海角大神

In her debut appearance on a late-night talk show earlier this month, 鈥淩eservation Dogs鈥� star Paulina Alexis shared that she and her co-stars are basically portraying themselves on the hit comedy show.听鈥淭hey wanted rez kids, they got rez kids,鈥� she听told host Jimmy Fallon.听

The reason she says people are 鈥渇alling in love鈥� with the series, which began its second season Aug. 3 on Hulu, is because it provides a window into her culture that most of America hasn鈥檛 seen. 鈥淲e鈥檙e really funny people. It just hasn鈥檛 been shown before,鈥� says Ms. Alexis, a member of the听Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation.

As the entertainment industry听seeks to portray a more diverse swath of American life, recent programs are evidence of how Native representation in particular is progressing.听Spanning genres and time periods 鈥� from a sci-fi/horror action flick set on the 18th century Great Plains (鈥淧rey,鈥� also on Hulu), to a noir crime thriller series on AMC set in the 1970s Southwest (鈥淒ark Winds,鈥� based on the books by Tony Hillerman), to a teen comedy drama that takes place in contemporary rural Oklahoma (鈥淩eservation Dogs鈥�) 鈥� the content is setting new standards for authenticity and representation of Native people.

This progress hasn鈥檛 happened overnight, Native artists say, and more is still needed. But beyond moving past old stereotypes, the shift is bringing a new sense of empowerment to Native audiences.听

For decades 鈥渢he only space [Native] people had was to be extras in movies, or to be [consultants] correcting mistakes on technical issues,鈥� says Paul Chaat Smith, a Comanche author and essayist, and curator at the Smithsonian鈥檚 National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C.

鈥淲hat鈥檚 new is 鈥� you have Native people in [leading] positions,鈥� he adds. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a shift people have been waiting for for a long time.鈥�

A film in Comanche

Jhane Myers has been working in the film industry for nearly two decades. But walking through the set of 鈥淧rey鈥� in Canada last year 鈥� past the teepees and campfires of an authentic early 1700s Comanche hunting camp 鈥� she felt something she鈥檇 never felt before.听

鈥淢y ancestors probably had a camp exactly like that,鈥� says Ms. Myers, a producer on the film who is from the Comanche and Blackfeet Nations.

鈥淚t [was] a beautiful step back, really beautiful,鈥� she adds. 鈥淩arely do you get to do that in film.鈥�

The film is rare in several ways.听It鈥檚 a period film inside a sci-fi/horror film. It鈥檚 part of the long-running 鈥淧redator鈥� franchise, but set centuries before the original. The cast is made up almost entirely of First Nation or听Native American听actors 鈥� including Amber Midthunder,听an enrolled member of the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes,听as the hero, Naru. It鈥檚 also the first film to听be dubbed in Comanche.

In the dubbed version, the Comanche title for the film is 鈥淜眉htaamia,鈥� which translates to a big hunt or trial. It references a real rite of passage for Comanche warriors of the time, relating to hunting something that is hunting you, and it鈥檚 a central feature of the film鈥檚 plot. Naru yearns, early in the film, to go out for her 办眉丑迟补补尘颈补 鈥� and it becomes a more dangerous hunt than she could have possibly imagined.听

On Aug. 9 Disney announced that the film, released Aug. 5, had set a new streaming record on Hulu.听For Ms. Myers, the producer, the ultimate highlight was when she screened 鈥淧rey鈥� in the Comanche Nation. As the film concluded, the audience erupted in Comanche war cries 鈥� the same cries heard in the film鈥檚 closing scene.听鈥淭hat鈥檚 better than a pat on the back,鈥� she says.

鈥淥ften we鈥檙e seen as the villains, or we鈥檙e seen as downtrodden, [or] we鈥檙e seen as the sidekick,鈥� she adds. 鈥淭o see us in this type of position, but to know that my people see it and are empowered from it, that鈥檚 amazing.鈥�

Feeling empowered

Empowerment is a recurring theme for the Native people involved in these shows and films.

In a behind-the-scenes video about Season 1 of 鈥淩eservation Dogs,鈥� Tazbah Chavez 鈥� a producer, writer, and director on the comedy 鈥� describes how the only programming she could identify with growing up featured Black characters.

鈥淚f I was a kid and I saw [鈥淩eservation Dogs鈥漖, that would have exponentially made me more confident in who I am, made me more proud of who I am, and just I think feel more understood in the greater fabric that鈥檚 America,鈥� Ms. Chavez, a citizen of the Bishop Paiute Tribe, adds.听

The new shows are offering more work for those who are both in front of and behind the camera.听鈥淭his industry was built on people giving each other opportunities. ...听Now we have Native showrunners, and we get to give Native people opportunities,鈥澨齭ays Sterlin Harjo, a 鈥淩eservation Dogs鈥� director and writer, in the video. Mr. Harjo, a听Seminole and Muscogee (Creek) filmmaker, and听Taika Waititi, a New Zealand filmmaker of Maori descent, are co-creators of the show, which won a Peabody Award in June.

Some of the same cast members are featured across the new programming. Veteran Lakota actor Zahn McClarnon plays a tribal police officer in 鈥淩eservation Dogs,鈥� and is also Navajo police officer Joe Leaphorn in 鈥淒ark Winds,鈥� which debuted in June. Devery Jacobs, a member of the听Kanien鈥檏eh谩:ka Mohawk Nation, is one of the titular 鈥淩eservation Dogs鈥� and she also plays a minor role in the Peacock comedy 鈥淩utherford Falls,鈥�听another recent outlet for Native writers and actors.听

Even with all the opportunities, there is still room for progress.听The Hollywood Diversity Report 鈥� conducted every year by the University of California, Los Angeles 鈥� found that in 2021, the most recent year for which data is available,听fewer than 1% of acting roles in the most-watched films were filled by Native Americans. Fewer than 1% of the writers and directors in those films were Native.

鈥淲hile overall diversity and representation has increased [in entertainment], Native diversity and representation has not,鈥� says Leah Salgado, a citizen of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe and听chief impact officer at IllumiNative, a nonprofit focused on amplifying contemporary Native voices and stories.

Like Ms. Myers, the producer, Ms. Salgado adds that she would like to see more Native actors in content that isn鈥檛 Native-focused. They want to see a dentist who just happens to be Native, or a best friend in a romantic comedy who just happens to be Native.

That said, the recent Native-focused content has been heartening for Ms. Salgado. She notes, for instance, that Naru鈥檚 role in 鈥淧rey鈥� highlights the importance of female warriors 鈥渁nd the example they set for our young ones.鈥�

She also appreciates how the new shows allow her to see 鈥渕y family and my community reflected on the screen.鈥澨�

鈥淲e can be badass action heroes, we can be funny museum curators, we can be teased by our uncles,鈥� she continues. 鈥淲e can have that now in a way we haven鈥檛 had at all, ever, in the history of film and television.鈥澨�

鈥淧rey鈥� is rated R, and both of the series 鈥淒ark Winds鈥� and 鈥淩eservation Dogs鈥� are rated TV-MA, for mature audiences.听