Two new network TV shows based in Hawaii are set to air this fall, and neither production is making much of an effort to cast Hawaiian actors in the feature roles.

United Native America, a national group, is calling for a boycott of the upcoming NBC television show called Hawaii, as well as a boycott of the soon to air ABC television show called Lost. Each of these new shows are being filmed in Hawaii, and both of them will air this fall. We are calling on advertising sponsors to boycott these programs because not one Native Hawaiian is part of the main cast of either show.

Fox Television Network is also filming a new TV show in Hawaii for their fall line-up called North Shore. Among the shows main cast of 8 actors, one is half Hawaiian, and the remaining cast members have no Hawaiian blood at all! And it's not as though the network made an effort to locate and audition Hawaiian actors for the parts. In fact, most of the main cast members are new to acting, with little to no time on-screen. The same goes for the other two series.

United Native America gives NBC, ABC and Fox each a D for effort. Their actions fall far short of what the network could have done, and should have done to promote Native Hawaiian actors careers. Once again, national television networks have passed up a great opportunity to bring Native Hawaiian and America Indian actors into their industry. Each year the national television networks say they are committed to diversity in their programming, and one would think that out of three new shows being filmed in Hawaii, the networks would include more than one Native Hawaiian actor in their main casts. When we see old westerns, featuring white actors in the American Indian roles, we think it looks absurd, and moreover that it was wrong for Hollywood with all of its influence and power to not only misrepresent Native cultures, but to insult them by casting whites in the Indian roles. Now, even at the dawn of a new age, mainstream media seems to have learned nothing from past mistakes, and continues to by-pass Native peoples like so much fodder.

The new shows look like Hawaii, sounds like Hawaii, but you will have to look in the background of the shots to see Native Hawaiians, if any. While having three TV shows filmed in Hawaii will bring in much needed money for the state, Native Hawaiian actors will have to take a back seat to the typical Hollywood casting of a White Man, White Women, or African American in roles that should be reserved for, or given consideration to, Native Hawaiians.

The last big TV show to film in Hawaii was Magnum PI, Which included a main cast of three White men and one African American man. Magnum PI aired for the better part of a decade, and a Native Hawaiian was never cast in a main role.

By and large, Hollywood has neglected to cast Native American actors in film roles, essentially excluding them from the eyes, hearts and minds of mainstream society. This discrimination, deliberate or not, against Native actors undermines Native cultures and perpetuates the seclusion and exclusion of American Indians and Native Hawaiians from the larger population.

Hollywood repeatedly shows that it only wants Native Americans portrayed in ancillary roles, or as background props to create atmosphere in a western or tropical setting.

For a short time, Hollywood had to stop portraying Native Americans only as bad guys or as they are too-often called Savages. But NBC Hawaii doesn't intend to honor this equitable protocol, and will regularly cast Native Hawaiians in less than favorable light.

Recently the great actor Marlon Brando pasted away. He was a strong supporter of Hollywood bringing Native Americans into the film and television Industries. Marlon Brando's most public appeal for Indian rights came in 1973, when he won the Academy Award for best actor in The Godfather.

Instead of appearing himself at the awards, he sent Sasheen Littlefeather to reject the Oscar and voice his anger over Hollywood's portrayal of Indians in films.

In 1992, Brando called for his name to be removed from the credits for the film Christopher Columbus: The Discovery. Brando, who played Grand Inquisitor Torquemada, said the finished film did not show the explorer's role in the "genocidal obliteration" of Indians.

It is past time for the movie industries and TV networks to stop their stereo profiling and racial exclusion of Native Americans in casting line-ups and start portraying them in everyday life as it is in our society today. The American public is more than willing to see Native Americans in leading roles. It's time for the networks to step up to the plate and clean up their racial attitude toward Native Americans. The Sundance Cable Network notwithstanding, what can the film industry possibly gain by taking such a biased position against Native cultures? Whether deliberate, ignorant or indifferent, the out come of Hollywood's decisions are still the same: misrepresentation, exclusion, degradation for Native peoples.

United Native America has an online petition calling for a national holiday for Native Americans and for the end of racial exclusion toward Native Americans in movies and television leading roles. Please support these issues by signing the petition.

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UNA UPDATE ON BOYCOTT: