrow, and then feast on the plentiful meat. VHS 6363

At the winter sea-ice camp . Netsilik Eskimos. 1990? 2 videocassettes (72 min.). Presents the traditional way of life of the Netsilik Eskimos of the Pelly Bay Region in the Canadian Arctic as it was lived before European acculturation. Part 1: In late winter when the cold is severe, the people and dogs are glad to stop their trek and make camp. In the blue dusk the men probe the snow and then cut building blocks while the women shovel a site. Soon all are under cover, and in the wavering light of the stone lampthey sleep, their breath rising coldly. In the light of day the men test and refurbish their spears, harness dogs to the sled and strike out on the sea ice. Each man, with a dog or two, explores the white waste, seeking scent of a seal's breathing hole. When a dog noses the snow, the man probes for the hole and, when he finds it, suspends a single looped hair to signal when the seal rises to breathe. Then he waits, motionless, to make his strike. He kills, and the others gather to taste the warm liver of his catch. Then, as night comes, the vigil goes on. Part 2: In the morning the women spread the furs over the igloos to air. The children play, striking a ball of fur with a bone bat. The men wait patiently for sign of seals and the women play with the babies, sew, repair the igloos, nurse a child; an old woman rocks as she chants. A woman shows an older girl how to shape and cut fur for clothing. Then the seals begin to arrive, towed by the hunters. The women dress the seals, eating between times, passing the knife along as needed. The men come in with their catch, and soon all are indoors. VHS 6362

Before Stonewall: The making of a gay and lesbian community . 1989. 1 videocassette (87 min.). A social history of homosexuality in America from the 1920s to 1969, showing how this group has moved from a secret shame to the status of a publicly viable minority group. Tells how a group consciousness coalesced after the 1969 police raid on Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City, and the three-day riot that followed gained them national publicity and the birth of the gay movement. VHS 1935

Black English as an American dialect . The InterChange series. 1998. 1 videocassette (30 min.). John Rickford, Professor of Linguistics at Stanford University, who has been studying Black English as an American dialect for 25 years, clarifies the issues surrounding the "ebonics" controversy. VHS 5184

Blood in the face . 1991. 1 videocassette (77 min.). Uses archival footage and interviews to document the behind-the-scenes activities and individual philosophies and views of members of the Ku Klux Klan, Aryan movement, Nazi skinheads and Neo-nazis. VHS 2112

Brother's keeper . 1993. 1 videocassette (104 min.). Delbert Ward "confessed" to suffocating his ailing brother as an act of mercy, but the residents of the village of Munsville, where the Ward brothers lived, believed he had been framed. Film examines the real-life murder mystery of whether Delbert Ward, an uneducated hermit with a low IQ murdered his brother or was the victim of police abuse. VHS 2360

Builders of images . Americas. 1993. 1 videocassette (60 min.). One of a series of programs focusing on contemporary Latin America. This segment explores the arts throughout the Americas, celebrating the extraordinary creative ferment that has attracted global acclaim and given rise to a distinct and increasingly influential Latin American voice. Looks at artists from Puerto Rico, Brazil, Mexico and Argentina who are creating works that reflect and influence their people's cultural identity. VHS 2127

Building a kayak . Netsilik Eskimos. 1990? 1 videocassette (33 min.). Presents the traditional way of life of the Netsilik Eskimos of the Pelly Bay Region in the Canadian Arctic as it was lived before European acculturation. Netsilik Eskimos of the Pelly Bay region in the Canadian Arctic build a kayak. As the kayak takes shape there are more ribs to be split and shaped to fit, more soaking, bending and binding, more skins to soak and scrape and soak again before stretching them tightly on the frame and sewing them in place. Now the outer rim is put in position and, while the ice floats in the bay, the men launch and test their new kayak with evident pleasure in its able performance. VHS 6364

Buying the spirits . 2003. 1 videocassette (52 min.). This powerful documentary presents a sympathetic view of voodooism in Haiti delving into the hidden world of voodoo practitioners and offering unique insight into a frequently misunderstood religion. Haitians turn to secret voodoo societies for support and protection and some to gain wealth and power. The stories offered here present an objective view of a religion that is important to so many and often maligned. VHS 7613

Casting the first stone . 1991. 1 videocassette (59 min.). Draws complex portraits of individuals on both sides of the abortion controversy in Paoli, a small town in Pennsylvania, where very different life experiences have shaped conflicting values and beliefs. Includes footage of the nationwide debate on the question of abortion. VHS 1939

The Chaco legacy . Odyssey series. 1980. 1 videocassette (60 min.). Examines archaeological theories about the rise and fall of Chacoan culture, which had a high level of technical development and flourished over 900 years ago in the area of Chaco Canyon, New Mexico. Shows their extensive water control system, the large network of roads they constructed and several mammoth structures they built. Includes a history of the different excavation projects. Examines the theory that the Chaco civilization was a technological society that collapsed because of the gradual depletion of their resource bases. VHS 4955

Chicano Park . 1988. 1 videocassette (58 min.). Under the San Diego-Coronado Bay Bridge is Chicano Park and its murals. This is the story of its creation and a history of the community. Traces the history of the Mexican-American community in San Diego, from its creation around 1900, through its peak in the late 1920s and its near extinction in the 1950s and 1960s, to its revitalization in the 1970s. Shows the process through which residents effect positive change in their lives and community by using the richness of their cultural heritage to educate themselves to gain political power. VHS 2113

Confederacy theory . 2001. 1 videocassette (57 min.). Confederacy theory presents an unflinching portrait of the cultural war that has erupted around the confederate flag. Using never-before-seen archival footage and exclusive interviews with politicians, pundits, activists, and scholars, Confederacy theory traces the history of this symbol and its impact on Southern culture, history, and identity -- from the Civil War to the front lines of a modern-day secession movement. VHS 7284

Cree hunters of Mistassini . 1974. 1 videocassette (59 min.). Shows the conflict produced by the James Bay development scheme between a hunting culture of Cree Indians and the dominant white culture that has come to rely heavily on large-scale technology. VHS 6681

The difference between us . Race, the power of an illusion. 2003. 1 videocassette (56 min.). Part 1 of 3 'Race - The power of an illusion series' "Everyone can tell a Nubian from a Norwegian, so why not divide people into races? 'The difference between us' demonstrates how recent scientific discoveries have toppled the concept of biological race. Much of the program is devoted to understanding why. Looking at skin color differences, disease, human evolution, even genetic traits, we learn there's not one characteristic, one trait, or even a single gene that distinguishes all members of one 'race' from another. One by one, our myths about race - including 'natural' superiority and inferiority - are taken apart." -from container. A three part series exploring the history of race perceptions and behaviors towards races in the United States, within the context of recent scientific discoveries which have have toppled the concept of biological race. Episode one follows students who sequence and compare their own DNA looking for a "race marker." It also looks at the history of racism in the U.S., the advent of stereotypes based on physical attributes attributed to races and somatotypes with particular reference to African Americans. VHS 7441

Divine horsemen: The living gods of Haiti . 1998. 1 videocassette (52 min.). Documentary look at the Voodoo religions of Haiti by Maya Deren, a Voudoun initiate who was able to take her camera and recorder where few have gone before or since. Presents rituals performed by the Rada, Petro, and Congo cults, whose devotees commune with cosmic powers through invocations, sacrifices, and possession. VHS 5195

Do you speak American? 2005. 3 videodiscs (180 min.). Examines sociolinguistic questions and the dynamic state of American English, a language rich in regional variety, strong in global impact, and steeped in cultural controversy. DVD 1199

Family across the sea . 1991. 1 videocassette (58 min.). A delegation of Gullah people travels from the United States to Sierra Leone to trace the roots of their heritage. VHS 2170

Family business . Middletown. 1992. 1 videocassette (90 min.). Takes a look at the daily routine of the Snider family as their lives revolve around the family operated business. The focus is on the father's attempt to stay in business, with reactions and opinions from the family. VHS 1831

Fast food women . 1991. 1 videocassette (29 min.). Looks at the live of the women who prepare the food at four different fast food restaurants in eastern Kentucky. These women, mostly middle-aged with children to raise, are often the sole source of income for their families. They work for salaries barely above minimum wage, have trouble getting full-time hours because of their employer's scheduling policies, and are without benefits. Scenes of women working at the various restaurants are included in this look at the other side of the counter. VHS 1833

Fine food fine pastries open 6 to 9 . 1989. 1 videocassette (29 min.). Explores the culture and history of Sherrill's Restaurant and Bakery, which has served as a neighborhood gathering place on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, since the Depression. Presents interviews with, and shows the daily activities of the waitresses, owners, and regular customers of Sherrill's. Illustrates how this unique restaurant has become a vital part of the ritual of a city community. VHS 1304

Fire on the water . Crisis to crisis with Barbara Jordan: Crisis to crisis. 1983? 1 videocassette (56 min.). Looks at the conflict between Vietnamese refugees and native Texas shrimp fishermen along the Gulf coast and their reactions to the fear that there will not be enough to go around for both groups. VHS 6913

Fishing at the stone weir . Netsilik Eskimos. 1990? 2 videocassettes (57 min.). Presents the traditional way of life of the Netsilik Eskimos of the Pelly Bay Region in the Canadian Arctic as it was lived before European acculturation. Part 1: Full summer, and the tundra is bare; skin tents are up and it is time to attend to the fishing as the fish move upstream. The men are in the river, lifting stones and placing them to form enclosures to trap the fish. A woman skins a duck and then braids her hair in the old way, stiffly around sticks. From a bladder she makes a balloon for the child. The men are fishing with the three-pronged leisters, spearing the fish and stringing them on a thong, until it is as much as a man can do to drag his catch from the water. The woman works quickly, cleaning the fish, and then all enjoy bits of the fresh raw fish. Part 2: There are many men fishing now and even the children on shore imitate the motions of the men. Rain sweeps over the tundra but the work goes on, the men splashing through the weir, furs hitched high, seemingly little affected by the cold water. The haul is large. A man makes fire with a bowdrill and soon there is a blaze under the stone cooking pot. Fish are stewed and eaten, the men staying in their own group. There is a little play at cat's cradle while stories are told, and then the women return to cleaning fish and the men to building stone caches to store and protect the plentiful harvest for the leaner days to come. VHS 6361

Franz Boas, 1858-1942 . Odyssey series. 1980. 1 videocassette (60 min.). Profile of the German physicist who was responsible for shaping the course of American anthropology, by bringing discipline and order to a field that had previously dealt in subjective "race classification." Includes reflections and anecdotes by scholars and students, excerpts from journals and letters, and archival photographs. Discusses the Kwakiutl Indians, the principal subjects of Boas' field work. VHS 4953

Garth Fagan's Griot New York . Dance in America. 1995. 1 videocassette (85 min.). Following brief interviews with Garth Fagan and Wynton Marsalis, the program includes a complete performance of Griot New York. The concept of a griot, a West African storyteller who keeps the cultural heritage of a people alive, is used to depict the non-European culture of New York City, and particularly the African and Caribbean backgrounds of some of its residents. VHS 3238

The great spirit within the hole . 1983. 1 videocassette (58 min.). Focuses on American Indians in the nation's prisons and tells that Indian spiritual leaders are often denied entry to prisons to commune with their people. Emphasizes how freedom of Indian religious practices aids in rehabilitation. VHS 1801

The heart broken in half, a documentary . 1990. 1 videocassette (57 min.). A documentary on a youth gang showing the underground culture, including honor and, all too often, death. VHS 1835

Hester Street . Collector's series. 1997. 1 videocassette (89 min.). Focuses on the new Russian Jewish immigrants, Jake and Gitl, and their reactions to American life and customs. Follows their lives with all the trials and tribulations as they discard their old world traditions and adjust to life in New York's Lower East Side in 1896. VHS 38

The Highland Maya a case study in economic anthropology . Faces of culture: revised. 1994. 1 videocassette (28 min.). Explores the complex interweaving of economics and religion known as the "cargo" system, which is found among the Highland Maya of Mexico and Guatemala. VHS 3125

Holy Ghost people . 1998. 1 videocassette (52 min.). A report on the religious fervor of a small Pentecostal congregation in West Virginia whose fundamentalist philosophy encourages the biblical teaching of speaking in tongues and handling serpents. VHS 5341

Homeland: Four portraits of Native action . 2005. 1 videodisc (88 min.). Filmed against some of America's most spectacular backdrops, from Alaska to Maine and Montana to New Mexico, this award-winning film profiles Native American activists who are fighting to protect Indian lands, preserve their sovereignty and ensure the cultural survival of their peoples. Nearly all 317 Native American reservations in the U.S. face grave environmental threats - toxic waste, strip mining, oil drilling and nuclear contamination. A moving tribute to the power of grassroots organizing, Homeland is also a call-to-action against the current dismantling of thirty years of environmental laws. DVD 1553

How the West was lost . 1993. 3 videocassettes (ca. 300 min.). Documents the epic struggle for the American West and the devastating effects of westward expansion on the way of life of five Native American nations through the recollection of their descendants, archival photographs, and historical documents. VHS 2191-2193

Hunters and bombers . Indigenous peoples standing their ground. 1991. 1 videocassette (ca. 52 min.). The Innu (Montagnais Indians) of Labrador are protesting low-level military flights and the playing of war games over their territory. VHS 1953

Hunters of the seal: A time of change . 1978. 1 videocassette (32 min.). Contrasts the old and new ways of life of the Netsilik Eskimo. Shows how their conversion to Christianity and the efforts of the Canadian Government to help them have put an end to their nomadic lifestyle. VHS 5675

In the land of the war canoes: A drama of Kwakiutl Indian life on the Northwest Coast . 2000. 1 videodisc (43 min.). Presents an epic saga of Kwakiutl Indian life on the northwest coast of America as filmed in the summer of 1914 at Kwakiutl villages on Vancouver Island, Canada, by Edward S. Curtis who spent three years with the Kwakiutl to meticulously recreate their way of life before the white man came. In addition to magnificent painted war canoes, the film features native costumes, dancing and rituals -- including a powerful scene of vision quest. Edited and restored with the addition of an authentic sound track of music and chants recorded by the Kwakiutls in 1972. DVD 2343, VHS 1818

Incidents of travel in Chichen Itza . 1997. 1 videocassette (90 min.). Set during the spring Equinox when a shadow said to represent the Maya serpent-god Kukulkan appears on one temple pyramid, video depicts how New Agers, the Mexican state, tourists and archaeologists all contend to "clear" the site of the Maya city of Chichen Itza in order to produce their own idealized and unobstructed visions of "Maya" while the local Maya themselves struggle to occupy the site as vendors and artisans. Questions whether fieldwork is possible at such a spectacle and questions the status of ethnographic authority as people from the various groups converge on the event. VHS 5557

Inside life outside . 1988. 1 videocassette (57 min.). Follows a group of homeless people who live in a shantytown on New York's Lower East Side over a two and a half year period in order to reveal some of the complex forces that bring people to live on the street. Explores the realities of poverty, homelessness, child abuse, drug use, and alcoholism. VHS 1660

J'ai été au bal = I went to the dance: The Cajun and Zydeco music of Louisiana . 1989. 1 videocassette (84 min.). Looks at the Cajun-Zydeco countryside, its people and their dance halls blended with wonderful performances of the music and the recollections of its musicians. Features historical sequences about Joe Falcon, Amede Ardoin, Iry LeJeune, Harry Choates and others. VHS 1323

Juchitan queer paradise . 2002. 1 videocassette (64 min.). "This is a fascinating portrait of Juchitan, a small Mexican city near the Guatemalan border. Here homosexuality is fully accepted; gays are simply a third gender. If a boy shows a predisposition to homosexuality his family will rejoice and be thankful for receiving what is considered a blessing. In Juchitan a man who wants to be a woman only has to dress like a woman to be considered and treated as a woman by the entire community. The film profiles three gay people: a teacher, a hairdresser and a shop owner."--Container. VHS 7260

The Klan: A legacy of hate in America . 1989. 1 videocassette (30 min.). Using archival footage and stills film traces the beginnings of the Klan after the Civil War to its growth in the 1920s and resurgence in the 1960s. Describes the Klan's current activities against Blacks, Jews, Catholics, and immigrants. VHS 1154

The land where the blues began . 1990. 1 videocassette (60 min.). Folklorist Alan Lomax explores America's diverse cultural heritage through songs, dance, story and festival. This segment looks at the music of the Mississippi Delta, considered to be the land where the blues began. VHS 1409

Little injustices: Laura Nader looks at the law . Odyssey series: Odyssey (Television program). 1981. 1 videocassette (60 min.). Anthropologist Laura Nader narrates this cross-cultural study of institutionalized conflict resolution. Shows how, in a remote Mexican village, face-to-face conflict among a small population demands swift and effective redress for injustices, while in the United States consumers with defective products are lost in a morass of frustrating claims, slow and costly legal action, ineffective public agencies, and unresponsive corporate entities. Studies are based on a 10-year study of 5000 consumer complaints. She discusses the legal procedures and remedies, and comments on the problems of an impersonal law and on large corporations. VHS 4946

Long journey home . 1987. 1 videocassette (58 min.). A study of a contemporary Appalachian family that moved to a large city and then returned to the Appalachian region. It is a documentary about migration and the struggle of people racked by economic imperatives and their desire to maintain a homeplace. VHS 742

Los sures . 1984. 1 videocassette (58 min.). A documentary portrait of one of New York City's poorest neighborhoods, the primarily Hispanic community of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, known as Los sures. Five residents reveal what life is like for them in Los sures. VHS 6613

The lost vikings . 2000. 1 videocassette (approx. 60 min.). Civilization in legend and lore, a colony of Vikings in Greenland left no clues to their sudden and mysterious disappearance. Or did they? On a desolate coast of Greenland, an international team of archaeologists, forensic anthropologists, entomologists and botanists set out to investigate clues in a complex chain of events that may have led to the demise of a Viking colony. VHS 7570

Mariposas en el andamio = Butterflies on the scaffold . 1997. 1 videocassette (74 min.). "This award winning, remarkable documentary offers a rare view of day-to-day life for gays and transvestites in Cuba today. Butterflies on the scaffold follows a group of working class drag queens in the Havana suburb of La Güinera. They gained their neighbors' respect and became an integral part of the community by forging a coalition with the female leaders of the local construction brigade and performing in the workers' dining room...." VHS 7312

Maya: The blood of kings . Lost civilizations. 1995. 1 videocassette (ca. 50 min.). While Europe was in the midst of the Dark Ages, the Maya of Central America were developing a culture responsible for a complicated writing system, mathematic and astrological calculations and archeological marvels. Explore ruins in the jungles of Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala to understand a people both sophisticated and bloodthirsty and a society that collapsed with mysterious speed. VHS 5172

The meaning of food . 2005. 1 videodisc (180 min.). So many cultural and religious celebrations center on food, but how did this come to be? Discover the rich and varied history of American dining in this three-episode series. DVD 1237

Memorias del subdesarrollo = Inconsolable memories . 198. 1 videocassette (97 min.). A study of Cuban society before and after the revolution as seen through the eyes of a man who is a landlord and self-styled writer. VHS 701

Mi Puerto Rico . 1995. 1 videocassette (87 min.). Presents a personal journey through Puerto Rico's rich cultural traditions, revealing the remarkable stories of its revolutionaries, abolitionists, poets and politicians, whose struggle for national identity unfolds within the history of relations between Puerto Rico and the United States. VHS 7476

Mirrors of the heart . Americas. 1993. 1 videocassette (60 min.). One of a series of programs focusing on contemporary Latin America. This segment analyzes shifting ethnic and racial definitions in the region, looking at Bolivia, a nation with a rich Indian tradition, and Hispaniola, an island divided between two nations - Haiti and the Dominican Republic - with different cultural heritages and attitudes towards their African roots. VHS 2124

Montréal vu par: Six variations sur un thème . 1991. 1 videocassette (123 min.). A film that reveals a city steeped in European charm and style but alive with American rhythms. Six of Canada's most talented directors remind us that Montreal is at a crossroads where two cultures intersect. VHS 7238

The more abundant life . America, a personal history of the United States. 1972. 1 videocassette (52 min.). A potpourri of impressions of America: Hoover Dam from the confident 30's, neon Las Vegas in the glittering 70's, Los Angeles strangled with motor cars, Hawaii showing racial harmony amid pollution and overdevelopment. A summary of America's present status and prospects for the future. VHS 2003

Murray Avenue a community in transition . 1984. 1 videocassette (28 min.). Presents a close-up view of life on Murray Avenue in the traditional Jewish neighborhood of Squirrel Hill in Pittsburgh, Pa. Reveals how generations of residents confronted the coldness of urban living and provides a glimpse of a life-style that might soon be lost. VHS 476

Mythos . 1996. 5 videocassettes (275 min.). Excerpts from Joseph Campbell's last lecture series before his death illustrate his theory of the origin, purpose and history of myth and mythology. Psyche and symbol: Looks at the universal themes that operate in all people and cultures which link us together. Also examines how myths emerge from the unconscious and how, in every culture, these myths have evolved to guide the individual through the cycle of life. -- The spirit land: Explores how, for the American Indian, myths served to awaken in them a mystery of life and provided them with the rituals to prepare them for the obstacles of the real world. On being human: Discusses the characteristics we share in common with the animal world, and that point where animal behavior ends and human behavior begins. -- From goddesses to gods: explores the connections between ancient societies and the origins of the Western Judeo-Christian tradition. -- The mystical life: Uses texts and artifacts from the ancient mystery religions of Greece to reveal the unbroken connection between these religions and those of the West. VHS 5142

Nanook of the North . 1998. 1 videocassette (79 min.). A documentary about the communal life of the Eskimos and their struggle for existence. Includes the 1958 documentary: Flaherty on film : Mrs. Frances Flaherty remembers Nanook of the North (8 min.). DVD 209, VHS 1856

Nanook revisited . 1994. 1 videocassette (55 min.). The filmmaker revisits Inukjiak, the Inuit village where Flaherty filmed Nanook of the North. He examines the realities behind the ground-breaking documentary and the changes since it was made almost 70 years ago. VHS 3888

North America: The post-industrial transformation . The power of place: world regional geography. 1995. 1 videocassette (58 min.). Boston, ethnic mosaic examines ethnic relations and conflicts in inner-city Boston and proposed "empowerment zones". Chicago, farming on the edge explores the pressure of suburban growth on agricultural communities surrounding Chicago. Quebec, island of French, examines the resistance of French-speakers to domination by English and the role played by a large immigrant population in the controversy. Vancouver, Hong Kong east explores the problematic impact of immigrants from Hong Kong on housing development in Vancouver, B.C. VHS 3759-3760

Number our days . 1983. 1 videocassette (29 min.). Interviews conducted by anthropologist Dr. Barbara G. Myerhoff. Film provides a portrait of a community of elderly eastern European Jews, a group of disadvantaged but resilient individuals, now living in the Israel Levin Senior Adult Center, Venice, Calif. who sustain their vivid cultural heritage amid poverty and loneliness in modern America. Intersperses the interviews with views of the center's activities, which serve to bring the spirited citizens together in a common bond of unity. VHS 316

Nuyorican dream . 2000. 1 videocassette (82 min.). Follows five years in the life of a New York Puerto Rican family struggling against poverty, drug addiction and incarceration, capturing the emotional immediacy of a family in a free-fall without a social safety net. It also celebrates elements of community life -- solidarity, sharing of resources, cultural citizenship -- which make day-to-day survival possible giving testimony to the central role played by Puerto Rican women in maintaining family and cultural ties. VHS 6490

La ofrenda = The Days of the Dead . 1990. 1 videocassette (50 min.). Documents Mexican and Mexican American observances of Los Dias de Muertos. Emphasizes the enduring meaningfulness of practices and beliefs regarding death which appear pre-Columbian in origin. VHS 1852

Other people's garbage . Odyssey series. 1979. 1 videocassette (60 min.). Archeological excavations of the recent past expand our understanding of the texture of everyday life. Historical archeologists have unique resources not often available to prehistoric archeologists--records, legal, civil and historic documents and oral histories. Looks at the mining town at Mount Diablo, east of San Francisco; the slave quarters on the plantations of Saint Simon's Island, Georgia; and archeological projects made necessary by the expansion of Boston's mass transit system. VHS 4954

The Other side = El otro lado . City life: City life (Bullfrog Films, inc.). 2001. 1 videocassette (27 min.). Examines the devastating impact of Mexican-United States migration. The families and communities left behind are disabled, and their languages and cultures are being destroyed. This program looks at villagers who strive to ensure that their children will no longer have to migrate to have a better life. VHS 7189

Paris is burning . 2005. 1 videodisc (76 min.). A documentary about the young homosexual men of Harlem who originated "voguing" and turned these stylized dance competitions into glittering expressions of fierce personal pride. A story of street-wise urban survival, gay self-affirmation, and the pursuit of a desperate dream. DVD 1650, VHS 1793

The Pasciaks of Chicago . Six American families. 1977. 1 videocassette (59 min.). Documents the life of a blue-collar, Polish-Catholic family living in Chicago. Examines the conflicts that have arisen as a result of the six children's rebellion against ethnic and religious traditions and their parents' expectations. VHS 1315

Picuris Indians . 1988. 1 videocassette (54 min.). Presents a glimpse of some of the most intimate, unrehearsed moments of the Picuris Indian people at the site of their ancient pueblo hidden in a "Shangri-La" setting in a high mountain valley in the Picuris Mountains of north central New Mexico. VHS 882

Poletown lives! 1982. 1 videocassette (52 min.). Documentary that tells, from the residents' point of view, the story of Poletown, an inner-city Detroit neighborhood that was destroyed in 1981 when the city used its power of eminent domain to turn the land over to General Motors for construction of a Cadillac plant. Shows the changes in attitudes as the people realized that the institutions they trusted -- the courts, the United Auto Workers, the church, the City Council, and the media -- were not going to help them. VHS 1317

Postville when cultures collide . 2001. 1 videocassette (56 min.). This production was originally broadcast on Iowa Public Television and tells the story of how a small Iowa town is dealing with multiculturalism. Postville, Iowa is where more than 300 Hasidic Jews, plus hundreds of Mexicans, Guatelmalans, Ukrainians and Russians have taken up residence in the last decade. This program explores the struggles and rewards of the social and economic changes. VHS 7350

Remember the alamo . 2004. 1 videodisc (60 min.). In the early 1830s Texas was about to explode. Although under Mexican rule, the region was home to more than 20,000 U.S. settlers agitated by what they saw as restrictive Mexican policies. Mexican officials, concerned with illegal trading and immigration with Texas, were prepared to fight hard to keep the province under their control. In the area were 4,000 Mexican Texans or Tejanos, who were forced to choose a side. The conflict pitted brother against brother and devastated the community. This film shows the Tejano gamble for a more prosperous future in an independent Texas proved tragic. DVD 1173

Roots of rhythm . 1997. 3 videocassettes (ca. 180 min.). Traces the origins of Latin music from Spain and Africa to the New World (program 1). Focuses on pop music developed in Cuba and examines how North Americans began to discover this island's musical treasures (program 2). Shows how Spanish-African music has become the basic part of popular musical culture of the U.S. (program 3). VHS 6857

Sacred games: Ritual warfare in a Maya village . 1988. 1 videocassette (60 min.). Presents how the Maya people see the world and how their symbolic world is renewed in the annual carnival celebrations. VHS 889

Salsa Latin: Music of New York and Puerto Rico . Beats of the heart. 1988. 1 videocassette (ca. 60 min.). Latin music especially the hot New York-based dance music known as Salsa, has anchored the Latino communities of the eastern U.S and the Caribbean by providing a focal point for a colorful, distinctively Latin way of walking, talking and daqncing. Includes performances, interviews and recording sessions with Salsa musicians. VHS 3273

Search for the first Americans . WGBH collection. 1992. 1 videocassette (60 min.). Follows the trail of America's first inhabitants. Did they really migrate across a Bering Sea land bridge at the end of the last Ice Age, or did they in fact arrive thousands of years earlier, possibly by some different route as new archaeological evidence increasingly hints? VHS 1957

Secrets of the Choco . 1995. 1 videocassette (52 min.). An anthropological team travels to Colombia to collect data about the peoples and natural resources of the rain forest in the expectation that the Pan American Highway will bring economic development to the area and alter its ecology and customs forever. VHS 4179

Seventeen . Middletown. 1992. 1 videocassette (120 min.). Follows a group of Muncie, Indiana, seniors through their final year at Southside High School. Provides a participant/observer perspective on the lives of the teenagers, both in school and out of school. VHS 1832

The shackles of tradition . Strangers abroad. 1990. 1 videocassette (52 min.). Part of a documentary series that looks at the first anthropologists to stop "armchair theorizing" and go out to live among the peoples who so interested them. This film looks at Franz Boas who began his work investigating the relations between Eskimo migrations and the physical geography of their area. Boas became so absorbed by the common features that unite humans everywhere that he made the study of culture his life's work. He was the first distinguished social scientist in the United States to challenge the prevailing concept of racial inferiority and actively campaigned on behalf of black people in America in the early part of the 20th century. Considered the founding father of American anthropology, Boas taught at Columbia University for fifty years, encouraging his students to follow his example by actually working in the field. Among those who did so was Margaret Mead. VHS 6416

Silverlake life: The view from here . 2003. 1 videodisc (99 min.). An extraordinary video diary of living with AIDS. Told with guts and humor by longtime companions Tom Joslin and Mark Massi, this powerful documentary celebrates the human spirit while capturing the emotional challenges of living with a fatal illness. DVD 1926, VHS 2414

The spirit of Crazy Horse . 1990. 1 videocassette (58 min.). Milo Yellow Hair recounts the story of the Sioux Indian's struggle to reclaim their ancestral homeland, and the program investigates the simmering conflict of recent decades and offers a perspective on the choices that lie ahead. Events covered include: Little Big Horn (1876), Massacre at Wounded Knee (1890), Siege of Wounded Knee (1973) and the death in 1985 of Harry Crow Dog. Includes archival film. VHS 1232

The story of Vinh . Ethnic studies video collection. 198. 1 videocassette (60 min.). This film is the story of Vinh Dinh, son of a U.S. serviceman and a Vietnamese mother, who makes the journey from Vietnamese to American culture, from youth to manhood and from false dreams to harsh reality. VHS 1959

Stranger with a camera . 2000. 1 videocassette (62 min.). In 1967 Hugh O'Connor, a prominent Canadian filmmaker, came to eastern Kentucky to make a film. While filming in Jeremiah, Ky. Hobart Ison killed O'Connor. This film discusses the reason for the killing. In 1967 Hugh O'Connor, a Canadian filmmaker, and his crew came to eastern Kentucky to make a film showing people from all walks of life in the United States. They finished the day by filming coal miners and their families in rental houses. As the filmmakers were leaving, Hobart Ison, the owner of the property, drove up and fired three shots, killing Hugh O'Connor. Elizabeth Barrett, from Kentucky herself, explores why this happened by trying to understand the people and culture of eastern Kentucky in different socio-economic backgrounds. VHS 6451

Strangers and kin: A history of the hillbilly image . 1984. 1 videocassette (58 min.). Attempts to dispel prejudices and misconceptions about Appalachian people and their mountain heritage. Shows Appalachian actors performing and talking about their own relationships to their native hills. Includes excerpts from feature films and a popular TV series to illustrate the misrepresentations and stereotypes about this region. Art prints, archival photos, and traditional music are used to document the history and pride of these people. VHS 762

Style wars . 1983. 1 videocassette (69 min.). Explores the subculture of New York's young graffiti writers and break dancers. Journeys into the secret world of the graffiti writers who risk arrest and injury in subway tunnels and train yards to win fame for their names and their artistic prowess. The result is a traveling art gallery to some, but a plague to city officials and most of the riding public. Offers a gallery of remarkable personalities and a vivid display of art, music and dance from the heart and soul of a highly visible, but little understood young people's world. Dramatizes conflicts between graffitists and the city, as well as among the graffitists themselves. VHS 5517

Surviving Columbus . 1992. 1 videocassette (115 min.). Using stories from Pueblo elders, interviews with Pueblo scholars and leaders, archival photographs, and historical accounts, this program explores the Pueblo Indians' 450-year struggle to preserve their culture, land, and religion despite European contact. VHS 1978

Tan-singing of Trinidad and Guyana Indo-Caribbean "local classical music" . 2000. 1 videocassette (51 min.). Documents the dynamic diasporic music culture of the East Indian communities of Trinidad and Guyana. Traces the history, aesthetics, and current status of tan-singing in Trinidad, Guyana, and New York City. Features performances by leading artists and interviews with musicians and scholars. VHS 7065

Tex-Mex music of the Texas Mexican borderlands . Beats of the heart. 1990. 1 videocassette (ca. 60 min.). Tex-Mex music is an exuberant style with a Mexican soul and a rock'n'roll heart. It combines styles of corrida, norteno and others, is full of joy and energy, but carries significance through its lyrics about social problems. Flaco Jimenez, Lydia Mendoza, Frank Rodarte, Little Joe Hernandez and many others are shown in performance and conversation. VHS 3266

That high lonesome sound . 2002. 1 videodisc (ca. 70 min.). Shot in the 1960s, the three films released on this video capture the vanishing landscape of traditional music in America and the source of its power. DVD 532

The Titicut follies . 1974. 1 videocassette (84 min.). Stark and graphic documentary of the conditions that existed at the state prison for the criminally insane at Bridgewater, Massachusetts. Shows scenes of the daily life of the men, interspersed with shots from the inmates' talent show. Documents the various ways the inmates are treated by guards, social workers and psychiatrists. VHS 2347

Todos Santos = The survivors . 1989. 1 videocassette (58 min.). Documents the impact of civil war, guerrilla warfare, and government reprisal on the Indian village of Todos Santos Cuchumatán, in the Guatemalan highlands, since 1979. Shows agricultural, economic, social, phychological, and theological effects on the villagers. Sequel to Todos Santos Cuchumatán. VHS 1080

Tributary: A study of an American pop culture subculture . 2002. 1 videodisc (70 min.). A glimpse inside the world of "tribute bands": rock bands which imitate other, more popular rock bands. Groups such as AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Rush, and others all have tribute bands, whose members dress, sing, play, and act like their music idols. Includes interviews with tribute band members, and footage from various tribute concerts. DVD 879

Vela tradition and change in Juchitán . 1986. 1 videocassette (36 min.). Although the Zapotec Indians of Mexico have adjusted to urban life and modern economic pressures, they continue to preserve their cultural traditions. The film focuses on the association Angelica Pipi for the preservation of the vela tradition. VHS 1520

Voices of Cuba . 2001. 1 videocassette (54 min.). From the rock-and-roll clubs of the Havana youth, to the offices of high-ranking communist officials, from the five star hotels, to the decrepit slums, Voices of Cuba takes you to the Cuban people. The people themselves share their thoughts and feelings about their revolution, the effects of the U.S. embargo on their daily lives, and their hopes for their country in the twenty first century. VHS 6685

Voices of the Orishas . 1993. 1 videocassette (37 min.). This is an ethnographic documentary which demonstrates the survival and strength of the Yoruba cultural and religious heritage in the contemporary life of Caribbean African-Hispanics. The program was filmed in Havana among practitioners of Santeria, and documents a ritual ceremony that features dancing, singing, praying and drum beating, invoking the twenty-two Orishas, or deities of the Yoruba religion. VHS 4177

Voodoo and the church in Haiti . 1988. 1 videocassette (40 min.). History and influence of Voodoo in Haiti. Presents the people of Haiti, the religion and rituals of Voodoo, the inclusion of Christian images in the Voodoo worship and the conflict between Christians, Catholics and Voodooists. VHS 3698

A weave of time: The story of a Navajo family, 1938-1986 . 1987. 1 videocassette (60 min.). A documentary using film footage and photographs from 1938 to 1986 that looks at four generations of a Navajo family and the impact of modernization on their lives as well as their efforts to maintain their traditions. Follows anthropologist John Adair's study of Navajo silver crafts in Pine Springs, Ariz., and his acquaintance with Tom Burnside and his family, all Navajo handicrafters. Covers Adair's first visit in 1938 to his reunion with the Burnsides in 1986. Focuses on the Burnsides' many handicraft skills, family scenes, community ceremonies, and their current life-style. VHS 425

Wedding song: Henna art among Pakistani women in New York City . 1990. 1 videocassette (41 min.). Shenaz Hooda illustrates the traditional art of mehendi, the henna decoration of women's hands and feet for weddings and other festive occasions. The film includes the ceremonies as well as the Urdu songs (with English sub-titles) that are part of a traditional Ismailite wedding. VHS 1076

West of Hester Street . 1990. 1 videocassette (58 min.). When millions of Eastern European Jews poured into America in the early 1900s, they crowded into ghettos along the Eastern seaboard. Jewish leaders, concerned that the U.S. government might react by closing its doors to these immigrants, devised a plan (which came to be known as "The Galveston Movement") to bring thousands of immigrants through the port of Galveston, Texas, and settle them throughout American heartland. Film interweaves recreations of specific events with the personal narrative of one immigrant. VHS 5640

When will our turn come?: The urban poor of Oaxaca . 1982. 1 videocassette (53 min.). Following a background report on the economic history of Oaxaca, Michael Higgins, anthropologist at the University of Northern Colorado who has lived in Oaxaca since 1968, interviews a number of low-wage and occasional laborers and a few professionals about their lives, jobs and aspirations. The film shows how the changing social structure affects sex roles, cultural relations, economic conditions, and religious practices. VHS 1519

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