Empowered by social media, Indigenous people are countering decades of misrepresentation by telling their own stories to a wide audience, according to Dr. Shannon Epplett, an instructional assistant professor in Illinois State University’s School of Theatre and Dance.
Epplett, a member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, presented “Native (Self) Representation: From Social Media to Reservation Dogs,” November 2 in Milner Library during Native American Heritage Month. He explained how the FX television series Reservation Dogs, inspired by a Native sketch comedy troupe with a viral social media following, marks a turning point in how Native American people are represented on television—and why that’s important.
“To quote sociologist Stuart Hall, ‘How people are represented is how they’re treated,’” Epplett said. “If they’re not represented at all, you don’t have to listen to them because you don’t see them. When they’re represented poorly, that’s also a problem. And Natives tend to either not be part of it at all, or there’s been a lot of misrepresentation.”
Epplett discussed numerous bad representations of Indigenous people throughout the past century—from sports mascots to movies—which perpetuate stereotypes, assumptions, and tropes. The Lone Ranger’s Tonto, for example, was a nondescript characterization of a Native American created by non-Natives. The “Crying Indian,” portrayed by a non-Native in a 1971 anti-pollution public service announcement implied that Natives belong to the past, not the present.
Epplett said feathers, beads, jewelry, and designs often have cultural spiritual significance. They are not just decorations. And headdresses are symbols of honor, not party hats.
“Native Americans are often invisible in mainstream American culture, and if we show up at all, we’re often represented poorly or inaccurately,” Epplett said.
But Epplett credits social media for providing an unprecedented platform to amplify Native voices, enabling what he considers “good representation.”
“Social media is democratic. It gives people agency to tell their own stories,” Epplett said. He noted the 1491s, a sketch comedy troupe comprised of Natives who originally collaborated to produce funny videos for YouTube that depict contemporary Indigenous people in the U.S.
“Nobody was going to hire them to be script writers or actors,” Epplett said. “They couldn’t get work. There was no place for them. So, they started their own thing; and social media lets you do that.”
The 1491s’ debut video—a parody of a The Twilight Saga: New Moon wolfpack audition in 2009—went viral, and the troupe’s following has grown to 94,000 YouTube subscribers. In 2021, 1491s founding member Sterlin Harjo co-created Reservation Dogs, the first television series to feature all indigenous writers, directors, and series regular actors. All five members of the 1491s have contributed to the show.
“It’s really well done and entertaining. It’s funny. It’s very dark. It will make you cry—almost every episode,” Epplett said.
Reservation Dogs is a half-hour comedy that follows the exploits of four Indigenous teenagers on a Mvskoke reservation in rural Oklahoma. Throughout the show, Epplett said the characters in Reservation Dogs are uniquely portrayed in a specific tribal culture, Mvskoke Creek.
“The question, ‘Why are the owls eyes blurred out?’ trended online after one episode; Deer Lady and Bigfoot—Tall Man—make appearances; Uncle Brownie thinks he can ‘split’ thunderstorms. These are Creek things,” Epplett said. “By being culturally specific, it speaks to Native people in a way that I’ve never experienced from a TV show.”
Reservation Dogs also tells a universally understood narrative of adolescence, according to Epplett.
“Everyone has been a teenager,” Epplett said. “Everyone has probably felt constrained by their surroundings—their small town or their overbearing family, or their tight-knit community. That’s what the characters on the show are going through.”
Epplett said Reservation Dogs is one of three recent shows produced by Native Americans. This “golden era” of Native American television includes AMC thriller Dark Winds and Peacock sitcom Rutherford Falls.
After decades of primarily bad representations of Native Americans, Epplett said these shows signify much overdue progress.
“By being in charge of our own stories, Native people tell a story about Native characters in a Native way,” Epplett said. He emphasized the importance of “centering Native stories.”
“Who better to talk about Native Americans than Native Americans?”
