Waldemar Dorenstra examines the ancient cultures of the Americas

About 400 years ago, the first Dutch arrived in what is today New York. They were part of the European colonization of the American continent. History from a European perspective is well known, but what really happened to the people who lived in the Americas before Columbus set foot there? A seven-part series America upside down Watch on NPO 2 on BNNVARA from Saturday 13th May at 8.35 PM.

Waldemar Dorenstra: “After I discovered how many different indigenous peoples still live in North and South America, I was particularly struck by how these people are threatened with survival every day in 2023. The wisdom of their traditional science and their sustainable way of life feels more modern and current than ever! For me, conversations with Aboriginal leaders have been life-changing.

Waldemar and his team begin in New York: a place where the Dutch, among others, arrived as settlers 400 years ago, for example, and whose street names still remind us. We know these kinds of consequences of colonization, but what do we really know about the consequences for the Seneca, Onondaga, and Mohawk peoples? Or the fusion of European and indigenous cultures in Mexico?

On his travels, Waldemar talks to various leaders, hears from experts about the impressive discoveries of the Incas, and tastes the medicinal foods of the Maya. Wherever he goes, it is clear that indigenous cultures are very much alive and that they have to fight for the survival of their cultures, territory and independence to this day.

America upside down A co-production of BNNVARA and De Haaien.

Source: BNNVARA/BM