Monumental Myths

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Monumental Myths is a 47-minute documentary, which unveils the
perpetuated myths told at several American monuments and historic

Carved in rock or cast in bronze, America’s monuments are
authority and an unquestionable truth about the people and events they
commemorate. Director Tom Trinley traveled across the country in a
borrowed 1965 Airstream trailer and visited several sites to provide
the untold, alternative viewpoint of those whose experiences have been
Pillow in Tennessee, The Purchase of Manhattan monument in New York
City, Lincoln’s Birthplace Log Cabin in Kentucky, the Christopher
Columbus statue on Chicago’s lakefront and Mt. Rushmore in South
park rangers and tourists to better understand their perspective of

include Howard Zinn, author of A People’s History of the United
States and Lonnie Bunch, President of the Smithsonian Institution’s
Museum of African American History.

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  • Ecualibrium

    The Afro American natives discovered America first, then the vikings. The only reason Columbus became famous for it is because of the slavery and the wealth he gained, and the arrival date. And the wide spread news that a new world had be found all over Europe. I think we should memories and remember Columbus for the despair and death he brought to the native Americans, and remember him as an evil racist that killed human life, and a whole sophisticated civilization on a whole continent. we could have lived inn harmony all thees years instead the native Americans had to live inn slavery and death and rape and a whole lot of shit. I hope this is a good lesson for the future.

    • Natural One

      Columbus never set foot on the mainland. He made it to the Bahamas. The mainland was discovered by another italian called Amerigo Vespucci. Columbus thought he had landed in India, Vespucci knew it was a separate land mass. Columbus is considered no better than Hitler by some of the descendants of the natives he treated so badly. Unfortunatley the Africans were brought there as slaves, they did not america. The first europeans made their way there at the end of the last ice-age 30000 years ago, when the arctic icecaps were much farther south, hopping from iceberg to iceberg hunting fish and seal as they went, much like today’s eskimo. Proof of this can be found in the appearance of the Clovis spear technology that has been found in caves in France and all over the northen continent of america. 10,000 years or so later more humans came in from northern asia, crossing from modern Russia to Canada via the Bering Straight – a spot that was crossable at the time.Modern studies have shown that native americans’ dna is made up of 5 main parts, 4 of which were from asia, and the other older part, from europe.There is some evidence that Vikings may have landed there sometime ago ie 1000 years ago, but I dont believe it. But they may have.Anyway, if you consider the fact that everyone on earth came out of africa, then I guess they/we discovered everything.

      • Rhodesschneider

        wow thanks, you should make a doc natural one. I had all the info but hadnt put it together the way you just did. also anyone know the rap at the end credits? and funny they show the saddam statue being pulled in a movie about american propaganda because that was a government psyop team, not iraqis, who pulled it.

        • Tom Trinley

          Hi, I’m the film’s director. Thanks for watching Myths. Regarding the closing credits rap, please follow links below for a free MP3 download on the film’s website and for the music video on You Tube.

          Dowload free MP3 of My Country:

           Watch the music video for My

          • bringmeredwine

            A very interesting doc. Reminds me of how I never learned the truth about Canadian history till I started listening to historians on CBC radio and reading books outside the classrooms.
            We Canadians should not be so smug about what a welcoming and peaceful country we are because our ancestors and governments did some very bad things and some continue today.
            I just LOVED those friendly folks at the Co-op!

          • kropotkin

            Great job, Tom. The content was excellent. Even the soundtrack was great. Now, make one with Chomsky and friends regarding how anti-democratic tendencies have fought to suppress justice and democratic tendencies throughout history, from the Greeks up to the contemporary phony libertarians.

      • Imightberiding

        Funny how you have absolutely no problem believing every statement you made with regards to human migration to the America’s with exception of the Vikings.  There are unmistakeable & proven Viking settlements in Canada (dated to about the time you quoted of aprox 1000 yrs ago).  Labrador & Newfoundland to name the location of but a few of several found.  Perhaps a little more research to augment your most informative yet exclusive dissertation.  Cheers!

        • Natural One

          What I should have said is that there is no evidence I am aware of about the vikings landing. And it seems like a difficult voyage to cross the Atlantic in longboats. My knowledge is mainly based in prehistory. So there are holes in my information regarding the vikings landing. But I will take a look at the canadian settlements you mention as that is quite interesting. Thanks a lot.

          • Jmac

            It’s well documented that Vikings settled for a brief period in Newfoundland. They had settlements in Greenland and came down from there. This has been well documented by historians and is not a part of “fringe” history. It is taught as a part of Canadian history at school.

    • Joao D Fardilha

      So let me try to understand something, you think Columbus is the Devil who brought genocide and all that. You are on your right to do so. I don’t deny it… 
      But then what do you think about everyone who lived in the following 300 something years before your civil war? And what do you think about everyone who lived until the 60′s who allowed american apartheid? Just wondering… I guess you probably admire a few guys from those periods, yet they allowed slavery and inequality, no? 
      What I mean is, yes what people did back then was horrible. For TODAY’S standards it is horrible, and thank humanity we grew to understand slavery is horrible (I could now introduce sweat shops and predatory multinationals, but I’d be deviating from the point I’m making). 

      That said, you can’t judge people out of their time period like you do today, what Columbus did, in spite of it not being “discovering America” for everyone, it was “discovering America” to the most powerful nations of the time… portuguese fishermans had fishing colonies in Canada long before Columbus arrived in Cuba, so did the Vikings etc.. etc… All that said, in the 1400′s the main nations of the globe were not unaware the continent existed.

      Yes he practiced slavery, like most people back then do, he wasn’t brought up considering he was doing wrong, and trust me, he was neither the first nor the last doing it. And it wasn’t only a church thing, Africans back then were not catholic and enslaved each others tribes. Really people read some freaking books on the subject, slavery existed throughout ALL history, but no one is spitting on ancient Romans or Greeks for those ones. You are talking about native americans? Remember the Mayans, they sacrificed PEOPLE for God sake, they had slaves too. So what exactly are you talking about? The Cherokees? Guess what they also enslaved people prior to european contact… 

      You guys need to read some books and not think you already know the answer to everything because you read some books… Really, stop being so full of yourself…

    • Ron

      Absolutely correct!  One more reason we need to secure the borders. 

  • Babe

    i like this … lots of reality and truths are acknowledged here ..thumbs up 

  • beauregard

    This is pretty elementary stuff, and it leans a little in the anti-American direction. I recommend a book: ‘Puritans Among the Indians.’ 

  • Candace Pritchett

    will u guys get a life? ilearned all of this 40 years ago…obviously columbus didnt “discover” america…of course the asians and vikings did it first…but he did discover it for the meditterains people….u r arguing over semantics..and as far as genocide goes and enslavement…thats the way the world was then…for better or worse..everyone enslaved everyone else…do u think the africans just walked onto the portugese slave ships…they were transported by other rival tribes to the ships

  • Edjdonnell

    Seems the film maker and the people talking are upset with the artists,  not the history.   they talk about the scale and dress of the monuments. the rest is old news to any one with more than a 4th grade education.

  • kropotkin

    Great documentary.