‘Dark Winds’ Actor Zahn McClarnon and Director Billy Luther on Why Native Representation in Hollywood Needs to Go Beyond the Screen

Zahn McClarnon is finally starting to see a change in Native American representation in TV and films. “People are hungry for these unique and different stories,” says McClarnon, actor-turned-executive producer of the recent AMC limited series “Dark Winds.”

With shows like “Dark Winds,’ “Rutherford Falls” and “Reservation Dogs,” Native Americans have gotten more diverse roles than ever before, in a variety of genres. But there’s still more to be done.

In conversation with filmmaker and writer Billy Luther, who will be directing an episode of “Dark Winds” in season two, the duo discuss the tradition of oral storytelling, representation, where Hollywood is doing better and what needs to be done.

Billy Luther: With this new wave of Native writers working in the industry, do you see a change happening?

Zahn McClarnon: It has changed quite a bit. We didn’t have any Native writers when I first started doing this. I think people are hungry for these unique and different stories being told from the perspective of Native writers. We still have a long way to go, but doors are continuing to open up.

Luther: What do you feel has yet to be changed?

McClarnon: We need more Natives behind the camera and in front of the camera. It would be great to see some people in the network and more producers and executives. We’ve got a couple such as Heather Rae, Bird Runningwater and Sterlin Harjo. So, that’s a start, but we need more.

What do you think, Billy?

Luther: Having an all-Native writer’s room is great, but where the change could happen is from the top, with the executives to the showrunners. I hope more showrunners will come out of the writer’s room.

McClarnon: It’s just a matter of time before we have more because of the talented people that we have in these rooms.

Luther: This year, we had three Navajo writers in the room. “Dark Winds” is set on the Navajo reservation. Even though there are three Navajo writers in this room, our experiences, our families experiences are all very different from each other, and we respect that and learn from one another. 

As an executive producer on the show, how much input do you have on the series?

McClarnon: I was an integral part in hiring the writers and coming up with names. John Wirth, our showrunner is very open to ideas. We’re in pre-production and I’ve been in casting for the last three weeks, and everyone is open to my ideas for getting the right people hired. 

Luther: Congratulations on your Gotham Award nomination, how did you react when you heard the news?

McClarnon: It’s wonderful that I’m being nominated. When I heard my name mentioned with the other nominees, it was really a beautiful thing.

Luther: Why do you think “Dark Winds” is resonating with audiences?

McClarnon: I think people are hungry for different and unique stories. It resonates because they haven’t really seen a deep dive into Native culture.

It’s a good time for Native representation right now. They see stereotypical stuff they grew up with, and now they’re seeing shows like “Dark Winds” and “Rutherford Falls” and “Reservation Dogs,” and people are realizing we have rich culture and storytelling.

Variety: Can you talk about the importance of passing the tradition down through oral history?

McClarnon: In my Lakota culture, everything was oral. When my mother was trying to do her master’s degree thesis, and she wanted to do it orally, the university wouldn’t allow her to do it orally. But that’s how the stories are passed down orally, and they’re not written down. 

Telling these stories eliminates the stereotypes and tropes that we all have grown up with. If we don’t have television programs or movies, we’re always going to have our stories. These stories will always be passed down. We’re storytellers as people, 

 Luther: My mother and my grandmother would tell stories. My grandmother only spoke Navajo, and growing up, I only spoke English. So, I would always have a translator or somebody who would always tell me stories. 

Listening to the stories from my aunties and uncles and grandmother — that’s part of why I wanted to be a storyteller. Storytelling is still part of my culture. I don’t have any living grandparents anymore but the stories that I tell or I hear from my parents are so much more important now.

You touched on it, but is Hollywood doing better with its depictions?

McClarnon: Because the stories are being told by Native storytellers, and we have great writers like you, Billy. When we are seeing mistakes from producers and showrunners, they are open to listening to us now and making corrections to those mistakes.

Luther: I’m working in the room, so it has changed. 

McClarnon: Billy is not only writing on the show, but he’s going to be directing a “Dark Winds” episode and that’s huge. We are getting more and more Native directors, and I’m glad that Billy is given this opportunity to step up and direct an episode.

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