Continuing our celebration of Native American Heritage Month, we took a dive into some of the many diverse television projects from and about the Indigenous community. Join us and watch along as we explore some of the best series on television through the lens of Native history and culture.
Please enjoy our 2023 Native American Heritage Month television watchlist:
Mohawk Girls (2010)
Omni Television
Breakdown: This Canadian series offers a unique perspective on Native American culture, focusing on the lives of four young women from the Mohawk Nation in Canada. The show explores the challenges and experiences of these women as they navigate the complex intersection of their traditional indigenous culture and the contemporary world, highlighting themes like identity, family, and the clash of cultural expectations in an entertaining and insightful manner.
Watch trailer: Mohawk Girls Trailer
Watch series: Mohawk Girls
Breakdown: Through the prism of a missing persons investigation, this 2014 series portrays the complex relationships between a local Native American community and its non-Native American neighbors in a small town, exploring themes such as identity, conflict, and cultural preservation, and highlighting the tense challenges faced by indigenous communities in contemporary society.
Watch trailer: THE RED ROAD Official Trailer (2014) - Jason Mamoa TV Series
Watch series: The Red Road
Breakdown: This TV franchise juggernaut hit the small screen in 2018, incorporating Native American culture as an essential element of its storyline, which is set in the American West. Interactions between a family of ranchers and their neighbors, the Broken Rock Indian Reservation, help illustrate Indigenous cultural elements. Many themes are worked into the narrative, including elements like land rights, sovereignty, and the complex history between Indigenous peoples and settlers.
Watch trailer: YELLOWSTONE Official Trailer (2018) Kevin Costner, TV Series HD
Watch series: Yellowstone
Breakdown: This two-season comedy follows lifelong friends Nathan Rutherford and Reagan Wells as their bond is tested when a statue of Nathan's ancestor, the town's founder, is relocated. As Nathan fights to keep the statue in place, Reagan seeks to create a cultural center for her people, the Minishonka Nation, despite the historical conflicts involving Rutherford's ancestor.
Watch trailer: Rutherford Falls | Official Trailer | Peacock Original
Watch series: Rutherford Falls
Breakdown: Acclaimed for its genuine representation of Indigenous voices and experiences in a modern setting, this popular series depicts Native American culture through a contemporary and authentic perspective. At the heart of the show’s success is a group of young friends in an Indigenous community in Oklahoma who grapple with issues of identity, community, and aspirations to leave the reservation for a better life in California.
Watch trailer: Reservation Dogs (FX on Hulu) Trailer HD - Taika Waititi comedy series
Watch series: Reservation Dogs