“Are you watching closely?” Road Scholar, Ernest M. Whiteman III, guides us through this loosely structured three-part magic act. Ernest discusses the many representations of Native Americans in media and how these representations inform audiences’ perceptions of Native peoples and issues. The acts are separated by personal anecdotes that reflect the ideology of lived experience versus the authorship of expertise of Native representation.

Ernest M. Whiteman III is a Northern Arapaho filmmaker, artist, writer, and media educator at the University of Wisconsin Parkside. He is currently working on a feature-length, full-text, contemporary adaptation of “Hamlet” which will include a full cast of Native American actors. Ernest is the Director of First Nations Film and Video Festival, Inc. a non-profit film festival supporting Native American directors of all skill levels and finding venues to help them express their views and screen their films.

Ernest continues to make films, to write, and make art. Ernest has also self-published a short stories collection “The Autobiography of Blue Woman”. “A Rez Tale” is his second completed novel, his first novel to be self-published.  He is from the Wind River reservation and currently lives in Skokie. Not bad for a nameless Arapaho from Wyoming.

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This program is presented as part of One Book, One Village.

Illinois Humanities is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the Illinois General Assembly [through the Illinois Arts Council Agency (IACA)], as well as by contributions from individuals, foundations and corporations.

Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed by speakers, program participants, or audiences do not necessarily reflect those of the NEH, Illinois Humanities, IACA, our partnering organizations, or our funders.