Although director M. Night Shyamalan cast many Indian and Asian actors in the movie, the filmmaker cast Caucasians to portray the Southern Water Tribe. Shyamalan did this even though the Water Tribe was obviously inspired by Indigenous and Alaskan Native Cultures.
The traditions of the Water Tribe were inspired by various Indigenous and Inuit cultures. While this nation is important to characters like Katara, Sokka, and Korra, its history is only briefly touched on in the actual show itself.
The world of Avatar: The Last Airbender features four countries. The Water Tribes are tribes at the north and south poles who are loosely based on the Inuit people. The Earth Kingdom is a large and diverse nation reminiscent of ancient China that is highly decentralized.
Though Cameron has drawn inspiration from Native American groups for the Avatar franchise, most of the actors in the films are non-indigenous. Courtesy: Disney Co. According to Chase Iron Eyes, an activist and attorney for the Lakota People's Law Project, Indigenous people just want a seat at the table.
And although Avatar was an American production, its creators forged a distinctly Asian world, with influences from monastic Tibet, Thai kingdoms, and Japanese villages, as well as Arctic indigenous communities. This unique approach was not lost on the TV writer Albert Kim when he watched the series with his daughter.
The film has also come under criticism for bringing "together disparate elements of Indigenous cultures." Cameron openly borrows from the Indigenous North American and Maori traditions in The Way of Water and he has also taken inspiration from the Xingu people of the Amazon.
It is common for people of the Northern Water Tribe to pray to the Moon and the Ocean. Totemism is part of the tradition of the Water Tribe, and diverse totemic spirits, full of symbolism, are represented profusely in palaces and the city.
The starring roles of the show (Aang, Katara, and Sokka) were coded as being of East Asian (Aang) and Inuit (Katara, and Sokka) descent, but were played by actors of European descent in the film.
Water symbolizes the origin of life, the assurance of fertility, and the promise of sustenance, but water can also be a quixotic agent of hardship and death.
Appearance. Common Northern Water Tribe citizens are usually donned in blue. Phenotypically homogeneous, members of each tribe typically have blue or gray eyes, light or deep brown hair, sometimes black, and a light brown skin tone.
Following the Hundred Year War, Hakoda was appointed Head Chieftain of the entire Southern Water Tribe, although his power remained much more limited than that of the northern Chief. By 171 AG, Unalaq had become chief of the Water Tribes after having his elder brother, Tonraq, banished for destroying a sacred forest.
Although director M. Night Shyamalan cast many Indian and Asian actors in the movie, the filmmaker cast Caucasians to portray the Southern Water Tribe. Shyamalan did this even though the Water Tribe was obviously inspired by Indigenous and Alaskan Native Cultures.
Each of these four nations were inspired by cultures from the real world: the Water Tribe by Indigenous Arctic cultures like the Inuits and Yupiks; the Earth Kingdom by monarchical China; the Fire Nation by Imperial Japan; and the Air Nomads by Tibetan Buddhist monks.
Aang: Asian - East Asian or South Asian. Katara: Native American - Indigenous North American. Sokka: Native American - Indigenous North American. Zuko: Asian - East Asian or South Asian.
Korra is the current incarnation of the Avatar and the immediate successor of Avatar Aang. She was born and raised in the Southern Water Tribe and later relocated to Republic City to master airbending under the guidance of Tenzin.
Yue was a princess of the Northern Water Tribe, daughter of Chief Arnook, as well as one of the latter's advisors. After the death of Tui during the Siege of the North, she sacrificed her life to replace it and shared its position as the Moon Spirit.
In the construction of the Na'vi species, there are undeniable influences from Black and Indigenous cultures. Both films show Na'vi characters depicted wearing dreadlocks and braids, hairstyles with historical connections to Black and African cultures.
Avatar very pointedly made reference to the colonial period in the Americas, with all its conflict and bloodshed between the military aggressors from Europe and the indigenous peoples. Europe equals Earth. The native Americans are the Na'vi. It's not meant to be subtle."
Who is the Native American representation in Avatar?
It is unfortunate that “The Way of Water” uses a Native American storyline with little Indigenous representation in the cast or on the writing team. To the film's credit, Maori actors were cast to portray the Metkayina people, including Cliff Curtis as Tonowari, the leader of the clan.
