That’s the setting of the new FX comedy “Reservation Dogs.” The much-anticipated series follows the exploits of a group of Native American teens who hang out, crack jokes and occasionally get into some trouble with the law, all in the name of scraping together enough cash to make their way to California.
Seminole and Muskogee filmmaker Sterlin Harjo created the show along with Oscar-winning director Taika Waititi.
And, you know, there’s a lot of differences, obviously, between New Zealand and rural Oklahoma, but a lot of similarities as well.
And, you know, one of the things that became clear is all the stories that we tell were always funny.
But at one point, the main character, Bear, meets with the spirit guide in a dream.
HARJO: I mean, I think that character in general, you know, it obviously plays into stereotypes about what I think most non-Natives think about us because of the portrayal of Native people in cinema throughout the years.
It’s saying like, look, I know this is what you think we are, but we’re going to bring you in, and we’re going to make fun of it together.
And I think that that character really represents that and kind of helps the audience sort of, like, wrap their head around this contemporary world because it is giving them something that they’re more familiar with, even as ridiculous as that is, they’re more familiar with that image of who we are.
And we were – and there was a shorthand in that humor and in the storytelling, you know, that we didn’t have to sit around and explain to people like what we’re talking about, you know.
And it only like – and I think that gives an audience permission to give themselves over to the story.
You know, it’s kind of surprising how similar we are in this shared sort of experience through being tribal people and also the history of what happened.
It was really interesting, Like, but, I mean, also, like, I love that we had all these Native writers.
And it gave us the freedom to really go hard, you know.
Like, I just want them to see us as humans and enjoy the ride with us as well.
MCCAMMON: That’s Sterlin Harjo, creator and executive producer of the new series “Reservation Dogs,” which premieres on FX on Monday.
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