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Introduction to the "Coming of Age" story

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From Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi, Reservation Dogs is a half-hour comedy that follows the exploits of four Indigenous teenagers in rural Oklahoma. Filmed on location in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, the series is a breakthrough in Indigenous representation on television both in front of and behind the camera. Every writer, director and series regular on the show is Indigenous. This first-of-its-kind creative team tells a story that resonates with them and their lived experiences – and invites audiences into a surprisingly familiar and funny world.

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From Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi, Reservation Dogs is a half-hour comedy that follows the exploits of four Indigenous teenagers in rural Oklahoma. Filmed on location in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, the series is a breakthrough in Indigenous representation on television both in front of and behind the camera. Every writer, director and series regular on the show is Indigenous. This first-of-its-kind creative team tells a story that resonates with them and their lived experiences – and invites audiences into a surprisingly familiar and funny world.

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From Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi, Reservation Dogs is a half-hour comedy that follows the exploits of four Indigenous teenagers in rural Oklahoma. Filmed on location in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, the series is a breakthrough in Indigenous representation on television both in front of and behind the camera. Every writer, director and series regular on the show is Indigenous. This first-of-its-kind creative team tells a story that resonates with them and their lived experiences – and invites audiences into a surprisingly familiar and funny world.

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From Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi, Reservation Dogs is a half-hour comedy that follows the exploits of four Indigenous teenagers in rural Oklahoma. Filmed on location in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, the series is a breakthrough in Indigenous representation on television both in front of and behind the camera. Every writer, director and series regular on the show is Indigenous. This first-of-its-kind creative team tells a story that resonates with them and their lived experiences – and invites audiences into a surprisingly familiar and funny world.

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This is our Coming of Age Padlet for Rez Dogs Season 1. Please follow the instructions below to complete the activity.

Using the recreate button (the two arrows in a square) make a copy of this padlet;

Create four posts (4) identifying the theme of Coming of Age (which incorporates ideas such as resilience, self-discovery, identity formation, and societal challenge) and the key ideas in Indigenous coming of age in Rez Dogs. The purpose of identifying both is to link the universal experience of coming of age within the uniquely Indigenous context. For example, you might pair Resilience with Role Models, or self-discovery in the context of a dream of escaping;

For each post, identify the theme & key idea as it is presented in the episode and provide specific details from the episode to support your selection;

Create four (4) posts where you make text-to-self or text-to-text connections. This is a chance to connect the materials of the course, or to connect yourself to the text;

Details matter: include the setting, character names and their actions, and the context;

Include an image of the character(s) referenced in your post;

These posts must be under your name, so sign in with your TDSB account--posts that don't reflect your name will not be accepted.

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Reservation Dogs Season 1 Trailer | Rotten Tomatoes TV

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From Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi, Reservation Dogs is a half-hour comedy that follows the exploits of four Indigenous teenagers in rural Oklahoma. Filmed on location in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, the series is a breakthrough in Indigenous representation on television both in front of and behind the camera. Every writer, director and series regular on the show is Indigenous. This first-of-its-kind creative team tells a story that resonates with them and their lived experiences – and invites audiences into a surprisingly familiar and funny world.

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From Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi, Reservation Dogs is a half-hour comedy that follows the exploits of four Indigenous teenagers in rural Oklahoma. Filmed on location in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, the series is a breakthrough in Indigenous representation on television both in front of and behind the camera. Every writer, director and series regular on the show is Indigenous. This first-of-its-kind creative team tells a story that resonates with them and their lived experiences – and invites audiences into a surprisingly familiar and funny world.

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From Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi, Reservation Dogs is a half-hour comedy that follows the exploits of four Indigenous teenagers in rural Oklahoma. Filmed on location in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, the series is a breakthrough in Indigenous representation on television both in front of and behind the camera. Every writer, director and series regular on the show is Indigenous. This first-of-its-kind creative team tells a story that resonates with them and their lived experiences – and invites audiences into a surprisingly familiar and funny world.

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From Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi, Reservation Dogs is a half-hour comedy that follows the exploits of four Indigenous teenagers in rural Oklahoma. Filmed on location in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, the series is a breakthrough in Indigenous representation on television both in front of and behind the camera. Every writer, director and series regular on the show is Indigenous. This first-of-its-kind creative team tells a story that resonates with them and their lived experiences – and invites audiences into a surprisingly familiar and funny world.

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Sample Coming of Age Post (Using Man Babies)

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Sample Coming of Age Post (Using Man Babies)

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In "Man Babies" we can see the coming of age element self-discovery at work through the alienation Baby feels once he is kicked out of Steve's house and driven--by discomfort and expectation--from his grandfather's house. Truly alone for the first time, without anyone to provide the kind of ease and simplicity of life he'd stagnated under, Baby realizes that he spent much of his life without an understanding of what he wanted in life, and maybe worse, without really wanting anything from life at all. But this realization, and a desire to know what people in school had already learned, turns Baby into a committed student, one who wants more for himself than frog ass and cyber-props from his gaming bros.

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When I was a teenager, I had a somewhat unstable home, and that instability made me temper my expectations for life. What I wanted above all else, was a little peace and quiet where I lived, and enough distraction to forget the things that disrupted that peace and quiet. And once I found that, I thought I'd found a good life. Baby is like that: he thinks that a safe, secure, supportive home is what he needs above all else. But, like me at the time, Baby is only sort of right.

What I learned, and what Baby learns, is that for a young man a good home is a starting point--not an end. Which is why when Baby loses that secure home he is able to get more out of life than that comfy couch, full fridge, and overprotective mother could ever offer him. He is spurred to action not by comfort, but by its terrifying opposite. Same, Baby, same, buddy. When my life got upended is when--so I would come to understand years later--it was kickstarted into a higher gear.

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This show starts off with a friend group of teenagers who swear a lot and like to do rebellious things. This reminds me of my old friend group which was a mix of boys and girls. We also had a group of other kids who opposed us. They all bond with similar struggles and their strong commitment to leave the reservation. When the rez dogs got shot with pain balls it reminded me of when my freindgroup got shot by fireworks because they didn't like us.

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This episode reminds me of a show called Outer Banks. They both have a teen friend group that lives off the same struggles and resilience. They all do illegal things in order to thrive in the area they live in. In both these shows, these kids are getting pushed out from where they live. I reservation dogs, its another gang that is trying to get rid of them, and in Outer Banks they are getting pushed out of their town by the police.

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A situation where it would be okay to do something you knew was wrong:

This one time, my friend was going through serious mental health issues, and I was the only one who knew. One night, I realized that she was about to commit suicide. I had to take my parents' car in the middle of the night to go to her and stop her. I knew leaving the house in the middle of the night was wrong and so was taking the car when I only had my G1, but I needed to do it, and I knew it was okay because my friend was kind danger. I would do anything in my power to keep those that I love safe.

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In this episode, Bear got jumped, and later on, his friends were standing up for him and were about to get into a fight with the people who jumped Bear. This reminds me of how a lot of friendships are. Not even for myself, but for others, when they hear that their friend is about to get into a fight, they would "ride out" which means they'll jump in to help their friend win the fight. This shows how much people value their friendships and care about protecting their friends.

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Bear started to feel guilty for stealing the chips truck in order to make money and leave the reservation. But the owner of the truck lost his job, wife, got diabetes, and continuous problems just because of the truck being stolen by the Rez Dogs. I can relate to this because I've also had many moments where I had self realization about where I went wrong and to start putting myself in others shoes to understand that I'm not the only person that has problems in my life.

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in the first scene, the old white man was saying, "They want the whole thing back?". He was talking about the land that was taken away from indigenous peoples by the Americans. He was trying to interpret that indigenous peoples were greedy for land.

At Elora's uncles house there was an owl with its eyes blurred out. They all were covering their eyes and avoiding the sight of the owl. I think this meant bad luck to them. After some research, I found that Indigenous peoples believe that it means Owls messages from the spirit world about death.

I noticed how Elora's uncle was spitting on the ground. This is an act of disrespect.

Elora's uncle mentioned how indigenous peoples and white people teach lessons differently.

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Elora asked her uncle to help her learn how to fight. This reminds me how I go to my family for help or advice to better myself.

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The lady in the episode had 2 imaginary selves of her representing an angel and devil. Each side of her had a blue earring(angel) and red earrings (devil). Each side was influencing to do either good things or bad things.

Bears dad like cheese stings and ham, this doesn't seem like adult habits.

Jackie is a member of the indian mafia that beat up Bear. But she came up to Elora and was trying to convince her to join the Indian mafia.

By the end of the episode, Elora realizes that Bear's dad isn't coming anymore, and all the money they spent was wasted.

Elora and Jackie are the only ones that are serious about going to California.

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Jackie came up to Elora and tried to convince her to leave the Rez Dogs and join the indian Mafia since the Rez Dogs weren't serious about going to California. This reminds me of my friends changing throughout my life. Friends come and go. And all my friends have different priorities, not the same ones as me, making us fade apart and influencing me to choose friends who have the same interests as me.

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The way Bear was irresponsibly spending his saved-up money on his dad reminded me of my bad spending habits, especially for those that I love. I like to spend my money on other people, more than myself.

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This is the show that reminds me of this show

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I also have a dream to escape. Of course, Toronto isn't as bad as reservations, but sometimes I wish I was free and away from my family and negative people.

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Willie Jack and her dad went past a trespassing sign (colonial power)

Willie's dad said that he has everything he wants in the reservations because this is where their people are.

"We're Indian, we don't own land" Willie's dad said.

Leon said he saw a "tall man" who was a very hairy man with red glowing eyes.

Willie was mourning her dead friend

Willie went to meet her dead friend at their cemetery

Leon says that everyone who has left the reservations has came back because this is their land.

Willie says everyone wants to go to California, but it's hard to leave everyone behind. She's only going because her friends are going (text to self)

Willie puts on red war paint to reconnect with her culture

Willie says that nobody cares about rez dogs; the name of this show is called rez dogs, which means no one in the reservation cares about them. (sociatoal challanges) (text-to-text)

Willie thinks the tall man is Daniel in spirit

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Willie went to go meet Daniel at his grave, This reminds me of how I go to meet my friend who passed away too. I found a connection with the way she was talking to her friend, it was as if he was right there and talking with her.

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Willie said she wants to go to California, but it's hard to leave everyone behind. She only wants to go to California because all her friends are going. This connects to me, and many other teenagers like me, because we all get influenced by our friends' decisions. I love to go anywhere with my friends, if my best friend asked me to go to California with her, I'd go without a thought.

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Standing Rock Lakota wants Cheese to be a police officer, "light horsemen men" specifically, but Cheese wants to be a detective.

A young boy was drawing a woman who looked like a hybrid of a human and a reindeer. This lady was shown at the beginning of the episode, and she had feet just like a reindeer. The man's car that she got into was missing.

That lady was shown again, and she killed 2 men.

copper keeps away bad spirits

Turns out the boy who was drawing deer lady is Standing Rock Lakota and she told him to always be good. That is why he became a police officer.

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Daniels house looks like his parents are arguing, things are crashing. None of his friends seemed surprised about that happening, so I assume its something that happens often.

Bear, Willie Jack, and Cheese all have family dinners except for Elora, which is why she is connected to Daniel. They both want to go to California so bad because they both don't have a family like the others.

Elora put an eagle feather on her rear view mirror. Eagle feathers represent spiritual power, honor, and respect.

Elora sent a message to her freinds saying "incase I die" with an image of where she is to her friends groupchat. This shows trust between her friends (text-to-self)

I've also taken a drivers test (text-to-self)

Elora was the last person to hang out with Daniel. She was also the first person to find him after he committed suicide.

The driver instructor seems like he is the only person going through a hard time in his life in the rez, but he is white. This says that everyone goes through things.

Elora was shown considering Jackie's offer to leave the rez dogs and join Jackie's gang.

All season, Elora wanted to know what happened to her mother.

A white coach was the one to tell Elora what happened to her mother. This tells us that you can learn a lot about who you are from people who are aslo different from you.

Elora now has her driving licence, which means she can now go to california (coming of age)

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In this episode we can see the coming of age element through the sadness and grief Elora felt when he found Daniells dead body. This experience changed her perspective on the reservation and made her want to leave and follow Daniell's California dream. Elora realizes how bad the reservation was for her mental health and didn't wanna end up like Daniell. She stood up, became more responsible and started saving up money to go to California. This realization did not affect the rest of the rez dogs like it did to Elora.

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All Bear's life, he has been expecting to meet his dad and thinks he’ll come back to support his family. Throughout this episode, he was getting prepared to meet his dad and have a father-son experience that he barely got through in his life. Little did he know, Bear's dad wasn’t going to show up, just like it’s been all his life. By the end of the episode, Bear had a realization that made him understand that his father would never come and would always make excuses not to meet him. This was a coming-of-age experience as Bear knew that he had to be the man of the house, and he needed to accept that he’ll never have his father back.

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In this episode, Cheese and Officer Big's drive becomes a coming-of-age moment. As they drive around, Cheese listens to Officer Big's life stories, advice, trauma, and what it means to be a man in the reservation. For Cheese, being a cop isn't just about catching criminals, but he wants to protect and serve, where just being present can mean survival. This was a reference to how things would've been different if someone were there for Danielle. By the end of the ride, Cheese sees the world with more clarity from an elder's/grown-up's perspective.

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The way the community of the rez dogs were getting along and clapping for the rappers made that community feel whole again and didn't make it look so bad

The imaginary spirit that Bear sees had jewelry on his arm that had a similar design to the two-row wampum belt.

Elora stood up to Bear and told him that he was spending his money irresponsibly on his father. This seemed like a coming of age element as Elora has never stopped her friends from pursuing their hopes and dreams, but in this episode, she had to let them know that Bear was the reason why they didn't have enough money to go to California because of him. This shows how Elora has changed throughout the episodes and how she has grown her confidence and realized it was time to step up for her own hopes and dreams.

Another coming-of-age element was when Willie Jack got everyone's attention and started speaking about Daniel's death. She mentioned that she never speaks publicly, but she was talking about her family issues and how she hasn't been okay ever since Daniel's death. She also said she's going to stay in the reservation for her parents as she still has so much to learn from them. This shows the importance of learning from your family. This also influenced Cheese to talk about his feelings

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I noticed that Bear's legs started shaking when he started to get anxious. I can relate to this because my leg also does that when I'm in stressful situations.