Reservation Dogs

RESERVATION DOGS Recap (S01E02): NDN Clinic

The show, Reservation Dogs, portrays Native American life in a very accurate way. It focuses on the hardships that individuals face that live on a reservation, however, it represents this in a comedic and impactful way. The show embraces the stereotypes often put on Native Americans in order to better illustrate how their lives actually are. Embracing these stereotypes also allows the audience to address their own misconceptions. 

I do not have many expectations for the Native American experience. I, myself, have never visited a reservation or had much experience with Native American culture. Because of this, I was able to watch the show with a completely open mind and learn from the examples shown. Learning bits about Native American culture with the young cast was a fun experience and an enjoyable watch. 

    The episode I was surprised with was second episode of the season, "NDN Clinic". The lack of specialized medical attention and the behavior exhibited by the healthcare workers was very striking. The struggle that Elora faces when trying to be taken seriously by the front desk lady was ridiculous. She was shown little respect and treated as unintelligent. In order to be taken seriously, she had to continue to advocate for herself when a white individual would not have needed to do so. 

    Additionally, in the show, the continual mention of casinos by white individuals was very interesting, because I often see that rhetoric myself. People justify how Native Americans are living by saying, “well at least they have casinos,” which is an absurd statement. 

The creator giving the audience “permission to laugh with us,” is extremely important. By giving permission to laugh, you allow the audience to relate to the characters and find them human. Often, individuals make light of their own hardships by laughing. By inviting others to laugh, you invite others to relate to you. Once people can relate to you, they want to make change for you. 

 Written by Sierra Loiselle

Comments

  1. David BernellMarch 11, 2023 at 1:48 PM

    This post points out how the exposure that many people in the United States have with Native American life and culture is very limited. I appreciate the point made that the show uses the stereotypes people may familiar with, perhaps causing them to notice their own shortcomings. This is very different from chastising the audience for its ignorance.

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