Episode 03: Indigenous Cultures in Horror

This episode was recorded on July 8, 2023 and posted on July 29, 2023.

Introduction

• Welcome to No Bodies Episode 3
• Introductions to your Ghosts Hosts with the Most - Lonely of Lonely Horror Club and Projectile Varmint aka Suzie of Horror Movie Weekly
• Introductions to our guest - Aukai Ligairi, documentary filmmaker and podcasting legend, aka Wolfman Josh
• Today's Topic: Indigenous Cultures in Horror

Discussion of Indigenous Representation in Media

• Representation gap of native cultures in film
• Impact of harmful representations and stereotypes like "The Indian Burial Ground"
• Who has the right to tell which stories?
• Access for native creators in film and television
• Ethics of retelling native folklore, like the Wendigo, by nonnative creators
• Ethics of consuming media with "problematic" representations of native cultures
• Eurocentric folk horror connections to native reparations

Worst & Best Representations of Indigenous Cultures in Horror

Spoilers ahead!

Worst

• The Manitou (1978) - Lonely
• The Ghost Dance (1982) - Suzie
• Scalps (1983) - Aukai
• Creepshow 2 (1987) - Lonely
• Wendigo (2001) - Lonely

Best

• The Dead Lands (2014) - Aukai
• Mohawk (2017) - Aukai
• Blood Quantum (2019) - Suzie
• The Dead Lands (2020) - Aukai
• Antlers (2021) - Suzie & Lonely
• Prey (2022) - Aukai
• Slash/back (2022) - Aukai & Suzie

Suzie's Deep Cuts

• Nightwing (1979)
• Ravenous (1999)
• The Dead Can't Dance (2010)

Final Thoughts

• Where do you see the future of native storytelling in horror?

Thank you to our guest!

• Follow Aukai on Instagram & Twitter @aukaiviti and on Letterboxd @aukailigari. Stream Cleanflix (2012) on Tubi and Life Below Zero: First Alaskans (2022) on Disney+.

Keep Up with Your Hosts

• Check out our instagram antics and drop a follow @nobodieshorrorpodcast.

• Projectile Varmint - catch Suzie on Horror Movie Weekly with our dear friends Jay of the Dead, Mister Waston, and Channy Dreadful. Suzie also runs the HMW Instagram @ horrormovieweekly.

• Lonely - read more from Lonely and keep up with her filmstagram chaos @lonelyhorrorclub on Instagram and www.lonelyhorrorclub.com.

Original No Bodies Theme music by Jacob Pini. Need music? Find Jacob on Instagram at @jacob.pini for rates and tell him No Bodies sent you!

Leave us a message at (617) 431-4322‬ and we just might answer you on the show!

Sources & Additional Reading

Anthony, E. (2020, November 28). Native American horror: Exploring the people over the legends. The Emory Wheel. https://emorywheel.com/native-american-representation-in-horror/

Budzinski, N. (2021, December 10). "It's all an indian burial ground": Folk horror cinema's reckoning with Colonial Violence. ArtReview. https://artreview.com/its-all-an-indian-burial-ground-folk-horror-cinema-reckoning-with-colonial-violence/

Echo Hawk, C. (2021, October 11). Indigenous representation is still scarce in Hollywood: "we need more native stories" (guest column). Variety. https://variety.com/2021/film/opinion/indigenous-representation-hollywood-native-stories-1235086445/

Elliot, A. (2017, October 17). The rise of Indigenous horror: How a fiction genre is confronting a monstrous reality. CBCnews. https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.5323428

Hubbell-Hinton, K. (2021, August 20). The power of Indigenous Horror. Indigenous Goddess Gang. https://www.indigenousgoddessgang.com/indigenous-cinematics/2021/8/15/the-power-of-indigenous-horror

National Museum of the American Indian. (2023). Native knowledge 360°-celebrating native cultures through words: Storytelling and oral traditions. Home Page. https://americanindian.si.edu/nk360/informational/storytelling-and-oral-traditions