Dustin Fiddler: beyond braids and buckskin
A young man learns the good, the bad, and the ugly of what Hollywood thinks it means to be indigenous.
There's a long history of aboriginal people being represented on the silver screen in a less-than-accurate light. From classic Western films to more recent fare, Hollywood has struggled to properly reflect indigenous culture and communities. But is that still the case in 2015?
Dustin Fiddler is a university student in Saskatoon, and an active part of his home community of Waterhen Lake First Nation. On top of that, he's an actor. So when he auditioned for an epic miniseries that was in Saskatchewan casting indigenous extras, he thought he was a shoo-in.
But it was during the casting call that Dustin learned the good, the bad, and the ugly of what Hollywood thinks it means to be indigenous.