By Carrie Kilman | Staff Writer, Tolerance.org
Remember the last time you saw a movie that featured a Native American — who wasn't wearing a headdress or toting a bow and arrow?
If you can't, don't be surprised.
Native Americans are rarely portrayed in movies and on television, according to several studies documenting minority representation in the media. When they are featured, the images usually are inaccurate.
To counter this, a coalition of Native American activists is creating a slate of television shows and planning to produce its own TV channel.
The group's goal goes beyond providing television shows and news programs that feature Native American actors and issues. It also aims to provide Native American young people with job training programs for employment in the entertainment industry.
"Hollywood has portrayed Native Americans in a very stereotypical way," says Syd Beane, acting executive director of the National American Indian Development Corporation. "We're trying to overcome those stereotypes, because they can be harmful to our communities."
'Disconnected from our past'
Under the name Native Media and Technology Network, the coalition's first project is a "reality-type show that features the outdoors," according to a press release announcing a Native American talent search to cast the program.
The show should enter the production phase within eight months and will be broadcast on a major network, says Beane, one of the coalition's organizers.
It also will help reach an important demographic: young people.
A study by the advocacy group Children Now examined how television programming affects the way Native American children perceive themselves.
The rarity of Native Americans on television — and their portrayal as "poor, drunk, living on reservations, selling fireworks, and fighting over land" — can contribute to low self-esteem among Native children, the study concludes.
"We heard from Native American children that they think of themselves as an invisible race in the media," said Lois Salisbury, president of Children Now, in a statement on the group's website. "Yet, when they do see themselves, they're often troubled by what they see."
"We struggle with problems, especially in our youth, like high drop-out rates, increasing alcohol and drug problems, and gang culture, where before, they weren't an issue. We relate this back to the portrayal of our culture through major film and television," adds Beane.
"We have been disconnected from our past. When you are disconnected from your past, from your culture, you are more likely to accept those social problems as a way of life."
'Trying to tell our stories'
The coalition has invited every major network to collaborate in its efforts. So far, the network that has been most enthusiastic — the one Beane calls "kind of ironic" — is the FOX Entertainment group.
Like all the other major networks, FOX was criticized in 1999 for failing to cast a single person of color in a starring role in any of its primetime programs.
What ensued was a boycott, lead by the NAACP and other civil rights organizations, pressuring the networks to increase the number of leading roles for minority actors and to stop portraying people of color in negative, often criminal, ways.
As a result, FOX created the office of Diversity Development, responsible, among other things, for recruiting writers, actors and directors of color and sponsoring job training programs for minority youth.
While creating a program for Native American students, Gerald Alcantar, the FOX vice president of Diversity Development, became increasingly sensitive to what he calls a "conspicuous absence" of Native Americans on television.
Alcantar met with several Native American organizations and leaders across the country. And an examination of viewer demographics determined that Native-themed programming would have an audience — not just among Native Americans, but among people in general.
As a result, FOX is helping the Native Media and Technology Network create an advisory board and develop a business strategy.
"There is a tremendous case to be made that diversity can affect the bottom line," Alcantar says. "Diversity makes you more relevant, to consumers and to the community."
Beane agrees: "The history of Native Americans has not been told from our own perspective. We are trying to tell the stories – our stories. Until the true story is told, it's hard for this country to heal it's relations with its native peoples."
>> DO SOMETHING
:: Support Native media. Here are some places to start:
:: For teachers, use this lesson plan from the Media Awareness Network to help your students understand the importance of equal representation in the media.
DIG DEEPER
Learn more about racial representation in the media, and how it affects children and communities, with Children Now's Primetime Diversity Report.
Last updated on April 21, 2005