RUTHERFORD FALLS
Indigenous Goddesses Jana Schmieding (Cheyenne River Lakota Sioux) & Sierra Teller Ornelas (Diné) are pulling up chairs in Tongva land AKA “Hollywood” and making room for the homies too!
I know, the thought of “Hollywood” is cringeworthy, the central location for the “American film” industry and it’s capitalism. American film and has really shaped the imagery of Indigenous People in the so called United States. Since the 1930’s Hollywood’s writing rooms and production studios were full of non indigenous people writing and creating the stereotypes that we are still entrenched in American popular culture. If that isn't bad enough, white actors were painted brown, and cried around about litter or were being violently slaughtered by John Wayne. Big “Indian” nosed cartoons made it “ok” for sports teams to make us mascots. ALL THE THINGS?!
John Wayne, Beulah Archuletta and Jeffrey Hunter in “The Searchers.” Credit: United Archives GmbH/Alamy Stock Photo
It got so bad that allies and Indigenous actors united to boycott the 1973 Oscars due to the way Hollywood portrayed Natives and to draw attention to the modern Native resistance and reclaiming of Wounded Knee. Auntie Sascheen Littlefeather fiercely dropped the mic at one of the most powerful spaces in the world. She spoke our truth and delivered a middle finger from Marlon Brando and John Trudell to the Oscars.
A member of the American Indian Movement (AIM) at Wounded Knee, S.D., March 8, 1973 raises his rifle and cheers after receiving news that federal authorities had extended the cease fire for further negotiations to end the standoff. AIM was occupying the village that was the site of the 1890 Wounded Knee massacre. (AP Photo)
Photo courtesy of NBC Universal
Rutherford Falls
In the spirit of those fierce relatives the “Rutherford Falls” squad is coming to reclaim their and our narratives. Introducing the very first Native-led television show, the first female native lead in a comedy AND the first 1/2 native writers room!! Making it one of the largest Indigenous writer’s rooms on television. These writers include co-creator and executive producer Sierra Teller Ornelas (Navajo), Bobby Wilson (Sisseton-Wahpeton Dakota), Tai Leclaire (Kanien’kehá:ka [Mohawk Nation]/Mi’kmaq), Jana Schmieding (Cheyenne River Lakota Sioux), and Tazbah Chavez (Nüümü [Bishop Paiute Tribe], Diné [Navajo], San Carlos Apache). These storytellers are repainting our imagery and have been writing for a long time. Poets, 1491’s, artists, podcasters, teachers, filmmakers, each has collectively paved the way for indigenous expression in the past 10 years. It's so beautiful to see this evolution of these storytellers.
Sierra Teller Ornelas
BOSS Tábąąhá (Edge Water Clan) Lady, Co-creator and executive producer Sierra Teller Ornelas brilliantly brought together some of Indian country’s funniest writers. Along with Mose and Andy (from The Office), Ornelas co-created the series Rutherford Falls. She is no stranger to prime time television. Sierra studied Media arts at the U of A in her hometown of Tucson. After college she work for years in the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI), in Washington D.C. (OMG I legit cried watching short films there). Since Sierra has been executive producing several primetime television shows like “Brooklynn Nine-Nine” & “Superstore”. In 2019 she signed a multi-year development deal with Universal Television for “Rutherford Falls”. The series stars Ed Helms (“The Office,” “The Hangover”), Jana Schmieding, Michael Greyeyes ("I Know This Much Is True"), Jesse Leigh ("Heathers") and Dustin Milligan ("Schitt's Creek").
Photo by: Reginald Cunningham
The new Peacock Original Comedy Series Premieres Thursday, April 22. The comedy is about two lifelong best friends, Nathan Rutherford (Ed Helms) and Reagan Wells (Jana Schmieding), who find themselves at a crossroads – quite literally – when their sleepy town gets an unexpected wakeup call. This series represents a breakthrough moment in Native representation in comedy television both in front of and behind the camera. Jana Schmieding (Cheyenne River Lakota Sioux) and Michael Greyeyes (Nêhiyaw from Muskeg Lake Cree Nation) star in the series. One of the first things that you see is in the pilot is the inclusion of Native actors and actresses. Even down to the young actors and actresses and images of what our modern communities truly look like.
Jana Schmieding
Jana Schmieding is the first native lead in a comedy. Before moving to Tongva Territory (Los Angeles) in 2016, Jana spent years killing it in the NYC improv & sketch community. For ten years she taught middle and high school in one of the poorest congressional districts in the U.S.. Mrs Schmiedling by day and “Woman Panhandles for Dates on NYC Subway” by night.
After moving to the west coast Jana started the “Woman of Size Podcast” AND taught herself to write scripts and screenplays?! The Woman of Size Podcast interviews people from all walks of life about how weight stigma and marginalization affects their work. Jana also talks about her own identity and her own journey toward fat acceptance while conversing with others and hilariously clowning on the beauty industrial complex. Jana’s podcast project is about body diversity and weight stigma; it showcases brilliant women talking about their bodies. Her work has opened up doors for more Native voices in the fat acceptance space. Her work is included in a book called “The (Other) F-Word'', a compilation of fat positive voices. With her first book signing under her belt the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian in D.C rang to see if Jana would be the voice of their walking tour. So if you find yourself on a museum tour at NMAI or in Battery Park in NYC you are sure to hear Jana Schmiedling’s beautiful voice. Last but not least, Jana is the Executive Producer for IllumiNative’s On Air Podcast.
“I carry this mission into my own life and work; my grandparents and parents worked very hard to equip me with the skills necessary to combat Native erasure. I work really hard to bring my full Native self to this world. I refuse to let the colonizers win, damnit!”
Indigenous Folks in film have come a long way! We salute these changemakers and the many others that have sacrificed and endured so much for this new millennium of indigenous film. They are an inspiration and we applaud these changemakers for actively uplifting each other, reclaiming space TOGETHER.
The Peacock Original comedy series RUTHERFORD FALLS is set to premiere on Thursday, April 22
Special shout out to our beloved Deezhi Tazbah Chavez!