History Series / ReservationDogs

** After their memorial for Daniel, there's a PowerWalk shot of the Rez Dogs wearing black suits, a reference to ''Film/ReservoirDogs'', the inspiration for the show's title.

''Reservation Dogs'' is an American comedy series created and written by Sterlin Harjo and Creator/TaikaWaititi. It premiered on August 9, 2021, on [[Creator/FXNetworks FX on Hulu]]. Midway through its debut season, it was renewed for a second. Its third season is in production.

''Reservation Dogs'' is an American comedy series created and written by Creator/TaikaWaititi and Sterlin Harjo. It premiered on August 9, 2021, on [[Creator/FXNetworks FX on Hulu]]. Midway through its debut season, it was renewed for a second.

The series follows four Native American teenagers (nicknamed the Reservation Dogs or Rez Dogs) in rural Oklahoma: Bear Smallhill (D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai), Elora Danan Postoak (Creator/DeveryJacobs), Cheese (Lane Factor), and Willie Jack (Paulina Alexis). The four of them get into trouble as they commit crimes in order to get enough money to move to California, but when a rival gang moves into the area, Bear decides that he's had enough and they should fight to protect their land.

Other characters include Officer Big (Creator/ZahnMcClarnon), the police officer investigating the crimes that the Rez Dogs have been committing; Rita (Creator/SarahPodemski), Bear's mother; Mose and Mekko (Lil Mike and Funny Bone), two local rappers who are friends with the gang; the junkyard-owning meth heads Kenny Boy (Creator/KirkFox) and Ansel (Creator/MattyCardarople) who buy the gang's stolen goods; Elora's pothead Uncle Brownie (Creator/GaryFarmer), and Bear's spirit guide William Knifeman (Dallas Goldtooth).

The show is notable for the sheer number of Native Americans working in front of and behind the cameras. Nearly every writer, director, and actor is Native American, while Taika Waititi is himself part indigenous Māori.

* MagicalNativeAmerican: Note that the majority of the cast are Native American, so the trope is played with extensively.

* ForeignCultureFetish:

* FreezeFrameBonus: Bear's house number is 1491, the last year before Christopher Columbus came to the American continents. Creator/The1491s are sketch comedy troupe that members of the cast and writers, including Dallas Goldtooth (Spirit) and Sterlin Harjo (show creator), are part of.

* HorsingAround: William Knifeman calls his horse a "little shit" because it tripped in a gopher hole and fell on him at the Battle of Little Big Horn. It also lies down while he's on its back apparently just to spite him.

[[caption-width-right:350:Willie Jack, Elora, Bear, and Cheese.]]

Other characters include Officer Big (Creator/ZahnMcClarnon), the police officer investigating the crimes that the Rez Dogs have been committing; Rita (Creator/SarahPodemski), Bear's mother; Mose and Mekko (Lil Mike and Funny Bone), two local rappers who are friends with the gang; the junkyard-owning meth heads Kenny Boy (Creator/KirkFox) and Ansel (Matty Cardarople) who buy the gang's stolen goods; and Bear's spirit guide William Knifeman (Dallas Goldtooth).

* HarmfulToHitchhikers[=/=]HostileHitchhiker: Both at once! Elora and Jackie hitch a ride with a chatterbox traveling salesman. When his departure from the main road scares them, Jackie repeatedly kicks him in the face and Elora stabs his arm before they both jump out of the car. Notably, although the driver acts a bit creepy and has a sinister vibe, he doesn't directly harm or threaten the girls before they attack him.

* HeritageDisconnect: "City Indians" such as Jackie, Augusto Firekeeper, and [=MissM8tri@rch=] have trouble fitting in on the reservation. Both of the latter two come off as overcompensating with their activism, and [=MissM8tri@rch=] also seems embarrassed to admit that she comes from the Bay area. Creator/AmberMidthunder, who played her, noted in an interview too that her outfit is a mishmash from different tribes' traditional clothing, subtly indicating that she's not actually too familiar with their traditions.

* InherentlyAttractiveProfession: Bear's deadbeat dad is a rapper. His mother Rita expresses interest in finding "a lawyer dad or a doctor dad". She actually does hook up with a doctor later in the show and is charmed by him, but exits once she realizes his subtle racism.

* InterchangeableAsianCultures: Bear ignorantly assumes that the home Dr. Kang wishes to return to is China. It's actually San Diego, and Dr. Kang is Korean. To illustrate the ignorance of the question, Dr. Kang asks Bear if he is Navajo or Inuit, of which he is neither (as he's Creek).

* MaliciousSlander: The aunties ignore a perfectly nice man who greets them at the IHS conference because Bev insists that Seminoles can impregnate a woman with just a glance. [[spoiler:She snags him that night anyway.]]

* MuggingTheMonster: In a flashback, Big is stuck in the bathroom at a convenience store while it's being robbed by two masked men. They knock out the cashier and threaten the only other customer... who happens to be the Deer Lady. [[spoiler:She responds by murdering both of them]].

* PronounTrouble: Whenever Cheese meets someone for the first time, after giving his name, he also he states his preferred pronouns are "he, him, and his."
* ReallyGetsAround: Bev wears all her snags' ID cards as conquest trophies at the IHS conference. Her whole chest is covered in them, and that's before she even snags this year.

** Leon (Willie Jack's father) makes a joke about hunting "[[Franchise/StarTrek Cardassians]]" in LA, though he's referring to [[Series/KeepingUpWithTheKardashians the Kardashians.]]
** Cheese's improvised prayer mentions [[Franchise/StarWars a galaxy far, far away.]]

* FantasySequence: After consuming strong edibles, the aunties hit the dancefloor. The scene cuts to them in coordinated green-sequined outfits, dancing their childhood choreography to Music/{{Brandy}}'s "Sittin' Up in My Room" as background dancers join in and the crowds cheer them on. They're then revealed to be awkwardly shuffling around a near-empty dancefloor, looking half-dead.

* FiveFingerDiscount: One of the crimes the Rez Dogs were shown committing is stealing steaks from the local market. In the first episode, the proprietor of the market tells Cheese if he's going to steal something, just tell him because he can just write it off.

* FoodPorn:
** Punkin Lusty's music video "Greasy Fry Bread" has several closeup shots of the titular food.
** "Mabel" shows several closeup shots of food being cooked for the guests who come to visit Mabel on her deathbed.

* FreezeFrameBonus: Bear's house address is 1491, the last year before Christopher Columbus came to the American continents. The 1491s is also the name of the pioneering internet sketch comedy troupe that members of the cast and crew, including Dallas Goldtooth (Spirit) and Sterlin Harjo (show creator), were part of.

* SockItToThem: Referred to euphemistically as "soaping," a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown of one of Cheese's roommates is his wake-up on his first morning in the group home. Though the beating occurs off-screen, the weapons are understoof to be soap in socks.

* DivineRaceLift: Discussed. Images of Jesus that appear in the show depict him as white and characters gree them with a [[RunningGag "'Sup, white Jesus?"]] However, William Knifeman claims to have met Jesus and says he's a brown man.

* FreezeFrameBonus: Bear's house address is 1491, the last year before Christopher Columbus came to the American continents.

* WildTeenParty: Bear has one while Rita is out of town at an IHS conference, though the episode focuses more on her antics than his. In the following episode, Rita uses the party as reasoning for why Bear has to help her with setting up for the retreat.

* BlackComedy: Hokti's SPiritAdvisor remarks that she smiled more walking the Trail of Tears, a genocidal trek, than Hokti does presently.

* DisappearedDad: Bear's dad hasn't seen him in two years, is constantly bailing on visits with him and his mom, and he needs a reminder for ''what age Bear is''.

** Cookie, Elora's mother, is seen in flashbacks both to her childhood and to [[the night she died.]] She passed when Elora, now a teenager, was three.

* SleepCute: Bear and Jackie fall asleep on Mabel's couch together. Jackie is disgusted when she wakes up and realizes.

* SpiritAdvisor: William Knifeman acts as Bear's [[spoiler:and as of the first season finale, Brownie's]] spirit guide.

** Dr. Kang, a Korean doctor at IHS, develops this.
** Though [=MissM8tri@rch=] and Augusto Firekeeper are both Native Americans, they are wealthy, college-educated "City Indians" whose understanding of Native American cultures feeds into NobleSavage and InHarmonyWithNature stereotypes.

** Cookie, Elora's mother, is seen in a childhood flashback doing a dance number with her friends. She passed when Elora, now a teenager, was three.

* RedRightHand: The Deer Lady always keeps her hooves, no matter the form she wears.

* ThrowTheDogABone: Big, the tribal cop who nobody ever takes seriously (and often with good reason), get credited on the news with the takedown of [[spoiler:the [[TheKlan Order of the Midstreamers]]]] with a deputized Kenny Boy.

** Gang leader Jackie has a unisex name.

* ADayInTheLimelight:

** "Hunting" follows Willie Jack and her dad Leon.

* ThoseTwoGuys: Mose and Mekko, two Native American dwarfs who provide commentary on the feud between the Reservation Dogs and the NDN Mafia. They are also into rap and are fans of Bear's rapper father.

* TomboyishName: Willie Jack dresses boyishly, has a rough way of movement, and goes hunting with her dad. Fittingly, Auntie B reveals Willie Jack is short for "Wilhelmina Jacqueline".

* WildTeenParty: Bear has one while Rita is out of town at an IHS conference, though the episode focuses more on her antics than his.

* IntoxicationEnsues: Downplayed. The aunties eat edibles at the IHS conference, thinking they're only 10mg. Only after do they learn that Teenie lied: the edibles were actually ''25'' mg. The women end up on the dancefloor swaying like zombies after the weed hits.

* DudeNotFunny: Willie Jack's contrite after making a crack about Jackie's brother and learning [[DrivenToSuicide he killed himself]], trying to apologize. Jackie [[RejectedApology doesn't accept though]], saying to watch her back.

* HeritageDisconnect: "City Indians" such as Jackie, Augusto Firekeeper, and [=MissM8tri@rch=] have trouble fitting in on the reservation. Both of the latter two come off as overcompensating with their activism, and [=MissM8tri@rch=] says seems embarrassed to admit that she comes from the Bay area. Creator/AmberMidthunder, who played her, noted in an interview too that her outfit is a mishmash from different tribes' traditional clothing, subtly indicating that she's not actually too familiar with their traditions.

* GanglandDriveBy: The Rez Dogs are shot with paintball guns by their new rivals, the NDN Gang.

* HumanoidAbomination: The Deer Lady takes the form of a beautiful, slightly hippy Native woman. Guys who meet her are so entranced they don't notice she has cloven hooves instead of feet.

* WaxingLyrical:
** The spirit guide quotes "[[Music/{{Kansas}} Carry On My Wayward Son]]" to Bear when pressed to offer advice. If Bear notices the reference, he doesn't acknowledge it.

* HeritageDisconnect: "City Indians" such as Jackie, Augusto Firekeeper, and [=MissM8tri@rch=] have trouble fitting in on the reservation.

* HomageShot: The shot in "California Dreamin'" where [[spoiler:Elora finds Daniel's dead, hanging body]] is a nod to a EP Creator/TaikaWaititi's ''Film/JojoRabbit''. In both shots [[spoiler:the dead body is only identified by their shoes.]]