New TV show 'Molly of Denali' is praised as America's first-ever children's series with indigenous lead characters

Paulina Cachero
·MAKERS
New TV show 'Molly of Denali' is praised as America's first-ever children's series with indigenous lead characters

For the first time ever, Native children in the U.S. will see themselves reflected as the star heroines and heroes in Molly of Denali, the first-ever children’s series featuring indigenous lead characters.

Ahead of the groundbreaking animated show’s premiere on July 15, people online are already singing praises for the groundbreaking animated series online for increasing the representation of Native culture in mainstream media. Natives and non-Natives alike took to Twitter to celebrate this “huge first” for indigenous communities in both the U.S. and Canada, including Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski.

“This is a huge first! Such an important thing for children to see Native Americans portrayed as real people they can relate to and not just racial caricatures to laugh at,” wrote a Twitter user who identifies himself as a Native American attorney, with the hashtag “Representation Matters.”

Another user praised PBS for bringing Native culture to the public, tweeting, “This is pretty good. Good job by PBS to help bring this to the masses. It is needed and necessary.”

In the midst of the praise for the revolutionary children’s show, however, there was some confusion whether or not Dora the Explorer was the first children’s show featuring indigenous leads.

“First one to feature indigenous characters? Dora the Explorer, Maya and Miguel, Victor and Valentino... to name a few that have idingenous [sic] leads, but ok,” one Twitter user commented.

While others did not mistake Dora, a character of Hispanic descent, of being an indigenous titular character, others were critical of the similarities between the two minority leads.

“Ok but it looks like it's just another Dora the explorer,” one user tweeted. “Kind of a bummer they couldn't think of anything they could trademark as their own instead.”

Another user questioned, “How is this different than Dora?”

However, other users on Twitter quickly shut down the comparison, citing Dora’s Mexican descent as a clear difference between Molly’s indigenous roots.

“I mean, she's brown, and a child, but Dora's Mexican, not indigenous. I don't think they speak Spanish up in the northern parts of Alaska/Canada,” one Twitter user replied.

Another user criticized others online for drawing a comparison between the two animated characters simply because both have “tan skin and short brown hair.”

“Why is everyone saying this is knock off dora. Just bc she’s brown and has short hair means it’s a copy?” one Twitter user criticized.

“And story wise, how could it be the same if it’s centered around a completely different culture? Jesus. This is so cool. Stop shitting on my culture.”

On July 15, children can tune into the adventures of a 10-year-old Athabascan girl, Molly Mabray on PBS Kids. Mabray’s family owns the Denali Trading Post in the fictitious community of Qyah, with the voices of her fellow indigenous characters brought to life by by real Alaska natives.

Read all the best Twitter reactions below:

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