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With their new series Dogs Reservation, co-creators Taika Waititi and Sterlin Harjo shine a light on what it’s like to grow up in an Indigenous community.
“One of the similarities in all of these indigenous communities is humor,” Harjo said on a Television Critics Association press tour on Wednesday.
Harjo (Dress), a Seminole-Muscoge Native American who grew up in Tulsa, Okla., related to Waititi (What we do in the shadows), a native Maori from New Zealand, about their shared experiences growing up in similar areas. “All the stories [Taika and I] looks like were funny. They have never been sad and depressing, they are the only stories that have ever been told about Aboriginal people. So when we were doing the show, from the start, it was going to be a comedy. “
“Sterlin and I have known each other for many years,” said Waititi. “When we first met, we connected by sharing stories from our childhood. We know a lot of people from indigenous communities… and all of these people share the same experiences. “
Dogs Reservation (which premieres Monday, August 9 on FX on Hulu) follows four native teens (played by D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Devery Jacobs, Paulina Alexis, and Lane Factor) who grow up on a rural Oklahoman reservation who “Spend their days committing a crime … and fighting it”, according to the synopsis. The series, as Harjo explained, was inspired by some of his favorite coming-of-age stories from childhood, including The Goonies and Support me, in addition to other pop culture relics like that of Quentin Tarantino Reservoir dogs and classic 90s comedy Friday. It is also full of references from Boyz n the Hood to films that “no one will know”, such as willow.
As the kids scramble and plan to save enough money to move to California, all kinds of quirky characters stand in their way, from a tough and tough rival gang looking for trouble to a particular sheriff named Big. (Fargo‘s Zahn McClarnon) who constantly nibbles on their heels. These comedic characters are not just a riot to watch, but provide much-needed representation for Indigenous people, which could hopefully open the door to future Indigenous stories to tell.
In a similar vein, the series also employs an all-Indigenous room of writers.
“I consider it to be a comedy with dramatic elements… and having a completely native room has helped us not to be afraid to go strong and speak the truth, and also to be funny and push the limits, ”Harjo said. “We were able to take our own experiences and make it happen. “
While Dogs Reservation hopes to show his audience what life on the reserves is really like, Harjo said he wanted to create something both entertaining and funny, using humor to subvert common tropes, while drawing attention to similar stories. During the panel, he also commented on the importance of representation.
“For me, it’s about being able to watch this show, being able to identify and see ourselves reflected on the screen for indigenous children, something that none of us grew up on,” he said. declared. “It’s important to feel seen, and it’s important to see yourself reflected. It will be different, but there are a lot of universal truths that not only Indigenous people can relate to on this show.
The panel also discussed the meaning of the ghost that Woon-A-Tai’s character, Bear, sees everywhere. The ancestor looks like a stereotypical image one would think of when imagining a Native American, with his traditional costume and feathers in his hair, only this guy’s talent on horseback is less than stellar and he sometimes pees behind dumpsters. garbage. The wisdom he conveys to the young is questionable at best.
“It’s letting non-natives come into the room and say, ‘Look what you thought we were,’” Harjo said. “But it is also in a way honoring our past, because we were like that at one point. It is therefore to make fun of the stereotype, but also to recognize the truths that are there. “
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