Native Americans in Film & TV
This list has been expanded to include all indigenous people from North America and South America.
If you are using this list in an education setting please be cautious of the portrayals and stereotypes found in the older films (especially pre-1980). For now I am maintaining this list as exhaustive point of reference and not limited to only positive and accurate representation.
This list is not in any order.
If you are using this list in an education setting please be cautious of the portrayals and stereotypes found in the older films (especially pre-1980). For now I am maintaining this list as exhaustive point of reference and not limited to only positive and accurate representation.
This list is not in any order.
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- DirectorDaniel SackheimStarsIrene BedardTantoo CardinalEloy CasadosWhen Mollie's boyfriend Jack dies on the reservation, she is asked to leave the reservation by her boyfriend's sister for not being one of their own, aside from Mollie's son. Mollie is forced to pack up here belongings and her children and move to northern california, right into a gang infested neighborhood.
- DirectorMichael MannStarsDaniel Day-LewisMadeleine StoweRussell MeansThree trappers protect the daughters of a British Colonel in the midst of the French and Indian War.
- DirectorStuart MargolinStarsGraham GreeneTom JacksonSheila TouseyWhen photographer Will returns home for his mother's funeral he gets more than he bargained for from a strange cast of characters on the reservation.
- DirectorZacharias KunukStarsNatar UngalaaqSylvia IvaluPeter-Henry ArnatsiaqThe telling of an Inuit legend of an evil spirit causing strife in the community and one warrior's endurance and battle of its menace.
- DirectorVincent WardStarsJason Scott LeeAnne ParillaudPatrick BerginArctic, 1965: Avik tells his story starting in 1931. A mapmaker flies Avik, then a preteen Eskimo boy with TB, to a hospital in Montreal where he meets Albertine. They meet again when Avik joins World War II in the UK.
- DirectorKevin CostnerStarsKevin CostnerMary McDonnellGraham GreeneLieutenant John Dunbar, assigned to a remote western Civil War outpost, finds himself engaging with a neighbouring Sioux settlement, causing him to question his own purpose.
- DirectorBruce BeresfordStarsLothaire BluteauAden YoungSandrine HoltIn the 17th century, a Jesuit missionary nicknamed Black Robe by the natives and his small party of companions try reaching the Huron tribe in Canada all while facing mistrust, Iroquois warring parties and harsh winter conditions.
- StarsVincent KartheiserKalani QueypoTatanka MeansStory of the Voyage of the Mayflower and the first year of The Pilgrims in America.
- DirectorSteve BarronStarsAugust SchellenbergEddie SpearsGary FarmerThe legends of the Native American nations come to life in this epic new miniseries, as two generations--a century-old storyteller and his grandson, a troubled 17-year-old boy--embark on a cross-country journey toward self-discovery.
- DirectorMichel PouletteStarsRoseanne SupernaultIpeelie OotoovaUapshkuss ThernishA Canadian aboriginal woman journeys to the Arctic in search of a missing member of her tribe, and falls in love with a man from a rival clan.
- DirectorNicolás EchevarríaStarsJuan DiegoDaniel Giménez CachoRoberto SosaA handful of survivors from a disastrous 1528 Spanish expedition to Florida journey across the coast until they reach Mexico.
- DirectorTerrence MalickStarsColin FarrellQ'orianka KilcherChristopher PlummerThe story of the English exploration of Virginia, and of the changing world and loves of Pocahontas.
- DirectorArthur PennStarsDustin HoffmanFaye DunawayChief Dan GeorgeJack Crabb, looking back from extreme old age, tells of his life being raised by Native Americans and fighting with General Custer.
- DirectorMel GibsonStarsGerardo TaracenaRaoul Max TrujilloDalia HernándezAs the Mayan kingdom faces its decline, a young man is taken on a perilous journey to a world ruled by fear and oppression.
- DirectorKieth MerrillStarsTrevor HowardNick RamusJames RemarIn 1797 Utah, an aged Cheyenne patriarch helps his kin to fight off a raiding party of rival Crow warriors and he tells his grandchildren the story of their family.
- DirectorSydney PollackStarsRobert RedfordWill GeerDelle BoltonA mountain man who wishes to live the life of a hermit becomes the unwilling object of a long vendetta by the Crow tribe and proves to be a match for their warriors in single combat on the early frontier.
- DirectorAlejandro G. IñárrituStarsLeonardo DiCaprioTom HardyWill PoulterA frontiersman on a fur trading expedition in the 1820s fights for survival after being mauled by a bear and left for dead by members of his own hunting team.
- DirectorElliot SilversteinStarsRichard HarrisJudith AndersonJean GasconIn 1825, an English aristocrat is captured by Native Americans. He lives with them and begins to understand their way of life. Eventually, he is accepted as part of the tribe and aspires to become their leader.
- DirectorRobert J. FlahertyStarsAllakariallakAlice NevalingaCunayouIn this silent predecessor to the modern documentary, film-maker Robert J. Flaherty spends one year following the lives of Nanook and his family, Inuits living in the Arctic Circle.
- DirectorYves SimoneauStarsAidan QuinnAdam BeachAugust SchellenbergA historic chronicle based on the book by Dee Brown explains how Native Americans were displaced as the United States expanded west.
- DirectorEdward S. CurtisStarsStanley HuntSarah Constance Smith HuntMrs. George WalkusCombining fact and fabrication, Edward S. Curtis' dramatization of the life of the Kwakiutl peoples of British Columbia revolves around a chief's son, who must contend with an evil sorcerer in order to win the hand of a beautiful maiden.
- DirectorMichael AptedStarsVal KilmerSam ShepardGraham GreeneA young mixed-blood FBI agent is assigned to work with a cynical veteran investigator on a murder on a poverty-stricken Sioux reservation.
- DirectorChris EyreStarsAdam BeachEvan AdamsIrene BedardArnold rescued Thomas from a fire when he was a child. Thomas thinks of Arnold as a hero, while Arnold's son Victor resents his father's alcoholism, violence and abandonment of his family.
- DirectorNeil DiamondCatherine BainbridgeJeremiah HayesStarsAdam BeachChris EyreRussell MeansThe history of the depiction of Native Americans in Hollywood films.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsJohn WayneMaureen O'HaraBen JohnsonA cavalry officer posted on the Rio Grande is confronted with murderous raiding Apaches, a son who's a risk-taking recruit and his wife from whom he has been separated for many years.