About this episode

Co-hosts Elena Ortiz and Melanie Yazzie discuss the significance of the film Smoke Signals, the first major motion picture created by Native people.

RPH is back! Co-hosts Elena Ortiz and Melanie Yazzie tackle the almost three-decade-old classic, Smoke Signals (1988),the first major motion picture written, directed, and acted all by Native people. Empower our work: GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/empower-red-medias-indigenous-content Subscribe to The Red Nation Newsletter: https://www.therednation.org/ Patreon https://www.patreon.com/redmediapr

People in this episode

Hosts: Elena Ortiz, Melanie Yazzie

Topics covered

• Native cinema
• film analysis
• cultural representation
• indigenous storytelling
• history of Native film

Keywords

• Smoke Signals
• Native cinema
• Elena Ortiz
• Melanie Yazzie
• indigenous film
• cultural representation
• film history

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Smoke Signals

More episodes of The Red Nation Podcast

• Doing Native journalism w/ Danielle Paradis · May 4, 2026 · 1h 10m
• RPH vs. Sinners (2025) w/ Jodi Byrd (Part 1) · April 27, 2026 · 1h 5m
• The Cuban Revolution and U.S. Imperialism w/ August Nimtz · April 20, 2026 · 1h 2m
• RPH - ICE Out! Drop the Charges! An Interview with Isabel Lopez · April 13, 2026 · 1h 16m
• Holding Our Ground: Voices and Strategies Against Self-Indigenization w/ Kim TallBear · April 6, 2026 · 1h 18m
• Red Power Hour - Solidarity with the Prairieland 19 · March 30, 2026 · 1h 11m

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the The Red Nation Podcast podcast page.