Hollywood has a troubling history with the depiction of indigenous communities in its past. In many classic westerns, stereotyping of Native Americans for example was common – with 1953 Disney classic Peter Pan also includes problematic depictions. Into modern day, there’s continued to be unfortunate depictions of indigenous people, including through 1995’s Pocahontas and the whitewashing of beloved characters in live-action movies like The Last Airbender film, The Lone Ranger and X-Men Origins: Wolverine to name a few. However, there are numerous great characters from indigenous communities to shed light on over the years, such as with the recent success of Prey.
People from all backgrounds deserve to be seen on the big and small screen, and when movies and TV shows depict characters from indigenous communities, it can encourage more conversation and understanding. Indigenous people only make up around 5 percent of the world population, but are especially important people to Earth given their ancestors originated on the land many of us call home. Here are some great characters from indigenous communities to check out:
Naru (Amber Midthunder) - Prey
The most recent character is Prey’s Naru, who is portrayed by Amber Midthunder, who is an Assiniboine Native American and a member of the Fort Peck Sioux Tribes. In the Predator prequel, Naru is a young Comanche woman who is trained as a healer in her tribe, yet dreams of being a great hunter instead. Over the course of the science fiction action movie, she rises to glory and saves her people. The movie itself features a cast of actors from indigenous communities, went on to become the No. 1 Hulu premiere to date and earned positive praise from critics and Predator fans. Amber Midthunder will next star in the live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender series as Princess Yue.
The Rez Dogs (Devery Jacobs, D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Lane Factor, Paulina Alexis) - Reservation Dogs
Another great title with indigenous representation available to watch with a Hulu subscription is Reservation Dogs, which premiered in summer 2021 and had its second season come out over summer 2022. The series centers on four teens – Elora (played by Davery Jacobs), Bear (D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai), Cheese (Lane Factor) and Willie Jack (Paulina Alexis) – all of whom live on a reservation in rural Oklahoma with hopes of making it to California. The series, which was co-created by Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi is a comedy series that also deals with the struggles young Native Americans face today.
Victor Joseph (Adam Beach) - Smoke Signals
1998’s Smoke Signals was a seminal movie for Native American representation because it was the first to not only star two leads from the community along with it being written, directed and produced by native actors, it became a mainstream film as well. The movie follows Adam Beach’s Victor and his friend Thomas (Evan Adams) who go on a road trip to retrieve the ashes of Victor’s father after he dies. While the movie isn’t a glowing example of indigenous representation today, it’s an important in the fabric of films from indigenous communities and remains one of Adam Beach’s most memorable roles.
Lincoln (Phillip Lewitski) And Pasmay (Joshua Odjick) -Wildhood
In 2021, Wildhood told a groundbreaking indigenous and queer coming-of-age story. The movie premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival from director Bretten Hannam, who tells the story of a two-spirit Mi’kmaw teen named Link, played by Phillip Lewitski, who is in the midst of escaping the abuse of his father with his brother Travis when he meets a fellow Mi’kmaw teen, Joshua Odjick’s Pasmay. Link and Pasmay have electric romantic chemistry that contributes to the overarching moving and beautiful story. It’s a rare movie to highlight an openly two-spirit in the character of Pasmay, bringing an LGBTQ+ movie through the lens of an indigenous-led storyline.
Reagan Wells (Jana Schmieding) - Rutherford Falls
Lakota Sioux actress Jana Schmieding stars as Native character Reagan Wells in the Peacock sitcom Rutherford Falls. The series follows two lifelong friends, Reagan and Ed Helms’ Nathan Rutherford, who come to a head when a statue of Nathan’s ancestor is chosen to be moved and he fights against it. Reagan wants to be loyal to her friend, but she struggles given the statue represents a man who killed her (fictional) Minishonka Nation. The series not only features a more joyous native character than we usually get to see, it also has a valid conversation to tell about reexamining the history of one’s ancestors. You can check out both seasons of Rutherford Falls with a Peacock subscription.
Silas Crow (Ryan Black) - Dance Me Outside
Before Adam Beach starred in Smoke Signals, he was also in 1994’s Dance Me Outside, alongside Ryan Black’s Silas Crow. The story follows two friends living on the Kidiabanessee Reserve of Ontario, Canada who hope to attend a car mechanics school in Toronto, but they have to write a story about their lives in order to get into it. When a young girl from their reserve is murdered and the white man’s murderer's sentence is not severe enough, everything changes for the boys as their community rises up to demand justice.
Little Creek (Daniel Studi) - Spirit: The Stallion of Cimarron
When DreamWorks Animation portrayed Native American people in 2002 family film, Spirit: The Stallion of Cimarron, the movie broke boundaries for exposing wide audiences to the genocides of American indigenous people in a musical animated feature. Spirit also portrays the settlers for what they are, rather than rewrite history to make them look better. The movie enlisted Native American voice actor Daniel Studi as Little Creek, the best friend of the horse Spirit throughout the film. Spirit was a rare moment of native people getting a starring role in a major animated film and included native people in the production process, which I hope we see more of. Spirit: The Stallion of Cimarron is also a film that exposes the truths behind white settlers preying on indigenous people’s livelihood and land to younger generations.
Tekehentahkhwa (Kiawentiio) - Beans
2020 critically-acclaimed Canadian film, Beans, tells the story of Tekehentahkhwa, a preteen who goes by the name of “Beans” and lives in a Mohawk reserve. It’s a semi-autobiographical film by its writer/director Tracey Deer, who is also a Mohawk who grew up in the town depicted in Beans, Kahnawake, Quebec. The movie is set during the 1990 Oka crisis, where protests and violence occurred after the proposed expansion of a golf course and the development of townhouses that would be built on top of a Mohawk burial ground. Beans has a first-hand perspective on a historical moment for a group of indigenous people from the perspective of a young girl who is living through it.
John And Jashaun Winters (John Reddy And Jashaun St. John) - Songs My Brother Taught Me
Before Chloé Zhao became the director of Eternals or an Oscar-winning director of Nomadland, the filmmaker’s debut feature was 2015’s Songs My Brother Taught Me. The movie set in the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, follows an older brother and younger sister named John and Jashaun and their bond. Through Zhao’s beautiful eye for filmmaking, Songs My Brother Taught Me honestly depicts the realities that can come with living on a reservation with memorable performances from young native actors.
Joe Leaphorn (Zahn McClarnon) And Jim Chee (Kiowa Gordon) - Dark Winds
Over the summer, AMC premiered a new thriller TV show called Dark Winds, based on a mystery novel series called the Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee books by Tony Hillerman. Dark Winds is about Navajo police officers Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee living in the Southwest in the 1970s. The series stars Zahn McClarnon, who is the son of a Hunkpapa Lakota, and hails from Denver, Colorado as Leaphorn and Kiowa Gordan, who is a member of the Hualapai tribe of Northern Arizona, and plays Jim Chee. The series is composed almost entirely of Native Americans in front and behind the camera, per Variety, and already has been picked up for a second season following the rollout of its six-episode first season.
Echo (Alaqua Cox) - Hawkeye
Indigenous representation has also reached the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Alaqua Cox’s Echo, who debuted her character as Maya Lopez / Echo in Hawkeye and is set to have her upcoming Marvel TV show, set to premiere on Disney+ in mid-2023. In the series, Maya will return to her hometown of Okalahoma where she’ll have to come to terms with her past and reconnect with her Native American roots, per Marvel. Echo’s cast will also feature a predominantly indigenous cast. Alaqua Cox was born and raised in the Menominee Indian Reservation in Keshena, Wisconsin and also represents the deaf and disabled community (she is also an amputee with a prosthetic leg). It’s exciting to see such a badass hero get her own story fleshed out in the MCU.
In the past few years alone, there’s certainly been an uptick of great characters from indigenous communities being featured on movies and television shows. To support more great representation such as these titles, seek them out, watch them and discuss them with friends and family.
