The structural presence of Indigenous voices in Hollywood institutions has increased. The Academy’s Indigenous Alliance is one example. The Indigenous representation in Guild memberships — the Writers Guild, the Directors Guild, the Screen Actors Guild — has expanded, though still not in proportion to the Indigenous population or the breadth of Indigenous stories waiting to be told.
The body of work made by Indigenous filmmakers and starring Indigenous actors has grown substantially. Beyond Reservation Dogs and Smoke Signals, there is Sterlin Harjo’s earlier work, including Four Sheets to the Wind (2007); Taika Waititi’s Māori-inflected New Zealand films; the work of Zacharias Kunuk (Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner, 2001); the growing catalog of Indigenous documentary filmmaking; and numerous short films, web series, and television episodes by Indigenous creators working across the English-speaking world.
But the gaps are significant. The casting of non-Native actors in major Native roles continues in mainstream productions. The assumption that “Native stories” are a niche market rather than stories with universal human resonance continues to limit the resources made available to Indigenous projects. The historical Westerns — still produced, still featuring the visual grammar of the Hollywood Indian — continue to reach audiences without always engaging the critique of that grammar.
The Wounded Knee massacre is still underrepresented in American film. The land rights movements of the twentieth century — the fishing rights battles, the water rights litigation, the pipeline protests — have generated documentary films and occasional dramas, but nothing approaching the mainstream attention devoted to stories of comparable scale and significance from other communities. The relationship between the US government and tribal nations — the ongoing negotiation over sovereignty, resources, and representation — is one of the most complex and consequential political stories in American history, and it remains largely invisible in mainstream entertainment.