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Ernest M. Whiteman III

Ernest M Whiteman III 1

Filmmaker Ernest M. Whiteman III presents a multimedia exploration of how Native peoples are depicted in media and entertainment.

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.

Available

No One Ever Sees Indians: Native Americans in Media

“Are you watching closely?”

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.

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.

Program Logistics

The presentation takes approximately 45 minutes, with extra time at the end for Q&A, making it approximately one hour.

Bio

Ernest M. Whiteman III is a Northern Arapaho filmmaker, artist, writer, and media educator. Ernest is the Co-director of First Nations Film and Video Festival, Inc. a non-profit film festival supporting Native American directors. He teaches an upper-level communications course, “Native Americans in Media” at the University of Wisconsin Parkside.

He is a Producer/Editor with Truth and Documentary, an independent workshop rooted in the traditions of journalism, communications, ethnography, and cinema.

He is working on a contemporary film adaptation of Hamlet with a full cast of Native American actors. Ernest has two self-published books The Autobiography of Blue Woman and A Rez Tale.

He is currently working on many film and video projects including Ten in Ten, a documentary series, and An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the Zombie War, an Urban Native Horror. He is from the Wind River Reservation and currently lives in Skokie. As Ernest says—not bad for a nameless Arapaho from Wyoming.

Book this Road Scholar

Follow the steps below to book a presentation.
  1. Contact Ernest to schedule a date and time via email at ronin-redshade@att.net.
  2. Once you and Ernest have agreed upon a date and time, complete the online Road Scholars Host Organization application.
Contact Us

Nicole Rodriguez
Senior Manager of Community Conversations

speakers@ilhumanities.org
(312) 374-1558