#BreaktheBias – How IllumiNative Founder Crystal Echo Hawk is fighting erasure of Native Americans in media – Nielsen – Social Media Explorer

Native Americans contribute to society every day, despite a long history of violence and erasure against their communities. This community is growing. Since 2010, the American Indian and Alaska Native populations have increased by 5.2 million to 9.7 million in 2020. Nearly 3% of Americans are now Native American. As of the most recent report, Native Americans are still represented on TV, at less than 1%.

We are seeing progress in the representation of Native Americans from Capitol Hill and Hollywood. However, there is still much to be done to expand the Native American narrative in media. In celebration of Women’s History Month, we spoke to Crystal Echo Hawk, founder and executive director of IllumiNative, and a citizen of the Pawnee Nation. As a prominent advocate for Native Americans she has focused her efforts on media content that amplifies the voices, stories, and issues of her tribe.

In Echo Hawk’s conversation with SME’s Charlene Polite Corley, VP, Diverse Insights and Initiatives, she shares the need for an organization like IllumiNative to raise awareness in the media industry. On the audience’s perceptions and understanding of Native people, they also talk about how contemporary Native American representations have influenced shows such as Rutherford Falls or Reservation Dogs.

But content is only part of representation. Echo Hawk speaks out about the work she does to teach brands and businesses how to prevent cultural appropriation through brand icons, sports mascots, etc.

Here’s a peek at the larger conversation that took place at SXSW, March 12 ,: Forget Mascots. The Native Representation TV Musts.