Reservation Dogs is a coming-of-age show created by Sterlin Harjo and produced by Academy Award-winner, Taika Waititi. The show follows the internal lives, challenges, and aspirations of four Indigenous teenagers living in rural Oklahoma. Still reeling from the tragic death of their friend, the group strives and schemes to raise enough money to leave the “Rez” and move to the faraway land of California. The groundbreaking FX series rose to critical acclaim for its judicious, sometimes irreverent blend of dark comedy and magical realism. It is the first TV series to feature an all-Indigenous North American cast, creative team, and crew (many of whom are Oklahomans).
Who are the Rez Dogs?
The show revolves around life-long friends Bear (D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai), the strong-willed, moral compass of the group; Elora Danan (Devery Jacobs), an artistic spirit and often the mastermind behind the gang’s hilarious exploits; Willie Jack (Paulina Alexis), the quirky and highly intuitive member of the group, and Cheese (Lane Factor), the softhearted innocent and comedic relief of the Rez Dogs. Following the sudden death of their friend Daniel, the Rez Dogs decide to honor his dream of moving to California by engaging in petty crimes to fund their journey. From hijacking a truck full of Flaming Flamers chips to pawning off meat pies outside a health clinic, the Rez Dogs stop at nothing to leave the place they believe is responsible for Daniel’s death. These activities put them at odds with the law and a local gang, the NDN Mafia, creating the central conflict of the series.
Exploration of Indigenous Identities
The creator and mastermind of the show, Sterlin Harjo (a member of the Seminole Nation who has Muskogee heritage) offers a narrative that is authentic, nuanced, and rich in cultural detail. Reservation Dogs, which just concluded its final season, accomplishes several feats. It explores what it looks like for Indigenous teens to come of age against the backdrop of colonization and systemic racism while playing with the colorful community of Elders and Aunties that raise them. The show also deftly confronts and pokes fun at Western stereotypes of Native Americans with characters like William “Spirit” Knifeman: a self-proclaimed warrior who died when his horse fell into a hole at the Battle of Little Bighorn. The show contrasts the Rez Dogs’ traditional knowledge and ancestral connections with their desire for modernity and escape. It presents the struggles and resilience of Native Americans with honesty and sensitivity, allowing viewers to gain insight into the socio-economic and cultural challenges faced by Indigenous communities today. Reservation Dogs aims to dismantle the marginalization of Native Americans in media by positioning them as the central, multifaceted characters of their own narrative.
Lore as History
The show’s distinctive visual and narrative style veers into the realm of magical realism. The surrealist episodes are somewhat reminiscent of another FX smash hit, Atlanta, which used magical realism to personify racist tropes and African-American lore to challenge its characters on their own individual journeys. However, Reservation Dogs employs figures of legend and the supernatural with greater clarity and intention, focusing more on how history and lore are intrinsic parts of communities.
One of Reservation Dogs’ most fascinating characters is the Deer Lady (Kaniehtiio Horn), a hoofed entity that enacts vengeance on bad men. While her character still echoes the show’s signature dark wit, (“You wanna touch my hooves?”), her origin story shows a glimpse into the gutwrenching history of Residential Boarding Schools, which took Indigenous children from their families and subjected them to horrific abuse. In spite of the U.S. and Canadian’s government’s acknowledgment of committing mass genocide of Indigenous, First Nations, and Inuit children, the effects of the residential school system still harm Native communities to this day.
What is the ‘Creature’ in Reservation Dogs?
Another creature of legend that appears in Reservation Dogs is “The Tall Man,” a dark entity in Native American history that is said to originate in Dakota and Lakota lore. The Tall Man Spirit is one of the great bogeymen of North American folklore, and has “appeared” in various forms such as “The Slender Man,” “The Big Man,” “Walking Sam” and shares some uncanny qualities with the legendary creature, Big Foot. Like Big Foot, he is depicted on the show as tall and hairy with glowing red eyes. The stories surrounding the Tall Man go back decades if not centuries. Some posit that The Tall Man is a manifestation of the destruction and grief of the Lakota Sioux Tribe when the U.S. Cavalry fired on them during a ritual dance in 1890. More recently, The Tall Man has been linked to the socio-economic and violent tragedies on the Pine Ridge Reservation, where there has been a high number of suicides. Reservation Dogs leans into this interpretation when Willie Jack and her father, Leon (Jon Proudstar), see The Tall Man in the woods while they try to make sense of what happened to Daniel.
Conclusion
Reservation Dogs provides not only a deeper inspection into Indigenous life in contemporary America, it’s a series that blends tragedy with hopeful resilience, capturing the hardships and metaphysical transformations of adolescence. The show is a beacon of cultural representation, showcasing the diversity and richness of Indigenous experiences while using the medium of television to transcend entertainment and foster a greater understanding of American history.
It’s hard to say goodbye to this series after only three seasons, but as Sterlin Harjo reminded fans in his interview with Variety, “It’s a story that had an ending. It’s a story about people going through a transition, and specifically kids going through a very transitional moment and grief. I just don’t think that lasts forever. I think that we’re meant to be with them during this transitional time. To me, the show’s too important to drag out.”
All three seasons of Reservation Dogs are available to stream on Hulu.
Sources Cited
Gibson, Kelsie. “Reservation Dogs: What to Know About the Ominous Tall Man Legend.” Pop Sugar, 9, July 2021.
Hanson, Eric et al. “The Residential School System.” Indigenous Foundations. First Nations and Indigenous Studies UBC, 2020.
Schneider, Michael. “Reservation Dogs’ Creator Sterlin Harjo on Why It Was Time to End the Show As the Characters Come of Age in Season 3.” Variety, 2, August 2023.