OSLEP Hosts Free Public Talk at First Americans Museum on Native Political Comedy in Film
The Tragedy and Farce of Oklahoma Politics in Native Film with Dr. Joshua Nelson. February 21, 2026. 7pm. First Americans Museum, OKC.
Oklahoma City, OK — The Oklahoma Scholar‑Leadership Enrichment Program (OSLEP) will host a free public talk by Dr. Joshua Nelson (Cherokee), Associate Professor of English at the University of Oklahoma, on Saturday, February 21 at 7:00 p.m. The lecture will take place in the Five Moons Theater at the First Americans Museum in Oklahoma City. The event is free and open to the public.
Most American Indian films in the US have generally avoided overtly provocative political themes, leaning instead toward drama and coming-of-age stories. One genre that has not shied from political critique is comedy, at least since Will Rogers’ 1924 short film series that lampooned Alfalfa Bill Murray, the giant of Oklahoma politics, up through the profane, trash-cinema of Reservation Dogs’ controversial catfish-cult episode. This talk will highlight several Oklahoma-centered Native comedies (or comedic moments) over the past one hundred years that have satirized federal Indian policy, punctured the arrogant façades of powerful institutions, and ridiculed buffoonish leaders. Moving from Rogers through Bob Hicks’ “Return of the Country” (1983), up through Reservation Dogs, and on to Erica Tremblay’s recent Fancy Dance, we see multi-fronted assaults that range from clowning on specific political figures to parodying broad, structural injustices. In staking their careers on the chance that American Indian artists can participate in political critique in a free society, these filmmakers have risked much for the sake of making us laugh.
Speaker Biography
Dr. Joshua B. Nelson is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation and a native Oklahoman. He is a President’s Associates Presidential Professor and Associate Professor of English at the University of Oklahoma, with affiliations in Film & Media Studies, Native American Studies, and Women’s & Gender Studies. He earned his Ph.D. from Cornell University and is the author of Progressive Traditions: Identity in Cherokee Literature and Culture. His scholarship appears in leading journals and edited volumes in American Indian studies and film studies. Dr. Nelson is also a co-producer, co-writer, and narrator of the PBS documentary Searching for Sequoyah.
Event Details
Host: Oklahoma Scholar-Leadership Enrichment Program (OSLEP)
Speaker: Dr. Joshua Nelson (Cherokee), Associate Professor of English, University of Oklahoma
Date: Saturday, February 21
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Five Moons Theater, inside the First Americans Museum.
Admission: Free and open to the public
GET YOUR FREE TICKETS HERE: https://portal.famok.org/tickets/en-us/product/1763438?