SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
Writer and director Sterlin Harjo grew up in rural Oklahoma and rarely saw Native Americans represented in media. But he changed that with his breakout TV series, "Reservation Dogs." The show followed the lives of four Native teenagers figuring out their lives after their friend dies. It ran for three seasons and was nominated for best comedy at the Emmys this year. Harjo joined NPR's Rachel Martin on Wild Card, where well-known guests answer questions about their life drawn from a deck of cards. Here's Rachel.
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RACHEL MARTIN: One, two or three.
STERLIN HARJO: Two.
MARTIN: What's something your parents taught you to love?
HARJO: I would say people, community.
MARTIN: Yeah?
HARJO: They were both - you know, both of them are very, like - if you were to talk to people in my hometown, there's a lot of love for my parents. And I think it's because A, my dad was a martial arts instructor, and so a lot of kids came through and took his classes. And then he worked at the school and worked with a lot of students, Native students in particular. And then my mom was, like, the type of person to, when someone passed away, even if we didn't know them well, she - or, like, weren't related, we would - she would take them food and make sure that they were taken care of. And a lot of times she would take me with her. So yeah, I think they taught me how to love community and be a part of that, be a loving branch of community.
MARTIN: It's one thing to, like, go with your mom when she does that, but when did it click for you, oh, I - now it's on me? Like, now I don't have my mom to do this. It's on me to extend this. It's on me to love people through action.
HARJO: I remember at one point when I was in - a freshman in college, I had a job at a barbecue restaurant. And I would - I was a server, and it was called Bob's Bar-B-Qs (ph) in Norman, Okla. And I was a server. And then to make extra money, I would just dress up in a pig suit and wave at people on the highway. And it was $8 an hour, which was, like, big then. And my friend's dad died, and I remember - I just remember thinking, well, this job and sort of regular society do not - does not support what I need to do. So I need to just leave it. So I quit my job that day, and I went back to my hometown and just changed my whole life and kind of was there for my friend.
MARTIN: Can I ask more about that?
HARJO: Sure.
MARTIN: It was - you were working at the barbecue, and you did the pig shift every once in a while. But presumably you were working towards something or...
HARJO: I mean, I was in school-ish (ph). And I mean, here's the longer version. So we were, like, in love. Her dad died. She was in school out of state. I quit my job to be with her. We ended up moving to Oregon together, and that's when I decided I wanted to be a filmmaker. And we moved back a kid later - had a kid. So there you go (laughter).
MARTIN: That's a good longer version. Wow.
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MARTIN: One, two, three - you pick.
HARJO: Three.
MARTIN: What makes you irrationally defensive?
HARJO: Anyone hurting my family or people that I love.
MARTIN: Yeah.
HARJO: Maybe that's rational.
MARTIN: I think that's rational.
HARJO: OK, here's a funny one. I - with my kids, and not to be - not to throw any race under the bus or anything like that, but it happens to always be an older white woman that does this. I'll be pushing a cart at Whole Foods. And my kids, you know, they're kids. They run around. And let's say it doesn't matter their race, but a social class, probably. The kids are running around, and the lady would be pushing a cart fast. And the kids run out in front of them, and they stop. And the woman huffs and puffs...
MARTIN: Right.
HARJO: ...And, like, rolls her eyes. Here's the thing that I do - and I feel like Larry David when I do this. But a thing that I do, and I've done it for a long time, is I talk really loud to my kid. And I point at the woman, and I say, guys, do you see what you've done? You've ruined her day.
MARTIN: (Laughter).
HARJO: You have ruined this woman's day, and it's - she's never going to recover from it. And I say it where...
MARTIN: That's pretty good.
HARJO: ...They can hear me, and I'm, like...
MARTIN: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
HARJO: ...Pointing at her. And then they shuffle off and whatever, you know? Another thing, I hate when people are in a hurry at the grocery store, same type of human. And they're in a hurry, and they're going way too fast in a grocery store. And so I will make, like, lamb noises at them or...
MARTIN: Like (imitating lamb)?
HARJO: Yeah, yeah (imitating lamb). Like, I'll do that really loud as they go by, or I'll go, like, zip - I'll say zip-a-dee-do (ph) or, like, beep-beep really loud as they go by, just to make them feel uncomfortable for going so fast. There's no point in going that fast in a grocery store. So those are things that I do.
MARTIN: It's funny to me how when I asked the question, you were like, oh, I don't know, like, anyone hurting my family. And then you were like, oh, no, I got some. I got some...
HARJO: Yeah.
MARTIN: ...Irrationally defensive behaviors.
HARJO: Right. For sure.
MARTIN: Yeah.
HARJO: That's it. It always happens at Whole Foods.
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MARTIN: OK - one...
HARJO: One.
MARTIN: Two - one - how often do you think about death?
HARJO: All the time, way too much. I think that it is definitely prevalent in all of my work...
MARTIN: Yeah.
HARJO: ...Because I think that there were people that died in my life when I was young that had a great impact on me that I just couldn't figure out. I couldn't figure out the mystery of that. And, you know, I couldn't figure out where they go. What is this that I signed up for? And I've been exploring that ever since.
MARTIN: What do you mean - the living part? Like, they're here and then they're not here?
HARJO: Yeah.
MARTIN: Yeah.
HARJO: Where do they go?
MARTIN: Yeah, where do they go? What I also appreciated about the show and just what you told me earlier about going around when people would die and your mom would be like, now it's our thing; we go, and we bring food...
HARJO: Right.
MARTIN: ...But also, just, like, going to a lot of funerals. Like, I don't think people go to enough funerals.
HARJO: I don't think they do either. I grew up at them. I think they're important, and it was one of the best times because I think that people are very honest with each other after they - after someone dies. You know, like, people that that would normally not say I love you, say I love you. There's people in my family that maybe I had a falling out with or not talking at the moment. And you just think like, you know, calling them might not work, but at a funeral, we'll talk again, you know? And I've seen that happen a lot with, like, family coming together at funerals and sort of throwing out the past and moving forward.
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MARTIN: Sterlin Harjo is the creator, writer and director of "Reservation Dogs." Sterlin, thank you so much for doing this. I really appreciate it. It was really fun for me.
HARJO: Thank you so much. It was really fun for me. What a game.
DETROW: And you can follow NPR's Wild Card podcast to hear a longer version of that conversation. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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