Council Fire, an Indigenous community centre in Regent Park, also played a significant role in helping Woon-A-Tai break out into the world. Don’t just leave it to Google and Wikipedia, he says, but visit places like the Toronto Council Fire Native Cultural Centre where they have classes and you can openly speak with elders. Woon-A-Tai also recommends a more holistic approach to the learning. “We’ll show you what we do and if you’re interested in learning, take your time and learn it by yourself.” “It’s not an Indigenous person’s responsibility to teach,” says Woon-A-Tai, challenging what so many recent Hollywood movies have ingrained in us with spiritual guide characters. But there are no concessions made to the settler gaze. The whole show could come with a textbook’s worth of footnotes.
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The series doesn’t bother explaining these references, which are plentiful. Instead, it was created out of desperation when settler governments held back food rations from Indigenous communities, leaving them with only flour and water to mix together for food. Woon-A-Tai adds another layer to it: the dish isn’t even traditional. The obvious joke is that frybread, which is similar to bannock, is terribly unhealthy. The young actor also digs into the ear-worm hip-hop tune Greasy Frybread, which is featured in episode four as part of a performance at an anti-diabetes fundraiser. That had us settlers tickled while also scratching our heads. Owls are considered beacons towards the afterlife or symbols of death in some Indigenous cultures, he says, which is why the sculpture’s eyes in episode three are censored onscreen using a blurring effect, protecting Indigenous audiences who may fear looking at death’s messenger. Meanwhile us settlers are left to just roll with and appreciate the local slang, traditional customs and lore like the Deer Woman, the Tall Man or the owl sculpture that gives our heroes a conniption in episode three. Woon-A-Tai says that Reservation Dogs was described to him as an “Indigenous show for Indigenous people.” Each episode is teeming with cultural touches that would earn nods of recognition from those who know. And they naturally bring authenticity to a show that playfully navigates rez life, pop culture and teens trying to find their place. They bring a combination of riotous jokes and empathetic consideration to a story of teens hustling – whether by stealing chip trucks or selling meat pies – to fund an escape to California, while mourning the loss of a friend. Reservation Dogs, which is streaming on Disney+ Canada, is created by Harjo and executive produced by Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi, and boasts all Indigenous writers and directors.
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They presented an award and gave a speech about the meaningful representation in the first entirely Indigenous-led TV show to play on U.S.
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The show’s stars Woon-A-Tai, Alexis, Lane Factor and former NOW cover star Kawennáhere Devery Jacobs joined creator Sterlin Harjo at the Emmys in September. He’s explaining how he went from growing up in the Esplanade and working jobs at McDonald’s and UberEats to leading the best new show on television, which not only tapped into aspects of his own life, identity and community, but connected him to the diversity of Indigenous experience.īy now you may have heard how ground-breaking Reservation Dogs is. His sprawling mane is barely contained within the phone’s portrait dimensions.
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He’s sitting on a couch, nearly bouncing into his phone screen with infectious enthusiasm as if he already downed one too many Orange Crush cans.
![pharaoh owl pharaoh owl](https://live.staticflickr.com/5298/5515597468_38612e932d_b.jpg)
Twenty-year-old Woon-A-Tai is speaking to NOW on a Zoom call from Corpus Christi, Texas, where he’s working on a film.