Indigenous Creators and Actors See Historic Emmy Recognition in 2024

Kali Reis in True Detective, D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai in Reservation Dogs. Photo-Illustration: Vulture; Photos: Michele K. Short/HBO, Shane Brown/FX

2024 is a historic year for Indigenous artists at the Emmys. Ahead of the 76th annual TV awards ceremony, FX’s Reservation Dogs finally landed a nomination in the highly competitive Outstanding Comedy category after years of being snubbed, despite widespread critical acclaim. This would appear to make it the first show focused solely on Indigenous characters to be nominated in a prime-time category (Comedy, Drama, or Limited Series). Over in the acting categories, Lily Gladstone and Kali Reis achieved another apparent milestone, becoming the first Indigenous women nominated in the overall acting categories, both in the Best Supporting Actress category for their work in Hulu’s Under the Bridge and HBO’s True Detective: Night Country, respectively.

In a statement released by the Television Academy, the group stated that it could not confirm the historic achievements: “The Academy has never required Emmy entrants to identify themselves on the basis of ethnicity, race, gender, or cultural background — and for membership records, this type of self-identification has always been voluntary — so they cannot accurately verify these types of historical precedents.”

Nonetheless, Reservation Dogs co-creator and showrunner Sterlin Harjo, whose show earned four total nominations (including another acting nod for star D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai in Outstanding Lead), sees reason to celebrate. “Hollywood always continues business as usual, but it’s undeniable now that Indigenous storytelling, filmmakers, and actors are here and can compete with anyone,” he said over the phone after the nominations were announced. (Harjo is currently in the writers’ room on a new show.) “They have interesting perspectives and things that maybe the mainstream has never seen before.”

Reis received a nod for her work as a state trooper investigating the chilling disappearance of scientists at a research station in Alaska. She thanked HBO, Night Country showrunner Issa López, and the “legendary” Jodie Foster in a statement before recognizing the present and future of Indigenous storytellers in the industry. “Being only my third acting role, I never would have thought I’d have the opportunity to kick down doors alongside such talented humans like Lily Gladstone and D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai,” Reis wrote. “As a proud Wampanoag–Cape Verdean two spirit woman of color, I am excited to see the progression of representation in this industry as we continue to tell our stories.”

Gladstone similarly earned recognition for her role as police officer Cam Bentland, tasked with investigating the murder of a 14-year-old girl in Under the Bridge. It’s the second time Gladstone shattered an awards-season glass ceiling. In 2023, she became the first Native American nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award for her performance in Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon.

Noticeably absent from the 2024 class of Emmy nominees is Devery Jacobs, the Indigenous Canadian actor who lit up Reservation Dogs both onscreen and off. While she was nominated for a Critics Choice Television Award for her role as Elora Danan, the Television Academy did not recognize her contributions to the show in the acting, directing, or writing categories. “We didn’t get nominated for the last few years, so it’s not surprising that they don’t get it all the way right,” Harjo said.

Harjo’s “Deer Lady” — a standout episode that is up for Outstanding Cinematography (a nod for DP Mark Schwartzbard) — missed a nod in the writing and directing categories, too. Time-shifting and shot like a New Hollywood horror film, the flashback episode helmed by Native director Danis Goulet deals with Native children being forcibly taken from their homes and sent to violent boarding schools. “It is carving a new path forward, not just about how we’re portrayed onscreen, but also how we actually endeavor to make things about our collective trauma and all of our humanity,” Goulet told Vulture when it aired last year.

Outside of the prime-time slots, the Emmys have celebrated other Indigenous artists in the past — notably in 2007, when HBO’s Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee won the Outstanding Made for Television Movie Emmy in 2007, with August Schellenberg, who comes from Mohawk background, nominated for Best Supporting Actor. Harjo hopes this year’s nominations will not only bring more awareness to Reservation Dogs, which had its series finale last September and is now available to stream on Hulu and Disney+, but to more Indigenous work in general. “Native people are funny and thriving in our communities,” he said, “and have interests and lessons that I think can be learned by people of all backgrounds.”