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| Darrell Dennis, Ryan Rajendra Black, and Jennifer Podemski |
It has only been the past few years, with the debuts of such shows as Rutherford Falls, Reservation Dogs, and Dark Winds that there have shows centered on Native Americans in any number on American television, and even then Native Americans are still underrepresented. Canadian television has been a bit better with regards to its Indigenous population, although even then First Nations peoples have been underrepresented on Canadian television. That having been said, while American television featured no shows centred on Native Americans, a short-lived show called The Rez, set in an in an Ojibwe community, aired on CBC Television.
The Rez centred on a group of teenagers living on an Ojibwe reservation in Ottawa. Ryan Rajendra Black starred as Silas Crow, who wants to be a writer. His best friend was Frank Fencepost (Darrell Dennis), who spends most of his time playing table hockey at the bar and chasing women. Silas's girlfriend Sadie Maracle (Jennifer Podemski) was something of an Indigenous activist. Frank had an on again/off again relationship with Lucy Pegahmagabow (Tamara Podemski), who wanted to sing on Broadway.
The origins of The Rez go back to the short story collection Dance Outside Me by W. P. Kinsella, which was published in 1977. The short stories were narrated by eighteen year-old Silas Ermineskin and are set on a Cree reservation in Alberta. Dance Outside Me was adapted as the 1995 movie of the same name, starring Ryan Black as Silas Crow, Adam Beach as Frank Fencepost, and Jennifer Podemski as Sadie Maracle. The movie saw a a major change from the short stories in the anthology. While the short stories are set in Alberta, the movie is set in Northern Ontario. Dance with Me (1995) premiered at the Toronto Film Festival on September 9, 1994. It was released in Canada and the United States on March 10, 1995. Legendary director Norman Jewison was an executive producer on the film.
The Rez was essentially a spinoff from Dance Outside Me. It retained Ryan Rajedra Black as Silas Crow and Jennifer Podemski as Sadie Maracle, but Darrell Dennis took over the role of Frank Fencepost. As to Adam Beach, he was cast in the recurring role of the chief's son, Charlie. It debuted in 1996 and had a first season of six episodes. The Rez returned for a second season in 1997 of 13 episodes. The Rez ended its run after two seasons and 19 episodes. I was unable to find out if CBC cancelled the show or its producers simply decided to bring it to an end.
Regardless, while The Rez did not run long, some of its cast would go onto other things. Adam Beach went onto play Jim Chee in The Navajo Mysteries, a three-episode series based on Tony Hillerman's novels that aired on PBS's show Mystery, as well as Law & Order: SVU. Kari Matchett would go onto be part of the cast of A&E's Nero Wolfe, and appear on the shows Leverage, Covert Affairs, and The Good Doctor. The show also featured already established actors Gary Farmer and Elaine Miles.
In 1997, Jennifer Podemski was nominated for the Gemini Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role. The following year, Ryan Rajendra Black was nominated for the Gemini Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role, while guest star Patricia Collins was nominated for Actress in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Series.
While the complete series of The Rez was released on DVD in 2009, the show is widely available. It is not on any streaming services. Even on YouTube, there are no complete episodes, only a few collections of clips from the show. This is regrettable, as The Rez is one of the earliest shows to deal with Indigenous characters in Canada, and it aired at a time when shows centred on Indigenous characters were unknown in the United States as well.
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