No One Ever Sees Indians: Native Americans in Media: A Illinois Road Scholar Program by Ernest Whiteman III

Name: No One Ever Sees Indians: Native Americans in Media: A Illinois Road Scholar Program by Ernest Whiteman III
Start: 2026-12-04T21:30:00.000Z
End: 2026-12-04T23:30:00.000Z
Location: PRC and Online

Filmmaker Ernest M. Whiteman III presents a multimedia exploration of how Native peoples are depicted in media and entertainment.This presentation is loosely structured as a three-part magic act. Ernest discusses the many representations of Native Americans in media, how far back these depictions go, and how these representations inform audiences’ perceptions of Native peoples and issues today.This presentation reflects the ideology of lived experience, ownership of culture versus the authorship of expertise of Native representation, and its reductive constructs. Ernest will show that what people know and see about Native Americans in the media has always been an illusion.Ernest has a passion for examining and sharing how Native peoples are depicted in media. An experienced and dynamic presenter for diverse audiences in a wide range of venues, his program makes correlations between how Native peoples are depicted in media and the treatment of Native peoples in the U.S.Ernest M. Whiteman III is a Northern Arapaho filmmaker, artist, writer, and media educator. He is currently the Co-director of First Nations Film and Video Festival Inc., a 501c3, non-profit organization dedicated to presenting two annual film festivals a year showcasing Indigenous/Native American filmmakers.Ernest has worked in media for nearly thirty years, and in media education for over thirteen years. He continues to write, draw, and make the occasional short video. He has five completed screenplays under his belt, as well as two self-published books (<a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-autobiography-of-blue-woman-volume-one-ernest-m-whiteman-iii/1117653387">The Autobiography of Blue Woman</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Rez-Tale-Ernest-Whiteman-III/dp/1105400379">A Rez Tale</a>). This presentation is made possible due to a grant from Illinois Humanities.