Tecumseh

At the beginning of the 19th century, white settlers regularly make and break treaties with the Native American inhabitants to gain possession of vast hunting grounds at ludicrously low prices without any bloodshed. Harrison, Governor of Indiana, has made and broke no less than fifteen such treaties, driving increasing numbers of Indians out to the infertile West. To put a stop to this criminal practice, the Shawnee Chief Tecumseh tries to unite the Native Americans. In 1811, he founds a tribal alliance and has Native American lands declared communal property. Chiefs who sell their land in spite of this agreement are to be killed. During the chief's absence, however, Harrison raids the "sacred city" of Tippecanoe founded by Tecumseh and his supporters, reducing it to ashes. The few survivors of the bloodbath flee to Canada, where they join forces with the English as they wage war against America. But they, too, fail to keep their promise to Tecumseh concerning an independent Indian state. In a decisive battle, the defeated English betray and abandon their Native American allies. Together with the other members of his tribe, Tecumseh is killed too.-DEFA Film Library