ask and ye shall receive (i also added it to the post, so if you check it out pls lmk whether there's any issues with the editing since i did this without my hearing aids lol)
he actually didn't play indigenous characters that often afaik, but there's two things happening: those are the roles/performances that tended to be highlighted by reviewers early in his career, and several of the british productions he was in have been lost. that means the ratio of what's available doesn't accurately represent the actual ratio he experienced, though there is that early interview where he says he wanted to try his luck in england because he was unhappy about the roles he kept being offered in canada. the one canadian director who gave him a lot of his early roles made it sound like he wasn't the type to argue or complain on set so if he was uncomfortable with the casting he never made it explicit. that said, it seems as though the indigenous roles stop after this episode of the virginian, though i currently have no way of knowing why.
as for louis riel...it depends on who you ask, really. some see him as a dangerous rebel and threat to the canadian confederation, others see him as a hero fighting for the rights of indigenous people. that dynamic probably sounds familiar to you. the french-speaking population was/is more likely to view him as a martyr since the conflict was british vs french in addition to the racial and religious elements. it was a hot mess basically lol. i'd like to think the recent increase in recognition of the ways first nations people were wronged has led to a more nuanced understanding of his role in canadian history, but....
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he actually didn't play indigenous characters that often afaik, but there's two things happening: those are the roles/performances that tended to be highlighted by reviewers early in his career, and several of the british productions he was in have been lost. that means the ratio of what's available doesn't accurately represent the actual ratio he experienced, though there is that early interview where he says he wanted to try his luck in england because he was unhappy about the roles he kept being offered in canada. the one canadian director who gave him a lot of his early roles made it sound like he wasn't the type to argue or complain on set so if he was uncomfortable with the casting he never made it explicit. that said, it seems as though the indigenous roles stop after this episode of the virginian, though i currently have no way of knowing why.
as for louis riel...it depends on who you ask, really. some see him as a dangerous rebel and threat to the canadian confederation, others see him as a hero fighting for the rights of indigenous people. that dynamic probably sounds familiar to you. the french-speaking population was/is more likely to view him as a martyr since the conflict was british vs french in addition to the racial and religious elements. it was a hot mess basically lol. i'd like to think the recent increase in recognition of the ways first nations people were wronged has led to a more nuanced understanding of his role in canadian history, but....