Dear Tisch Community, 

This November, in recognition of Native American Heritage Month, we invite the Tisch community to reflect on the meaningful contributions of Indigenous and Native people. As we continue our journey toward equitable representation in the arts, we embrace the diverse Native voices that have enriched our artistic community.

Film and television can profoundly impact human thought, and expose people to new ideas and perspectives. We encourage you to immerse yourselves in Native stories that challenge historical misrepresentations, as these portrayals often perpetuate harmful stereotypes that contribute to bias and discrimination against Native people. Films like Smoke Signals (1998) and Skins (2002), directed by Tisch alum Chris Eyre ('98 MFA, Film), serve as crucial milestones for advancing Native storytelling through authentic representation.

A growing number of Native filmmakers are transforming the media industry, both behind and in front of the camera. Professor Andrew Okpeaha MacLean, an Iñupiaq filmmaker, has played a pivotal role in authentically depicting the experiences of Alaska Native people, demonstrated through his work as a writer on the show Alaska Daily and director of the feature film On the Ice. Professor MacLean has also been instrumental in fostering a supportive environment within the Graduate Film program, empowering students to reclaim and share their own stories. 

Below is an excerpt from a feature story on Professor MacLean. The full story delves into the storytelling traditions of the Iñupiat people, inspirations from fellow Native artists, and the importance of ushering in a new generation of Native storytellers at Tisch.

With gratitude,

Christina Salgado
Assistant Dean of Diversity

When I was growing up, I never really saw myself or my culture depicted truthfully. It was constantly present, because we're kind of one of the iconic tropes of the world, right? Everywhere that I've been, everyone has always heard of the Inuit people. But if I had a dollar for every time I've been asked if I live in an igloo, I'd be able to fund another movie. It’s kind of ironic, because igloo is literally just the word for house. So the truth is that we all live in igloos.

But things like ice cream sandwiches, nose kissing, and that sort of stuff. Everybody had heard of us, but we were never truthfully depicted on screen. [Typically] when you saw Native people on screen, they were depicted by Asian actors. In a film like Map of the Human Heart, which was made in the nineties, Jason Scott Lee, who is of course Asian, played an Inuit man. Sometimes we were played by other Native Americans, but we don't look anything like Lakota people.

It started changing right when I applied to film school. It was right at the time that Zach Kunuk made the film Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner, which went to Cannes and won the Caméra d'Or. Zach grew up and still lives in Igloolik, Canada, and he’s completely traditional, completely fluent in the language. Along with Igloolik Isuma Productions, they started making things that were just completely truthful and so when I saw that, it kind of blew my mind. He's still a filmmaker that I really look up to and admire.

The reason NYU was at the top of my list was because of Chris Eyre, who studied at Tisch and directed Smoke Signals (1998). We have had a very steady presence of Native American students in the Grad Film program, and that's something I'm really appreciative of and really proud of. We just graduated two really talented, really amazing filmmakers in Razelle Benally and ishkwaazhe Shane McSauby and I’m so excited to see what they’re going to do.

From the standpoint of Native American presence in the media, and Native American presence at NYU… It's nice to see that the University is starting to hire more Native faculty, and they're offering some more resources, starting with the new Center for Indigenous Studies. As we look into the landscape of the media world, we've had some successes in the recent past. A lot of Taika Waititi’s work has found a huge audience, as has Sterlin Harjo’s work on Reservation Dogs. They have featured us in the industry in a way that we haven't seen before, and I think Alaska Daily was a bit of a reflection of that. It’s a time of a lot of possibilities and I'm excited to see where it goes. I think that NYU has had a real hand in helping to create the Native American presence in film and television.

The Tisch Office of Diversity is revising our land acknowledgment so that it is reflective of our community and can be adapted to our respective artistic disciplines. If you are interested in working with us and supporting this initiative, please complete this form.