“Saints and Strangers” Premieres at NatGeo

Thanksgiving is around the corner… and National Geographic found a way to commemorate the holiday that goes beyond turkey and football.

On Sunday night, the organization aired in DC the first part of a four-hour program, called “Saints and Strangers,” on the Mayflower story and the interaction between Plymouth colonists and Native Americans.

The title of the program, “Saints and Strangers,” is a traditional dichotomy between the Puritan pilgrims who headed for America for religious reasons and the people who left England for economic and reputational reasons. However, it could also be expanded to include the initial distrust between the English and more than one Native American group, especially when the English are caught stealing corn. There is no clear answer when it comes to who are the true saints and strangers.

The purpose of the program is to highlight historical facts that might have missed for many who learned about the events at school. The program is also intended to teach people today to bring awareness and gratitude for what we have today.

After the first part of the program was screened, a Q&A took place with three executive producers, Teri Weinberg, Gina Matthews, and Grant Scharbo and actors Kalani Queypo and Michael Jibson. The Q&A session revealed that the filming took place in Cape Town, South Africa, that primary sources, including journals, were used for research, and that the skeletons that were featured in the program were made from scratch.

Can’t wait to see both parts one and two? National Geographic Channel will air them on November 22 and 23 at 9 p.m.