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An Examination of Anti-Indigenous Racism in Netflix's Live Action Adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender

Intro

"It is only when the lesson of racial estrangement is learned is assimilation complete" (Blacks and Asians: Crossings, Conflict and Commonality, McFerson, 30).

Like many of us, when it was announced the beloved animated classic Avatar: The Last Airbender would be receiving another live-action adaptation, I let out a long, exasperated groan. As a lifelong animation and Avatar fan who had seen the disastrous, incredibly whitewashed 2010 movie, and following a string of increasingly poor Disney live action remakes, this was about the last thing I wanted.

However, I did have a glimmer of hope. As noted, the M. Night Shyamalan live action had been whitewashed to its core, featuring majority white and zero Indigenous actors while casting the talented Dev Patel as our lone main antagonist. This time, at least, Netflix's Avatar would be casting accurately—actors of colour portraying characters of colour, something that hadn't happened within the Avatar franchise from 2005 to 2014 with the exception of Dante Basco.

This also reflected thoughts I had after Disney's Cinderella (2015) had come out and Emma Watson had been cast as Belle for the upcoming, at the time, Beauty and the Beast (2017): if we 'have to' retell this story at all, can't we at the very least make it feature a more diverse cast?

So Netflix ATLA (NATLA) seemed to be off to a better start on that front. They were casting Asian actors as the leads; they were casting Indigenous actors for the leads. (This post will not talk about the controversies surrounding Ian Ousley's casting as Sokka as rather than talking about behind the scenes—though I will talk a bit about the writing team—I want to talk about the writing within the show itself, but I'd be remiss not to mention anything about it, so I'm doing it here.)

Hell, the fact that a good chunk of the cast—Gordon Cormier as Aang, Kiawentiio as Katara, Joel Montgrand as Hakoda, Yvonne Chapman as Kyoshi, Lucian-River Chauhan as Teo, Hiro Kanagawa as Sozin, Meegwun Fairbrother as Kuruk, Paul Cheng on stunts, and many others I'm sure I'm missing—are from Canada was very exciting to me, not only as a Canadian, but one with a Filipino partner living in Canada who is going into acting.

However, things began steadily falling apart both before the show came out re: its Indigenous representation with worrying signs, and then went flat out into some intensely racist rhetorics once the show actually dropped.

So uh, let's talk about it!

Quick disclaimers before we dive in:

I'm not Indigenous, I'm a white settler with distant Indigenous heritage (a great-grandmother who was Mi'kmaq) that has zero bearing on my day to day life or cultural makeup. I will almost inevitably get something wrong, please feel free to correct or counter me, do not worry about being nice. If I have my head up my ass, I want to know.

The critiques set out below are written are therefore based in 1) specifically Canadian Indigenous history (particularly given that the Water Tribes are Inuit coded as well as Iñupiat), 2) in consultation with research on said history, colonialist rhetoric and works of decolonization, and 3) issues brought up in tandem or flat out discussed with Indigenous people and Indigenous friends I personally know.

Indigenous peoples, their cultures and individual viewpoints are not a monolith. This meta is written with consideration to the ones I've been personally exposed to, but there are still countless other viewpoints worth considering and much more worthwhile of being heard.

Citations will be provided and I will do my best to only use sources not behind paywalls so that you can readily access / verify them as well.

Now let's get into it.

Setting the Stage: Deconstructing the Critique Binary

First, little bit more background before we dive in to the text of the show itself, which means discussing the initial crack, shall we say, that I noticed: the removal of Sokka's sexism in NATLA.

Now, this isn't inherently bad. I've been a fan of ATLA since 2009 and in the fandom since 2012-2013. I've seen a lot of critiques, some founded some not so founded, in the past 14+ years. I am not here to set out a "ATLA is perfect when it comes to racial representation and NATLA is just bad" dichotomy, because it's 1) not true, 2) doesn't exist, and 3) isn't particularly productive if you want to insist it exists, I think. We're deconstructing the binary.

One of the more consistent critiques, depending on your circles, that I've seen was from Indigenous fans who disliked the series' portrayal of the Water Tribes as uniquely sexist (among other critiques) compared to the other nations. This is because the patriarchy was one of many forms of colonialism brought over and forced upon Indigenous peoples to begin with:

As settlers arrived in what is now North America, they brought with them a foreign patriarchal European value system. European settlers imposed their own frameworks of understanding onto Aboriginal social systems, which had particular ramifications for Aboriginal women. As scholar Julia V. Emberley describes, settlers made sense of Aboriginal societies by viewing them through a European, patriarchal lens, assuming that Victorian principles represented the natural order of things. For instance, many settlers held onto Victorian beliefs that women were delicate and ill-equipped for hard labour, and thus viewed Aboriginal women who worked the land as proof that Aboriginal men treated women as inferior, for they were doing the men’s work. The power and agency of Aboriginal women were invisible to them.1

ATLA!PAKKU: In our tribe, it is forbidden for women to learn waterbending. [...] Go back to the healing huts with the other women where you belong.

One of the most specific but insidious forms of patriarchal settler policy in Canada is the Indian Act, which strips Indigenous women (and their children) of their legally recognized status if they marry non-Indigenous men (there is no equivalent law about when Indigenous men marry non-Indigenous women). Furthermore, in many cases, a strict "men or women" dichotomy for Inuit peoples didn't (and doesn't) even exist and is again something that colonialism and patriarchy passed down2.

[ Other readings on the topic: Indigenous Peoples and gender equality, Indigenous women in Indigenous societies, Learning from Canada's Aboriginal Women leaders ]

ATLA was written in 2003-2004 and released in 2005, so Katara having an arc against sexism in an action-adventure show was decently revolutionary at the time, but it was (is) still a white man's understanding of combatting sexism grafted onto an Indigenous female character in many ways. That doesn't mean it can't be poignant or important in its own way, but getting a second chance at doing the plot line over was one of the things I was most hopeful for, shall we say. Surely the live action would have more prominent Indigenous writers and consultants!

So NATLA deciding to remove the sexism — a colonialist import — from Sokka? Could have absolutely worked. Sokka can still be proud, and think he knows more than he does, without the specific flavour being sexist. Katara can even still face pushback in learning waterbending in the North, whether it's because she's a southerner or technically an 'outsider'; it would've been very easy to shuffle things around and do a poignant reconnection arc that is, due to more history we'll get into later, a common experience for Indigenous peoples in North America (and around the world). The show even went so far as to 1) make Hahn a genuinely good man and 2) let Yue out of her engagement to him with zero consequences (and we'll talk more about her later), so unlike ATLA, it doesn't seem like NATLA was interested in exploring sexism's impact on anyone but Katara, leaving it feeling more like a tokenized add on than, at the very least, ATLA's earnest discussions of it.

But here's the kicker: they don't remove from the Northern Water Tribe, the Indigenous society, unlike the South (wherein the men went off to war, was impacted more heavily by the Fire Nation's imperialism, etc etc), that was able to exist more independently of the war in the first time. After all, they could've tweaked the Fire Nation to make them more sexist, which could've added layers to Katara, and been something that theoretically could've affected the South but not the North (lack of direct colonization canonically), and again utilized the reconnecter arc or something else entirely.

The reinforcement of sexism in NATLA's Northern Water Tribe while removing it from the South, as well as how it's handled with Katara's drastic characterization changes and Yue's plotlines, is unfortunately significantly worse, then, than ATLA's handling of it.

However, I just think this is one of and — unfortunately — it is not even one of my main problems with NATLA's handling of its Indigenous characters. I thought it would be remiss not to mention it, again, because I think it's a worthwhile thing to discuss and also because it lays helpful ground work for my actual Issues with the show, which are

Modernity and Progress: The Colonizer's Myth

Now, I am by no means the first (or the last) person to talk about decolonization in ATLA, given that it and cultural preservation are the show's main themes. An essay I found while doing my research for this meta talked directly about Katara in the Painted Lady episode:

Katara’s move to help the fishing village and infiltrate the military factory of the Fire Nation is situated in an ecocritical insurgency. Such an attack targets the Fire Nation’s claim to a universal modernity. With this centrality, the Fire Nation corrals “newness” and to be its arbiter. This positions the Fire Nation ethno-class to formulate global order according to their image. Modernity is a linear narrative which marks people and cultures that are non-Fire Nation to be lagging, ergo primitive. The claim to modernity enables the Fire Nation to exploit the present to ensure their future. Decoloniality is to delink from this and to relink to the identity of the fishing village and assert it.2

This is something that, I think, ATLA actually does very well overall. Cultural revitalization is crucial in the Fire Nation (the school kids rediscovering their old dances and more accurate history; Zuko learning the original way of firebending from the dragons) and the war's imperialist message ("Our people are happy, and we're so fortunate in so many ways [...] we should share this prosperity with the rest of the world. In our hands is the most successful empire in history. It's time we expanded it") both explicitly in the quoted dialogue, but also implicitly with the Fire Nation being the most technologically 'advanced' and furthest along in their industrial revolution. Technological 'progress' being enforced as the natural and superior conclusion of things is a cornerstone of Western imperialism, and Western science has been wielded against Indigenous peoples and their ways of knowledge in particular.

Sokka, of course, becomes an engineer in both shows, known for his intellect. It's a complementary skill set due to his lack of bending and ingenuity. ATLA also takes deliberate steps to entrench these traits of Sokka inside his culture — Sokka taking inspirations from inventions his father has thought of; Sokka's ways of thinking being used as a warrior and he's a good warrior; Sokka having good relations with the other men in his tribe; Sokka taking immense pride in being a Water Tribe warrior (culturally) and being an engineer rather than just one-or-the-other — rather than outside.

Do you see where I'm going with this?

First, a little more context:

One of the biggest myths behind settler colonial violence is the idea of progress: a linear, straight line, sanctioned by old cisgender white men and reinforced by cisgender white women, and dictated by controlling the land, exploiting resources, and technological advancement. In other words:

The idea of progress has two related components. The first is that the human species universally progresses, albeit at different rates and to different degrees, from an original primitive or child-like condition, referred to as savagery, through to barbarism, and culminates at the apex of progress in the status of civilization. The second component of the idea of progress holds that human experience, both individual and collective, is cumulative and future-directed, with the specific objective being the ongoing improvement of the individual, the society in which the individual lives, and the world in which the society must survive.3

Elias has also highlighted, that “it is not a little characteristic of the structure of Western society that the watchword of its colonizing movement is ‘civilization’” (Elias, 2000: 431). For centuries now, those considering themselves civilized have often been tempted to take on the duty of bringing enlightenment and salvation to the uncivilized hordes of the world – all in the name of civilization and progress (Bowden, 2009a). This has particularly been the case when the exploring nations of Europe have come into contact with Indigenous peoples during their voyages of discovery and subsequent settlement [...] One of the justifications for dispossession and oppression was often couched in terms of the self-appointed duty of “civilized” European nations to bring the blessings of civilization and progress to the “savage” and “barbarian” hordes; variously known as the “white man’s burden,” the “burden of civilization,” or the “sacred trust of civilization.”4

To say that western science — technological 'advancement,' the Industrial Revolution, codified 'verified' facts and written down proof — has a complex relationship with Indigenous science / ways of knowing would be an understatement, to be plain. As quoted above, there's the idea that cultures and peoples removed from Western history and innovation are backwards, primitive, or lacking, and that western ideals of science and knowing are superior in every way.

This was one of the core justifications used behind residential schools, which ran in Canada (and other nations, such as the United States, Australia, Aotearoa/New Zealand, and many others all over the world) from 1831 to 1999. The residential schools forcibly removed Indigenous children from their families and taken to boarding 'schools,' run by churches and/or the government to be assimilated. They'd have their hair cut, be punished for speaking their mother languages, and the schools ran rampant with disease and all forms of abuse. Mass unmarked graves for children were found in British Columbia just a couple of years ago5, and other acts of cultural or outright genocide such as decades of mass sterilization or the 60s Scoop further separated Indigenous children from their families and culture.

Indigenous people in Canada today are still fighting for the right(s) to 1) raise their children and 2) hold onto and freely practice their culture.

And what does NATLA do?

It puts Sokka's intelligence at odds with his cultural heritage. It puts Sokka being scientifically minded in opposition with his more (Indigenously) traditional father. That Hakoda is dismissive, that Sokka and his ways of thinking are enlightened, set apart.

"The world is full of warriors" when Sokka's people are experiencing an ongoing genocide. When his people and their ways of life are actively dying, with no cities or sanctuaries that still stand like Omashu and Ba Sing Se (since the North, in both shows, is distinct/different from the South). Seriously?

Now, we do get one line from Sokka that's more positive, and just about the only positive thing he says about his culture the whole show, even if it's still not great:

Like, it's good that Sokka values what his father does... but did it have to be written in the context of "and he dismisses what I can do?" This, couched in the fact we don't really see Sokka have positive interactions with anyone from his tribe (the boys bullying him in the spirit world flashbacks vs in ATLA with all the Water Tribe men in season 2 beaming ear from ear to see him) doesn't help matters either.

And, to be fair, I think I get what NATLA was going for. One of the main themes in ATLA for Aang, Zuko, and later on Katara is the question of "Is it your own destiny, or is it a destiny someone else has tried to force on you?" For Zuko, it's in reference to his quest to capture the Avatar and continue imperialism; for Aang, it's determining what kind of Avatar he wants to be, explored particularly in 2x01 the Avatar State and the season 3 finale; and for Katara, it's largely explored through the pushback she gives in the North but mostly in response to learning bloodbending in season 3. Wanting to bring NATLA Sokka into the fold of giving him a destiny forced upon him — in this case, being a traditional warrior of his people — in response to his own path of being an engineer would work in creating a destiny dichotomy. It wouldn't even necessarily be terrible if Sokka was one of our Asian characters (say, hailing from the Fire Nation or Earth Kingdom) instead of being specifically Indigenous.

Cultural genocide may involve language and ceremonial bans, the prohibition of cultural practices, educational reforms that promote assimilation, and the physical destruction of cultural institutions such as libraries, monuments or the land (Yellowhead Institute).5

It's especially frustrating, because original ATLA, written and released over 20 years ago, gave a pretty clear path of how to write Sokka being both a warrior and an engineer in a respectful manner, as discussed earlier. Or, hell, NATLA could've just made Sokka's oppositional path not be the most historically loaded one you could choose if you are determined to take his innovative, supportive father and make him harsh and (comparatively) primitive compared to his son, who's the Real Genius Thinker. After all:

Historically, western scientists have considered themselves rigorous and empirical, while they have classified traditional Native thought as mythic, religious or plain made-up, he said. [...] What constitutes progress when it comes to braiding western and Indigenous science depends on whom you ask. “If the burden of proof remains on Indigenous communities to demonstrate, using western scientific methods, that their knowledge … is valid, I think we’re not at the place we need to be,” Supernant said. “It is difficult to braid two things together when they’re not given equal weight in the braid.”6

Then, to add absolute insult to injury, they make Sokka bad at the few cultural things the series does discuss:

NATLA!SOKKA: That's right. I lost control. I didn't know what to do. If [Bato] hadn't been on the boat and stepped in... NATLA!HAKODA: I didn't think he'd get into trouble that quickly. If it hadn't been for you, Sokka would have wrecked us. We're lucky to be alive. [...] You don't have to make excuses for him. I'd hoped, when he really had to prove himself, that he'd do... better. The truth is, not everyone is meant to have people's lives in their hands.

Again, it's not like ATLA Sokka didn't have issues. He oversold himself as a warrior in spite of having very little experience, and he got his ass promptly handed to him by Suki. He and Katara both crash their boat in the pilot. However, Sokka is still given plenty of instances to excel culturally and to carry it with him in a positive sense, same as Katara. NATLA's reduced screentime means that the majority of their focus is on the ways Sokka fails either specifically in a cultural sense (the ice-dodging) or in more general, less specific manners (ATLA gave us a specific sense of what it means to be a Water Tribe warrior, specifically, whereas NATLA groups the concept together with other kinds of warriors such as Kyoshi, the role of the Avatar, etc. with little to no cultural distinction).

These are the changes that NATLA chose to make, and the show's Indigenous representation and portrayal(s) are, I think, ultimately worse off for it in just about every way.

Now, I will acknowledge that it's likely that NATLA will amend Sokka's more nebulous status as a warrior by the end of the show. It wouldn't surprise me if one of the reasons they had Hakoda be so hard on him in S1 is to highlight Hakoda being proud and handing off the Day of Black Sun invasion to him in S3 (though I don't think Day of Black Sun will be nearly as fun or impactful a story event given how they've already butchered the S1 setup for it, but I digress). We even see NATLA Yue nudge things in that direction near the end of S1, even if they also almost immediately renege on it.

Your heart. That’s what sets you apart. That’s what makes you a warrior. I have a feeling if your father saw you now, he would agree. (1x07)

NATLA!SOKKA: She sacrificed herself for all of us. Me… I watched it happen. I stood on the sidelines while others fought and died, being the warrior I could never be. NATLA!ARNOOK: Sokka, in a moment when she must have been scared, you made sure she wasn’t alone. You don’t have to be a warrior to be a hero. (1x08)

(It also makes Yue's death about Sokka's feelings and sense of identity, rather than her father's grief — "You must be so proud." "So proud. And sad" — but I'm going to force myself to remain on topic.)

Creating a path forward for NATLA's two identities of traditional warrior and scientific engineer to be reconciled would definitely help remove the racist implications currently running rampant over it, but I don't think they'll be able to entirely remove it. By placing Hakoda's attitudes and his wants for his sons at odds to it, his potential future acceptance of Sokka's inventive interests will still fall back into old racist tropes of outsider knowledge being learned/brought back to civilize and educate Indigenous people(s) who dare to be more culturally and traditionally focused on their ways and maintaining their ways of life only.

Lack of Cultural Appreciation: Yue

Weirdly enough, one of the consequences of NATLA punching up Sokka's parentification and wild mischaracterization of Katara (stripping away much of her anger and passion) is that NATLA Katara doesn't have much going on culturally. This is strange given her characterization in ATLA ("to learn about my heritage, it would mean everything to me" / "A team of rhinos, or two waterbenders" / "I've waited for this day my whole life! I finally get to learn from a real waterbending master!") but given that NATLA removes her 1) frustration with not learning waterbending quickly and 2) stealing the scroll, her waterbending becomes entrenched solely in the grief of losing her mother (everything with Jet) rather than operating alongside her cultural grief ("The Fire Nation is ruthless. They killed my mother. They could've done the same to your people").

As such, we have one more Indigenous character to discuss, which is Yue. By showing up in the penultimate episode of NATLA's s1, we ironically have more theoretical time to get to know their Yue (almost 2 hours) in comparison to ATLA, wherein the 3 episodes she shows up in add up to just a little over an hour period... and yet we get a much better sense of ATLA's Yue than NATLA's.

Part of this is because ATLA's writing is consistent, so we have a basis to build on. Because they let the North's sexism affect her life, we understand why she feels she cannot break the rules/off her engagement, even though Hahn is decidedly not a love match or even a particularly good person. Because she's willing to face a negative consequence for what she believes in, we know what she believes in. We believe she loves Sokka, and we believe that duty matters to her. Her culture matters to her; her people matter to her.

Yue in NATLA, meanwhile?

YUE: When I was a kid, I used to hide out here when my dad would meet with the elders. He said he wanted me to see how things worked in the tribe because, someday, it would be my responsibility. SOKKA: Not very fun. YUE: Hmm, so I’d hide out here with the grans and make dessert. SOKKA: You are just a girl. YUE: I know out there I seem all… but that’s what they expect me to be. Don’t get me wrong. I love serving my community, but every now and then, I just have to go somewhere and…

We get about one (1) scene of Yue actually being with her people, and it's her doing a kind deed and then immediately showing her exhaustion and lack of enthusiasm for doing so. Her doing her cultural duties and participating culturally is seen as something that is "not very fun," that is something she routinely escapes from (whether in hiding or escaping into the Spirit World), that is at odds with her being "just a girl". It advocates that to be 'normal' is to not have cultural expectations placed upon you, to not have responsibilities to your people/community/family. That Yue's role is one sided where she serves her community, but they don't serve her in turn. I don't think I have to spell out how at odds with collectivism, how individualist any of those mindsets are..?

So when you get defensive, change the narrative to be white-centric, or individualistic, it is an effort to maintain power.7

We see this lack of interest in Yue reflected elsewhere in her storyline(s) They make her a spirit fox inspired from the Kitsune, which is a Japanese myth; they don't change her name (which is Cantonese, not Inuit) when they could have; and they make her a waterbender, but we never get to see her bond with Katara, or reflect on what's happening there, or be a healer, or anything that'd be interesting in having Yue be a waterbending to begin with. As stated, she's also seemingly completely unaffected by the sexism and strictly divided gender roles in her tribe (cooking, healing vs fighting, etc).

What this leaves us with is rather hollow, then, consisting of:

Despite being affected more by imperialism, the SWT isn't sexist, and despite being able to develop more removed from imperialist values, the NWT is

NATLA Sokka, who fails at the things his culture values, and has the cultural aspect taken away ("our family has always done" over "our tribe has always done" and it being centred on his father specifically, etc etc)

He is also pushed away by the narrative from being a traditional Water Tribe Warrior to being an engineer instead rather than in addition. This is embedded in imperialist context that actively dismisses Indigenous ways of thinking as inferior to imperialist modes of interest, technology, and 'science'

NATLA Katara, who is underdeveloped in every way with little to no cultural backing outside of one (1) scene with her mother and Gran-Gran

NATLA Sokk and Yue commiserating over being parentified not due to imperialism (ie. why Hakoda left Sokka in charge), but discussed as due to facing cultural expectations from their people/parents

NATLA Yue, who is disengaged from the additional narratives they then choose to drop unceremoniously onto her, and who when she does discuss her culture, she does so in a negative and individualist sense

And uh, it's bad. This hollowness of limited screentime paired with more critical than positive cultural exploration/reaffirmation is unfortunately likewise a trend of Indigenous characters rarely being included in television at all:

Biased and inaccurate representations of Native Americans also persist in television, film, and advertising. While contemporary members of other racial groups are by and large represented, Native Americans are largely omitted.31 From 1987–2008, only three Native American characters were featured on primetime television (out of 2,336 characters).8

Therefore, for the next section, I want to talk about some of the missed opportunities that NATLA could've taken with ATLA's most Indigenous heavy season, and didn't:

Things NATLA Could've Changed

Language and hierarchies. Neither the Inuit, Yu'pik, Iñupiat, nor other Northern Indigenous peoples have princesses. Yue could've been given a more suitable title, and other names or terms (like potentially tribe or chieftain8) could've been changed. For that matter, Gran-Gran's moniker being well, Gran-Gran, could've been changed to a more culturally sensitive mode of address (ie. aana9 just as one example).

Adding Characters. We could've fleshed out Katara and Sokka's family and positions within the SWT further, ie. giving them cousins, aunts and uncles, etc. Uh, Yue's mother, maybe? No reason for her not to be there, and it means we'd have another female Indigenous elder we could've fleshed out (or Yagoda, if you wanted one who was already there, or to change Bato's gender, because why not) to let there be more nuance to Hama later on.

Removing the sexism entirely. Discussed above, don't need to go much more into why I think, etc etc, but it also could've opened up opportunities to explore the experiences of Indigenous Two-Spirit and sipiniq people, which never would've been allowed on a children's TV show in 2005.

And much much more, I'm sure. We could've taken out or reworked ice-dodging to be more culturally aligned with real life traditions, we could've seen dances, more food preparation, maybe some kuniks, etc etc! And instead we get none of that, and likely never will, for a project that had a lot of eyes on it and had a lot of potential to do more for Indigenous actors and mainstream depictions of Indigenous cultures. And it sucks.

Behind the Scenes

As what is hopefully evident now, a lot of NATLA's issues with its writing of Indigenous peoples comes from the fact none of it was likely written with Indigenous perspectives in mind or from northern Indigenous writers. This doesn't necessarily mean they were written from white perspectives, however.

There are 11 writers or staff members listed in the creation of season 1. Two of those are ATLA's original writers, Michael di Martino and Bryan Konietzko. That leaves around 9 people, most of which are credited for one episode apiece: Audrey Wong Kennedy, Albert Kim, Keely MacDonald, Christine Boylan, Joshua Hale Fialkov, Emily Kim, Gabriel Llanas, Ubah Mohamed, and Hunter Ries. I tried to look into them and any other potential staff writers, but it doesn't seem / isn't confirmed that literally any of them are Indigenous. I also wasn't able to find anything about Netflix consulting with either Indigenous groups or individuals, though I did find out that Avatar Studios is consulting/hiring Indigenous writers such as Migizi Pensoneau, which is nice to see.

So I think what happened, charitably, is that a mostly Asian writing team wrote scenes and added things that mostly resonated with their experiences... which are all well and good, but are necessarily in line with Indigenous experiences, values, or areas of priority. Similarly to how discussions of representation must take intersectionality into account, such as being aware when writing white women versus Black women that taking what is revolutionary for a white female character as a blank slate for everyone (ie. a white woman staying single in a narrative versus for Black women it's more so for them to be love interests and sought after) is a surefire way to write stories that fall into racist tropes/mindsets, NATLA's specific shortcomings may be a case of not looking closely enough at specifically Indigenous experiences. It's colour blindness coming from a likewise racialized lens, but that still doesn't make it not colour blindness of Indigenous experiences.

Playing Indian is racist—in no way different from wearing blackface or participating in minstrel shows— because it collapses distinct cultures into one stereotypical racialized group. Even worse, because playing Indian is deemed socially acceptable (e.g., normal, legitimate), any other racial or ethnic group may now participate—without recognizing the inherent racism in doing so.9

There should've been Indigenous writers on Avatar (and TLOK) from the start, but not having any was fair more acceptable when it was a little show with no following being written and made in the early 2000s. Yes, it's wonderful that there were Indigenous actors, makeup artists, and costumers on NATLA's set, because having them there at all is a big deal. However, we are a long way from having them in positions of narrative authority and directional power within media for Avatar, still, after 20+ years, and little to no progress made in that regard for the live action adaptations. Hopefully, that will change on subsequent seasons of NATLA... but I'm not holding my breath.

Having Indigenous consultants and voice actors doesn't also mean a project is inherently going to be ultimately respectful (just look at Disney's Pocahontas), but it is a step in the right direction. It's also not like Asian countries don't have their own Indigenous peoples, such as the Ainu, the Paiwan and Rukai peoples, Lumad tribal groupings, and many more.

But I don't think they necessarily needed Indigenous writers hanging around to tell them "Hey, maybe don't have 2/3 Indigenous characters diminish and fail at their cultural practices, talk about serving their community like it's a burden, and pit traditional ways against 'rarer' exceptionalized notions of modernity". If you know almost anything about Indigenous history or colonial rhetoric, those things should slot into place at least as considerations, even if there were many ways to do similar things and write them better for those who saw meaning in the show's presentation of things.

And if you didn't know those things, I hope this meta helped provide a learning experience and jumping off point for further learning and elaboration. (I know I certainly learned a lot while writing it, and if for some reason I missed a citation, please let me know.

Closing Thoughts

Moreover, you cannot be the one to judge whether an act is racist, culturally insensitive or appropriate. Also, by saying “I’m not racist” or “there is no racism” does not absolve racism or responsibility. You are assuming because you cannot see it, it does not exist. If an inuk, or person of colour is calling something out, pay attention and listen. Listen to those that face racism e_v_e_r_y_d_a_y! Including shallow small talk, being spoken down to, not being listened to, and clear differential treatment. Beyond these everyday exchanges, there is the clear reality that the system generally tells you in many ways your life is not worth anything or very little. That is racism.

—Dear Qallunaat: Racism, Public Government and Inuit Nunangat, Kunuk (Sandra) Inutiq

Charities / foundations to support:

Youth Mental Health Canada for Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation

Indspire: Indigenous Education

The National Representational Organization Protecting and Advancing the Rights and Interests of Inuit in Canada

Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women

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