Back when I was growing up, today was called Columbus Day. Now, I know when you hear that sentence, it’s usually followed immediately by some bullshit plea for historical something or other, but not from me. I love this change, I think it’s a fantastic idea. Even when I was in elementary school, I didn’t understand the whole Christopher Columbus thing. Sure, it makes a good rhyme, 1492, sailing the ocean blue and all that. Sure, it’s catchy, it’s got a beat and you can dance to, but you can do that with anything that ends in two and is at all maritime-related. How can you discover a place where someone already lives, I’d ask. Can I walk into my neighbor’s yard, discover it, and then claim that shit for Spain? I never really did get a satisfying answer to that. Second grade, am I right?
Anyway, out with known dirtbag Christopher Columbus and in with Indigenous Peoples’ Day. What a welcome change; instead of celebrating a historical stain with a good PR game, we can celebrate and honor indigenous peoples and their cultures. Media has historically, being generous, not been great when it comes to indigenous representation. Lots of really awful depictions of Native Americans in our media, often with white actors in makeup made to look Native American, dressed up in “native” garb, and doing a bastardized amalgam, at best, of several different tribes’ traditions, if not completely fabricated ones. I mean, Johnny Depp played Tonto. In 2013. That’s indefensible. So, as we celebrate native peoples, I’d like to highlight some media that’s either made by, starring, and about indigenous people.
Asta frustrated with Dr. Harry, a common occurrence
Resident Alien (Peacock/SyFy)
Yes, it’s true that Alan Tudyk is the main story of Resident Alien. His portrayal of an alien stuck in a Colorado town so small it doesn’t even have a pizza place (pizza being a magical food he has only seen on episodes of Law and Order) is hilarious and moving. If you’re not familiar with the show, Tudyk plays an alien on a mission to Earth who crash lands here, accidentally kills a doctor who looks eerily like Alan Tudyk, then he becomes Dr. Alan Tudyk thanks to his alien shapeshifting ability. He’s pressed into service as a small town doctor when the small town’s doctor turns up dead. Hilarity ensues, as he has no social skills whatsoever and Alan Tudyk expertly navigates what it’s like to be human for the first time, thoughtfully guided by his friend Asta Twelvetrees, a Native American character portrayed by the charming and skilled Sara Tomko, who has Native heritage. While Tudyk’s Harry is the star of the show, it’s Asta who is the heart and soul; without her, it simply wouldn’t work. And part of her story is how she is affected by Native tradition, expectations, and familial and cultural ties. While not the focus, Native culture is important to the show and it was important to the people involved that the representation be accurate and real. The cast, crew, and creative team took special care in how they portray Native Americans and that is one of the reasons you should watch this show.
The eponymous Rez Dogs of Reservation Dogs
Reservation Dogs (Hulu/FX)
Co-created by the ever-brilliant Taika Waititi and Sterlin Harjo and featuring an all-indigenous writer’s room and basically all indigenous cast, Reservation Dogs follows a group of friends living on a Native American reservation in Oklahoma who harbor dreams of saving up and getting out. The idea is simple—do whatever it takes to put enough money away to get them to California, where they can have more opportunities; the desire to leave punctuated by tragedy that occurred before the events of the series. The show is unstoppably funny, shockingly heartwrenching, and altogether a fantastic work of art. I can think of as many moments that I laughed out loud as I can times I wiped tears from my eyes as I, still, stupidly try to hold them back. This show gave me that feeling I had when I first watched Atlanta; something here was not only special, it was authentic; it felt as real as a work of fiction could feel, because the people making it, from top to bottom, really care about how it’s made. The cast of young, indigenous actors make their characters burrow their way into your heart as the show shifts focus from character to character. In one episode, you watch as Bear gets excited over his delinquent father putting in a visit. In another, Willie Jack convinces her father to go hunting, a formerly favorite pastime of theirs that they inexplicably stopped doing after her father had an inexplicable experience in the woods. Elora takes her friends on a journey to learn how to fight from her crazy uncle who smokes a ton of old, weak weed. And yet again, Cheese goes on a ride along with the Tribal police and has an all-too-real brush with mythology. That’s one of the things this show does so well—the characters interact with their culture and their mythology in a way that is real—whether it’s real to them or it’s really happening in the show’s canon, these brushes with the supernatural are never superfluous, but whether they’re actually happening doesn’t matter. It’s what these interactions do to our protagonists that matter. How they change their perspectives because they spoke to a long dead ancestor or saw a demon who preys on bad men is what matters. It’s not a show about the supernatural, even if the supernatural may be present. Reservation Dogs probably deserves its own feature length blog post, but for now, suffice it to say that if you’re not watching this show, you should be, and today is as good a day as any to start.
Hiding out in the bush seems decidedly less fun than it sounds
Ricky Baker, oh Ricky Baker….sing it with me! You’ll get it after you see the movie.
Hunt for the Wilderpeople (Netflix, Hulu, Tubi, PlutoTV)
If you’re looking for a one shot to get dip your toes into Native storytelling, instead of jumping right into multiple episodes of an ongoing series, Taika Waititi’s (him again!) amazing Hunt for the Wilderpeople tells the story of the troubled Ricky Baker, an orphaned Maori teenager who is placed with the final foster home who would take him. This foster home just happens to be out in the wilderness, where city boy Ricky feels incredibly lost and isolated (much like how I feel whenever I am in a place where the trees aren’t surrounded by sidewalk). Time passes, he very slowly starts to adapt, but tragedy strikes, and due to a misunderstanding, he and his Uncle Hec end up on the run, being hunted by an incredibly overzealous child services officer. They take to the bush, where Hec (played by Sam Neill, who never did make it out to Montana to raise rabbits, but makes for one hell of a survivalist) is more at home and they can live off the land as they hide. As for how the movie unfolds, let’s just say this. As I’ve always said, the greatest comedy, the comedy that is elevated to literature, comes from a place of sadness. The smiles are worth more after the tears, the laughs more hearty after you wrestle with the sinking feeling in your chest. And Taika Waititi is a master of this, as he showed with this movie and proved again with the criminally underrated Jojo Rabbit. Equal parts hilarious and heartwarming, Ricky takes his place right in that beating lump in your rib cage immediately and never leaves there. This beautiful and hilarious film just needs to be experienced. If you don’t want to commit to a show right off the bat (albeit returning, both Resident Alien and Reservation Dogs currently only have one season), which I completely understand, watch this now.
This is by no means meant to be a comprehensive list and I am absolutely not an expert on indigenous cultures or their representation in media. But, I truly hope that I’ve put together a list of shows and movies that honors indigenous people and their cultures, and one that represents a good starting point for more accurate representation of Native and indigenous peoples in media worldwide. It’s a long time coming—remember, it wasn’t very long ago that Johnny Depp put on makeup to play a Native American in a big budget movie. The Lone Ranger is Disney film. Let that sink in; the same company that won’t have an openly gay character in their movies unless they can conveniently cut their gay scene for the China release (here’s looking at you, Jungle Cruise) painted Johnny Depp to look like a Native American stereotype 8 years ago. The fact that I was able to find three Native-focused titles to write about that I didn’t have to go looking for is a huge step in the right direction. I’ve watched all three of the titles I wrote about today because they came across them naturally, watched them because they looked interesting, and loved them because of how great they are. I didn’t have to search out for these, I didn’t watch them specially to write this piece. Hopefully this is just the start. If you thought the days of Fisher Stevens in brown face, Mickey Rooney squinting and speaking in an offensive accent, and Mary Ann from Gilligan’s Island putting on headband and pigtails like the Land O’Lakes woman were over, maybe they finally are.