There’s a revolution happening in Hollywood, and Zahn McClarnon is at theforefront. The Hunkpapa Lakota actor, who has starred in television hitsincluding Westworld and reservation dogs recently finished his firstseason of yet another popular series, Dark Winds where he is not only thestar but also the executive producer.
To say that McClarnon is changing the narrative of onscreen Nativerepresentation would be an understatement.
“I think we’re in a pretty unique time right now for representation, andpeople are finally hearing our stories,” McClarnon says during an interviewfor Yahoo’s . “We have our own storytellers, and we’re writing our ownstories, and we have our own directors and we’re getting showrunners andproducers now. So there’s been quite a big turn in Native representation in TVand film in the last few years.”
When it comes to Indigenous representation on the big and small screens, thenumbers have been particularly stark. In fact, for film, Native people remainunderrepresented, landing less than 1% of the share of top roles, as well asdirector and writer positions, according to UCLA’s 2022 , which covered thetop 200 films released theatrically and on major streamers in 2021 .
For TV, the numbers are only slightly higher. Native representation grew fromthe previous year and accounted for 2% of broadcast scripted roles, but lessthan 1% on cable and digital, , which covered the 2020-21 season.
That makes McClarnon’s work on Dark Winds especially meaningful. The56-year-old actor/producer stars as Joe Leaphorn, a Navajo detective solvingcrimes on the Navajo Nation. While the show is based on novels written by non-Native author Tony Hillerman, McClarnon, as an executive producer, insisted oncasting Native actors as well as writers, directors and crew.
“What we’re doing and trying to do is bring in Native writers to come at itfrom a bit of a different perspective, more from a Native perspective,”McClarnon says.
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That means centering the Native storylines and even using the Navajo languagein the script.
After all, shining a spotlight on the Native perspective comes after years ofharmful onscreen stereotypes and even erasure. That’s something McClarnon isworking to combat.
“We grew up with these stereotypes and these tropes about Native Americans,”he says, “and the public is learning that we’re not all on horseback andyipping and yelling in buckskin, and that we’re human beings, that we’ rethree-dimensional characters.”
McClarnon himself has shown that multi-dimensional range through hischaracters. While his tribal police role on reservation dogs leans moretoward laughs, his Dark Winds detective and sci-fi role as Akecheta on_Westworld_ have more gravitas.
All of that goes to show why the actor-producer says that “telling our ownstories” is crucial. That, and more representation in the boardroom, too.
“Getting more people at the studio level and more producers is the nexthurdle,” he adds. “And the more we get Native representation in thesepositions, the better off we’re gonna be.”
The tide seems to be turning, as Dark Winds has been renewed for a secondseason and Reservation Dogs, from Indigenous co-creators Taika Waititi andSterlin Harjo (Seminole/Muscogee), for a third. Not only that, but the Native-centered predator prequel, Prey delivered .
With so many recent successes, what does McClarnon hope the future looks likefor Native representation in Hollywood?
“What I hope it looks like is that we just have more storytellers, morewriters, more doors opening up for people in front of the camera and behindthe camera as well,” he says. “And I hope that shows like Dark Winds and_reservation dogs_ and Rutherford Falls and the other shows that are in pre-production are gonna be produced, are gonna just open and crack those doorseven wider for future talent.”