Native American storytellers enjoying a rare spotlight, a moment they hope can be more than that

By MARK KENNEDY
AP Entertainment Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — The financial crisis of 2008 hit Mary Kathryn Nagle differently. As a playwright and a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, she saw parallels to events that negatively impacted Indigenous people centuries ago. Nagle’s 2018 play “Manahatta” has landed in New York City this winter and it’s just the latest in a flowering of Native storytelling. From “Reservation Dogs,” “Dark Winds” and “Rutherford Falls” on TV to “Prey” on the big screen and Larissa FastHorse becoming the first Indigenous female playwright on Broadway, barriers are being broken. Non-Native storytellers are also exploring history, with Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” and documentary-maker Ken Burns’ “The American Buffalo.”