KINGSTON, R.I. – Oct. 27, 2025 – Indigenous and Native people have played significant roles in global popular culture for more than four centuries.
In that time, images and representations of Native American and North American Indigenous Peoples have permeated the collective consciousness around the world, from early portrayals of the “Noble Savage” through the villainous “Red Devil.” But what does it look like when that identity is reclaimed?
Pueblo of Laguna tribal member Lee Francis IV, Founder and Chief Imagination Officer of the Indigenous Imagination Workshop—who is also known as Dr. IndigiNerd—will reflect on the past, present and future of Indigenous people represented in popular media during the University of Rhode Island’s Humanities and Popular Culture/Counterculture lecture series. Francis’ talk, titled “From Noble Savage to Tragic Chief: A Brief History of Natives in Pop Culture,” will be held Thursday, Nov. 6, at 5 p.m. in the Hope Room of the Robert J. Higgins ’67 Welcome Center, 45 Upper College Road on the Kingston Campus.
The yearlong lecture series, hosted by the URI Center for the Humanities, is focusing on music and social justice, art and Black Southern life, and Indigenous peoples’ space in pop culture. The series is co-sponsored by the URI College of Arts and Sciences, Division of Research and Economic Development, Department of Gender and Women’s Studies, a grant from the Mellon Foundation and Department of Philosophy.
Francis’ presentation will also be livestreamed through the lecture series’ website.
An educator and entrepreneur living in North Carolina, Francis has founded various Native and Indigenous pop culture-related organizations, such as the Indigenous Comic Con, Indigenous Worlds of Wonder, the Indigenous Futurisms Festival, Native Realities, and Red Planet Books and Comics. Francis is also an award-winning writer and editor, and has published multiple works from poetry to short stories to comics.
Francis served as the host and lead writer for “IndigiGenius” on New Mexico PBS and co-produced “Sovereign Innovations” on PBS Digital. He is also the creator of “Sovereignty Gardens,” a Native American kids puppetry show that teaches youth about gardening and food sovereignty. He still strongly advocates for Native American youth, especially in helping them within areas of creative entrepreneurship.
Francis’ lecture will conclude the series’ fall schedule. The first spring event on Thursday, Feb. 26, will focus on gender, media and politics in global basketball and will feature Courtney M. Cox, Associate Professor in the University of Oregon’s Department of Indigenous, Race, and Ethnic Studies. A time and location for Cox’s lecture will be announced.
The full speaker roster can be found on the lecture series’ website. The series will conclude on Thursday, April 23, with a talk on Shakespeare.
The annual signature yearlong lecture series, hosted by the University’s Center for the Humanities, is free and open to the public. A digital archive of last year’s lecture series can be found on the humanities center’s website. For more information on the series, email uri.humanities@gmail.com.