Best Native American movies, series — the ones worth watching

Dark Winds

(2022-2033)

Native Involved

Based on Tony Hillerman’s novels, this noir crime series follows Navajo police officers Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee as they investigate a series of crimes in the 1970s Southwest. Starring Zahn McClarnon (Lakota) and Kiowa Gordon (Hualapai), the show blends mystery with Navajo spiritual themes. The critically acclaimed series has been honored with multiple Western Heritage Awards for Fictional Television Drama and a NAMIC Vision Award for Best Drama Series, with Zahn McClarnon also winning a NAMIC Vision Award for Best Performance. Seasons 1 and 2 are currently available on Netflix. Season 3 premiered on AMC and AMC+ in early 2025 and may arrive on Netflix in early 2026.

For a deeper look at how the show captures Indigenous perspectives, read senior reporter Brian Bull’s feature: “How Dark Winds Delivers.”

Seasons 1 and 2 are available on Netflix. Season 3 is streaming on AMC+

Frybread Face and Me

(2023)

Native Made

Written and directed by Billy Luther (Navajo, Hopi, Laguna Pueblo), this coming-of-age film follows a young boy from San Diego who spends a transformative summer with his Navajo grandmother and cousin on the reservation. The film explores themes of identity, family and cultural connection.

Streaming on Netflix

American Primeval

(2025)

Native Involved

Set on the 1800s frontier, this gritty series includes Native characters at the center of the story and portrays the violence and upheaval of colonization. Native consultant Julie O’Keefe (Osage) worked closely with the production, guiding everything from hair and jewelry to language and ceremony.

Streaming on Netflix

North of North

(2025)

Native Made

Created by Inuit filmmakers Stacey Aglok MacDonald and Alethea Arnaquq-Baril, this comedy series centers on Siaja, a young Inuk woman reinventing herself in the fictional Arctic town of Ice Cove. Filmed in Iqaluit with local cast and crew, the show offers a fresh, humorous perspective on contemporary Inuit life.

Streaming on Netflix

Killers of the Flower Moon

(2023)

Native Involved

Set during the Osage Reign of Terror, this true-crime drama follows a string of murders targeting Osage citizens for their oil wealth in 1920s Oklahoma. Directed by Martin Scorsese, the film was made in close partnership with the Osage Nation, including advisers, language experts and cultural consultants. While not Native-directed, it's a major example of what respectful collaboration can look like.

Native actor Lily Gladstone (Siksikaitsitapi [Blackfeet]/Nimiipuu [Nez Perce]) received widespread acclaim for her role, earning an Oscar nomination for Best Actress. Notably, Gladstone made history by winning both a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama and a Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role, becoming the first Native actress to win in these categories.

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee

(2007)

Native Involved

Based on the landmark book by Dee Brown, this acclaimed HBO drama depicts the post-Civil War efforts to suppress Native resistance. The story follows figures like Lakota leader Sitting Bull (August Schellenberg [Mohawk]) and Santee Dakota physician Charles Eastman (Adam Beach [Saulteaux Anishinaabe]) as they confront federal assimilation policies and forced displacement. Though compressed for screen, it remains one of the more comprehensive dramatizations of this historical period.

Geronimo: An American Legend

(1993)

Stereotypical

This dramatization of the Apache leader Geronimo’s resistance during the 1880s includes strong performances — especially from Wes Studi (Cherokee) as Geronimo — but filters much of the story through a U.S. cavalry officer’s perspective. Still, it introduced new audiences to a pivotal figure in Native resistance and included Native actors in key roles.

Black Robe

(1991)

Native Involved

Set in 17th-century New France, this stark drama follows a Jesuit missionary's arduous journey through Algonquin and Huron (Wendat) territory. Commended for its use of Indigenous languages (such as Cree and Algonquin) and detailed period settings, the film offers an unflinching portrayal of the era's harsh realities and the profound spiritual and cultural clashes between Native peoples and Europeans. Native actors, including August Schellenberg (Mohawk) and Tantoo Cardinal (Cree/Métis), were featured in significant roles.

The Last of the Mohicans

(1992)

Stereotypical

Set during the French and Indian War, this adaptation of James Fenimore Cooper's 19th-century novel offers a vivid depiction of the era but carries forward romanticized and often stereotypical portrayals from its source material. While featuring compelling performances from Native actors such as Russell Means (Oglala Lakota) as Chingachgook and Wes Studi (Cherokee) as Magua, the story primarily centers on Hawkeye, a white frontiersman adopted by Mohicans. The film dramatizes alliances between Mohican, Huron (Wendat), and other Native nations with European powers, though often through a simplified and Eurocentric lens.

Dances with Wolves

(1990)

Native Involved

A U.S. Civil War soldier encounters a Lakota community in this widely celebrated film. While told through a white protagonist’s journey, it marked a milestone in Hollywood's depiction of Native peoples by prominently featuring the Lakota language, with dialogue coached by cultural consultants like Albert White Hat (Sicangu Lakota). The film also featured memorable performances from Native actors, including Graham Greene (Oneida) as Kicking Bird and Rodney A. Grant (Omaha) as Wind In His Hair, though it is often critiqued for its white-savior narrative frame.

Little Big Man

(1970)

Stereotypical

This satirical Western follows a white man raised by the Cheyenne Nation who navigates pivotal moments of American frontier history. While its lens is white and often eccentric, the film offered groundbreaking (for its time) criticism of U.S. military atrocities, notably depicting the Washita River Massacre, and it vividly dramatized Custer’s defeat at Little Bighorn. It featured a widely acclaimed, Oscar-nominated performance by Chief Dan George (Tsleil-Waututh) as Old Lodge Skins, yet its overall portrayal of Cheyenne life is filtered through its white protagonist. Nevertheless, the film marked a significant turning point in how Native history and perspectives began to enter mainstream American film.

Barking Water

(2009)

Native Made

From director Sterlin Harjo (Seminole/Muscogee), this road movie stars Richard Ray Whitman (Yuchi/Muscogee Creek) and Casey Camp-Horinek (Ponca) as Frankie and Irene, estranged former lovers journeying across Oklahoma. With Frankie terminally ill, Irene agrees to help him reconnect with his estranged daughter and granddaughter before he dies. It’s a poignant, quietly observed film about reconciliation, shared memories, and the enduring strength of human connection in their final days together.

Mekko

(2015)

Native Made

Adapted from Kent Nerburn’s novel, this quietly impactful film follows a white writer summoned by Dan, a Lakota elder played in a commanding and poignant final performance by Dave Bald Eagle (Miniconjou Lakota), to help record his life story. Filmed on the Pine Ridge Reservation with extensive community participation, the narrative also features Richard Ray Whitman (Yuchi/Muscogee Creek) as Dan's close friend. The film unfolds at an unhurried pace, offering a respectful and meditative reflection on a Native elder's perspective and experiences.

Four Sheets to the Wind

(2007)

Native Made

Directed by Sterlin Harjo (Seminole/Muscogee), this debut feature stars Cody Lightning (Cree) as a young Seminole man who leaves his rural Oklahoma home for Tulsa after his father’s death. It is a quiet, reflective story about grief, family and finding one’s place between worlds.

Neither Wolf Nor Dog

(2016)

Native Involved

Adapted from Kent Nerburn’s novel, this quietly impactful film follows a white writer summoned by Dan, a Lakota elder played in a commanding and poignant final performance by Dave Bald Eagle (Miniconjou Lakota), to help record his life story. Filmed on the Pine Ridge Reservation with extensive community participation, the narrative also features Richard Ray Whitman (Yuchi/Muscogee Creek) as Dan's close friend. The film unfolds at an unhurried pace, offering a respectful and meditative reflection on a Native elder's perspective and experiences.

Older Than America

(2008)

Native Made

Directed by and starring Georgina Lightning (Cree), this psychological thriller explores the intergenerational trauma stemming from the Indian boarding school system. Lightning portrays a woman whose increasingly disturbing visions begin to unearth buried truths about a local Catholic mission and the suffering endured by former students. Blending supernatural elements with grounded drama, the award-winning film, which also features Tantoo Cardinal (Cree/Métis), is informed by Lightning’s personal family history.

Rhymes for Young Ghouls

(2013)

Native Made

Written and directed by Jeff Barnaby (Mi’kmaq), this gritty revenge thriller is set in 1976 on the fictional Red Crow Mi’kmaq Reserve. It stars Devery Jacobs (Kahnawà:ke Mohawk) as Aila, a resourceful teenager who masterminds a plot against the sadistic Indian agent running the local residential school. The film is celebrated for its bold blend of genre filmmaking with sharp social commentary on the brutality of the residential school era and its expression of unapologetic, visceral rage.

Shouting Secrets

(2011)

Native Involved

Co-written by Tvli Jacob (Choctaw), this family drama centers on Wesley (Chaske Spencer [Lakota/Nez Perce/Cherokee/Creek]), a successful young Apache novelist estranged from his family on the San Carlos Apache Reservation. When his mother (Tantoo Cardinal [Cree/Métis]) falls ill, he reluctantly returns, forcing a confrontation with unresolved conflicts and the painful divide between his contemporary urban life and his cultural roots. The film also features Gil Birmingham (Comanche) as Wesley's father.

Slash/Back

(2022)

Native Made

Directed by Nyla Innuksuk (Inuk), this inventive sci-fi horror film is set in the hamlet of Pangnirtung, Nunavut. It follows a group of resourceful Inuit teen girls, notably Maika (Tasiana Shirley [Inuit]), who utilize their knowledge of their ancestral lands and their close-knit bonds to battle an alien invasion. Celebrated for its clever and culturally grounded twist on genre conventions, the film champions youth empowerment, community resilience, and friendship, seamlessly incorporating Inuktitut language and elements of local lore.

Songs My Brothers Taught Me

(2015)

Native Involved

Set on the Pine Ridge Oglala Lakota Nation, this debut feature from director Chloé Zhao poignantly follows Johnny (John Reddy [Oglala Lakota]) and his younger sister Jashaun (Jashaun St. John [Oglala Lakota]) as they navigate grief, identity, and the stark choices for their future. Developed through years of immersion and collaboration with the community, the film features a cast of primarily nonprofessional Oglala Lakota residents, offering an intimate and critically acclaimed observational portrait of contemporary reservation life.

The Only Good Indian

(2009)

Native Involved

Set in Kansas in the early 1900s, this drama follows a Kickapoo youth, Charlie (Winter Fox Frank [Kickapoo]), who flees a harsh government-run boarding school. He is then hunted by Sam (Wes Studi [Cherokee]), a notorious Native bounty hunter who has largely assimilated. Directed by Kevin Willmott, the film features key Native actors and explores the brutal choices forced by aggressive federal assimilation policies targeting Native youth, examining themes of identity and survival.

Wild Indian

(2021)

Native Made

Written and directed by Lyle Mitchell Corbine Jr. (Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa), this taut psychological thriller follows two Anishinaabe men: Makwa/Michael (Michael Greyeyes [Plains Cree, Muskeg Lake Cree Nation]) and Teddo (Chaske Spencer [Lakota/Nez Perce/Cherokee/Creek]). Their adult lives are irrevocably shaped by a violent, shared secret from their youth on a Wisconsin Ojibwe reservation. The film is a morally complex and original exploration of trauma and identity, depicting its Native characters with a rare departure from common cinematic tropes.

Pocahontas

(1995)

Stereotypical

Still widely viewed, this Disney animation presents a romanticized and historically inaccurate version of the relationship between English colonist John Smith and Pocahontas (whose actual Powhatan name was Matoaka; she was a child of about 10-12 at the time of Smith's 1607 arrival). Despite featuring prominent Native voice talent, including Irene Bedard (Inupiaq/Yupik/Cree) as Pocahontas and Russell Means (Oglala Lakota) as Chief Powhatan, the film’s narrative largely excludes authentic tribal perspectives. It flattens a complex young woman’s life into a fictionalized love story burdened with colonial overtones.

The New World

(2005)

Native Involved

Terrence Malick’s visually stunning retelling of the Pocahontas (Matoaka) and John Smith story stars Q’orianka Kilcher (Quechua-Huachipaeri heritage) as Pocahontas. The film made significant efforts toward linguistic authenticity, with dialogue coached in a reconstructed Virginia Algonquian (Powhatan) language. It also featured notable Native actors like Wes Studi (Cherokee) and August Schellenberg (Mohawk). While more historically grounded and visually immersive than many portrayals, its narrative primarily unfolds through European perspectives and lacked Native creative leadership.

The Lone Ranger

(2013)

Stereotypical

This Disney reboot stars Johnny Depp as Tonto, a character historically rooted in simplistic and stereotypical portrayals. Depp controversially based his look on a painting of a Native subject by non-Native artist Kirby Sattler. The film drew widespread criticism for casting a non-Native actor in this iconic Native role and for perpetuating outdated tropes through its costuming and narrative. While some Native actors like Saginaw Grant (Sac and Fox Nation) had supporting roles and limited consultation with the Comanche Nation occurred, these elements did little to alter a creative direction largely seen as lacking authentic cultural grounding.