Liza Black. Picturing Indians: Native Americans in Film, 1941–1960.

Abstract

The success of FX’s new series Reservation Dogs has drawn much-needed attention to the issue of Native American representation in film and television. Critics have widely praised the show’s Native actors and noted what a difference it makes to have an all-Indigenous writing team as well. When an interviewer asked co-producer Sterlin Harjo (Seminole-Muscogee) if it had been hard to recruit such a talented cast, his reply referenced the film industry’s poor track record in portraying American Indians. “The thing is,” he said, “Hollywood makes a western every few years where Native actors get to come and get killed in front of a camp. It’s just not the most exciting work. So, they’re not in L.A. beating down the door, trying to get these parts” (“‘Reservation Dogs’ Showrunner Shoots Down Notion of Indigenous Actor Shortage: ‘They’re Not on Hollywood Boulevard,’” The Wrap, 2021). As Cherokee historian Liza Black shows in Picturing Indians, however, Native people were present on the streets and sets of Hollywood even during the darkest days of Hollywood’s “Golden Age.” Focusing on the period from 1941 to 1960—arguably “the high point of racism and what would have seemed to be a hopeless moment for Native people in film”—Black goes behind the scenes to examine their roles “both as fictional characters and as workers in the film industry” (xiv). The result is a refreshing take on an old story, one that has too often emphasized settler colonial tropes at the expense of Indigenous experiences.