Robert Warrior, a professor at the University of Kansas, was more than just a yes-man when he consulted for the new “Little House on the Prairie” Netflix series.
As a citizen of the Osage Nation, he helped develop how the show framed Osage people during the late 1800s by discussing script material with the show’s creators rather than approve of it after it was written.
Warrior said underrepresented voices in the media are often brought in too late, which can perpetuate inaccuracies and harmful messaging about important events in American history.
“Coming in too late means that a lot of decisions have already been made. A lot of the things have already been framed. And once things have been framed, it's very hard to get out of that framing,” Warrior told KCUR’s Up To Date.
Working on the new adaptation allowed him to help fix what many have viewed as harmful aspects of “Little House” author Laura Ingalls Wilder’s portrayal of Native Americans.
Consulting also gives him insight into the entertainment industry for his students at KU.
“I really want to understand the process of how media is made so that when I teach it in a classroom, if I teach a film, if I teach a TV show, if I have students who are interested, especially Indigenous students who are interested in participating in media, if I myself want to do work in media, that I understand the larger industry in which that media is produced,” Warrior said.
Netflix’s “Little House on the Prairie” is the newest adaptation of Wilder’s book series, which is a fictionalized account of her childhood in the Midwest in the late 19th century.
- Robert Warrior, University of Kansas professor
