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Native Americans accounted for less than 1% of roles and 1.1% of staff writers in the 2019-2020 TV season. And after years of erasure, the number of Indigenous lead recurring roles doubled between 2021 and 2022, leading some to speculate that representation has improved.
But representation is also about the quality of depictions. Native characters have often been portrayed in stereotypical ways, such as the bloodthirsty warrior, the helpless victim, or the needy indigent. There is relatively little research, however, on the extent to which Native representations in contemporary entertainment may reinforce long-standing stereotypes, or the impact of these representations on audience perceptions. To address this gap, we collaborated with IllumiNative to conduct a content analysis of existing portrayals of Native characters and a survey-based study measuring the impact of three series featuring prominent Native characters on audiences’ knowledge, beliefs, and behaviors. The findings paint a more positive picture of the quality of on-screen Native representation. But there is significant room for improvement in representation of Native talent behind the scenes. Read the report. |
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Thanks, We Made it Ourselves!
Senior Researcher Soraya Giaccardi joined a panel with IllumiNative at 2024 SXSW to discuss the new wave of Native storytelling on TV and its impact on audiences.
Listen to the discussion. |