FX Productions has given Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi a Native American comedy series.

The name of the series is “Reservation Dogs” and it tells the story of four Native American youths growing up in a small town in Oklahoma, committing crime and fighting against it.

A Seminole County native, Dalton Cramer, is in the series and plays the part of Daniel, a fifth member of the gang that died a year before.

“We weren’t actually a gang. Daniel brought us together, we didn’t see us as a gang. It’s about us trying to save money to get out of there,” states D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai aka Bear Smallhill. “It’s really not about crime. It’s actually a comedy. Almost everything that has indigenous content is depressing or inaccurate. We are actually very funny people.”

The story line is how the remaining four members fight to escape from their hometown in Oklahoma to California in honor of Daniel’s dream.

“To me, it couldn’t be set anywhere other than Oklahoma,” Harjo stated. “No other place has the diversity we have here, even in small towns. And it’s got the green, and the trees, and the hills: it’s got the old buildings and the smalltown downtown area. It’s a very specific story set in a very specific place.”

The co-director Harjo has directed stories as Good Night Irene, This Could be the Last Time, Barking Water and Four Sheets to the Wind. Harjo is teamed up with director Taika Waititi who directed Thor: Ragnarok and Jojo Rabbit.

Harjo and Taika are long time friends and Harjo stated “It was only natural that Taika and I found a project together, and what better than a show that celebrates the complementary storytelling styles of our indigenous communities – mine in Oklahoma and Taika’s in Aotearoa.

“I’ve done this forever, but I never had a budget to do it then FX steps up and they gave me the budget and the opportunity to tell this story. Then I found these actors,” stated Harjo.

“It’s one thing to hire a group of actors but these guys took it so serious, took it as a responsibility to represent Muskogee and Seminole people in this show.”

The story has four main characters that make up the “Reservation Dogs’, Bear Smallhill (D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai), the so-called leader that can’t fight but with help, learns from others and a spirit guide, he could be destined to.

Elora Danan (Devery Jacobs) could possibly be the leader but wants to go to California more than the others.

Willie Jack (Paulina Alexis), a street-talking, tough girl that looks out for their crew.

Cheese (Lane Factor), the quiet, gentle one of the group who goes along with anything with the crew.

Two small rappers on bikes make several candid scenes, Mekko (Funny Bone) and Mose (Lil Mike) want to join a gang but watch to see who has the tougher gang.

The character that plays “Bear”, D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai is from Toronto, Canada. At 19 years old, this is his first leading role.

When asked about how he feels about how the first season went, “The first pilot took five days, and the cast and crew became my family within those days.”

Woon-A-Tai commented on how it was on the set. “A lot of lines were changed on the spot. Sterlin is awesome. He allowed us our creativity and was open to it, our suggestions.”

“Sterlin is one of the best directors I ever worked with. Even directors should look up to him and his work,” Woon-A Tai stated.

The small town where the story is centered around is like where Harjo grew up (Holdenville). “It’s where you had to use your imagination and make your own fun. It was kind of a magical childhood, in a way. The characters are all some kind of reflection on myself, but also of the other people in the writer’s room who helped develop the stories.”

Woon-A-Tai was asked about his relationship with his character, “I’m from an opposite spectrum. I live in the biggest city in Ontario but in a since, I can see what ‘Bear’ sees, wanting to find your community. I even related to ‘Bear’ from the first reading. I said wow! It’s weird, he’s like me!”

The series was shot in Okmulgee and other scenes in Tulsa and surrounding areas. “People in Okmulgee are going to recognize a lot of what’s on the screen,” commented Harjo. “Coleman’s Burgers and Bakery gets a shout-out at one point.

Sterlin Harjo is an award-winning Tulsa filmmaker from Holdenville, Oklahoma and has put on film indigenous cultures with humor and insight to show people the native side of people and how human we all are.

“I love being accountable to people and tell stories about people and what you see on screen is not a lie,” stated Harjo during a commentary at Sunday nights premiere.

“If you tell the truth, people will recognize that. Everything else will fall into place.”

FX has ordered eight episodes for the first season and will air the first two episodes on August 9 on FX on Hulu.

“We are planning to get to work writing episodes for the second season this fall, so we think that’s a pretty good sign the show’s going to continue,” Harjo said.