From Noble Savage to Tragic Chief: A Brief History of Natives in Pop Culture with Lee Francis
Thursday, November 6, 2025 5:00–6:00 PM
- LocationHiggins Welcome Center, Hope Room
- DescriptionPueblo 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.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.
- Websitehttps://events.uri.edu/event/from-noble-savage-to-tragic-chief-a-brief-history-of-natives-in-pop-culture-with-lee-francis