The Peabody Awards Board of Jurors recently announced director and screenwriter Sterlin Harjo is receiving the Peabody Trailblazer Award, recognizing him as an innovative storyteller who has impacted culture and effected social change.
As the name of the award suggests, Harjo is a trailblazer in his own right, breaking the boundaries of Indigenous storytelling. He helped lead an all-Indigenous team of writers and directors in the hit series Reservation Dogs, which featured a predominantly Native cast showing teenage life on a reservation in rural Oklahoma.
The Seminole Nation citizen who has Mvskoke (Muscogee) descent went on to create, write and direct a “love letter” to his hometown of Tulsa in The Lowdown. The show stars Ethan Hawke, who plays a citizen journalist loosely based on Tulsa activist Lee Roy Chapman, who was committed to revealing the truth even when it felt like an uphill battle. The first season was released last fall, and a second season has been confirmed and is in production.
Harjo is also known for his Native sketch comedy group, The 1491s, and for his feature-length films, which have screened at renowned festivals such as Sundance and the Toronto International Film Festival.
He will be celebrated in Beverly Hills, California, on May 31, alongside PBS Kids and comedian and actress Amy Poehler, who are also receiving Peabody awards.
This article was originally published by KOSU. You can see the original story here.