Devery Jacobs Corrected Sheryl Lee Ralph For Using The Term "Indian," And It Was An Important Conversation

This week, The Hollywood Reporter published its annual Comedy Actress Roundtable, where acclaimed actors Jenna Ortega, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Elle Fanning, Ayo Edebiri, Natasha Lyonne, and Devery Jacobs discussed acting, fame, identity, and more.

During one discussion about typecasting and the pressures women face about their appearance, Reservation Dogs star Devery Jacobs said, "For me — and by no means am I a bigger person, I'm very tiny, I'm very much built like a Mohawk person — there was so much pressure in the industry to look a certain way. There was always this thought of, 'Oh, I need to be thin or be fit to be able to be in a Marvel movie."

"Then, when I was cast in one — not a movie, a show — I was like, 'OK, now I have all this pressure where I have to be fit.' Then I was like, 'Hang on, I've already been cast exactly as I am.' I could've benefited greatly from seeing someone like myself on screen," she added.

Abbott Elementary star Sheryl Lee Ralph then responded. "It's interesting when you talk about yourself as a Native American. Through what we've seen in the old Westerns, it's always like, 'You're supposed to look like Pocahontas.' Because that's their only frame of reference for a Native American."

"In so many ways, the history and the way it's not being taught — we don't know that it's the whole North American continent of Native North Americans. It's from the whole [expanse] of the country. When I saw you all at Oklahoma, I was like, 'Indians, in Oklahoma? DUH, yeah, of course. Indians in Massachusetts! Indian in Vancouver! It's the whole continent. But we always think Pocahontas."

Devery then said, "I wanna respectfully just say that for us, we call ourselves 'Indians.' But for other people, I would say, 'Indigenous' or 'Native American.'"

Sheryl then nodded and responded, "Indigenous people. Listen, I respect that because one of the things that doesn't happen is the greater communication for people to understand and know," she said. Sheryl added that she relates because of all the labels used to describe Black folks. "If you don't have the conversation with people, they don't know."

Devery also added that it's best to be as specific as possible. "There's literally over 500 different tribes and nations across North America."

"Still?" Sheryl asked. "Still?"

"Oh yeah, of course. There's a really beautiful book, Project 562 by Matika Wilbur, where she went to every federally recognized tribe. We're still alive and around — and the most specific you can get," before adding that she's Mohawk.

And if you don't know, Devery said, you call them "Indigenous." "Some people like 'First Nations.' 'Indian' is more like a joke that we kinda reclaimed for ourselves."

You can watch the full segment here.

Devery and Sheryl's exchange begins around 43 minutes in.