ARCHIVE EPISODE FROM 4/21/2025

A Decade of Art, Action, and Dialogue - Long Con Live with Sterlin Harjo and Cannupa Hanska Luger

This special program took place on November 2, 2024 and featured a screening of Sterlin Harjo's documentary Love & Fury, a film where Sterlin follows Native artists for a year as they navigated their careers in the US and abroad. Love & Fury explores the immense complexities each artist faces in regards to their own identity as Native artists, as well as pushing Native art further into a post-colonial world. 

Following the film screening, the program included a live Long Con series episode with Sterlin Harjo and artist Cannupa Hanska Luger. This is the first time Long Con was presented in front of a live audience, and the conversation was anchored in themes drawn from the film, Love & Fury, and in the spirit of Long Con, Sterlin and Cannupa also shared vulnerable and hilarious reflections of their life as two friends sharing what it feels like to be contemporary Native American artists actively participating in the record of the 21st century.

This episode continues our series of live recordings from the exhibition program which accompanied Broken Boxes: A Decade of Art, Action, and Dialogue at the Albuquerque Museum.

Sterlin Harjo is an award winning Seminole/Muscogee Creek filmmaker who has directed three feature films and a feature documentary all of which address the contemporary Native American lived experience. Harjo is a founding member of the five-member Native American comedy group, The 1491s. Sterlin’s latest project Reservation Dogs, is a television show created in collaboration with Taika Waititi, now available to watch on Hulu. 

Cannupa Hanska Luger is an award winning multidisciplinary artist who creates monumental and situational installations and durational performance and often initiates community participation and social collaboration. Raised on the Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota, he is an enrolled member of the Three Affiliated Tribes of Fort Berthold and is Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara and Lakota. 

Broken Boxes: A Decade of Art, Action, and Dialogue, curated by Ginger Dunnill and Josie Lopez, features large-scale installation, sculpture, video, and a robust programming line-up celebrating the work and ideas of 23 artists who have contributed to Dunnill's Broken Boxes podcast. The exhibition celebrates ten years of the podcast of the same name and amplifies the collective strength of contemporary artists.

https://www.cabq.gov/artsculture/albuquerque-museum/exhibitions-1/broken-boxes-a-decade-of-art-action-and-dialogue

ARCHIVE EPISODE FROM 11/23/2024

Long Con is a series of conversations between Director Sterlin Harjo and Artist Cannupa Hanska Luger about life, art, film, history and everything in between - informally shared from the lens of two contemporary Native American artists and friends actively participating in the record of the 21st century. This is the seventh episode of this series, recorded live in person in Tulsa, Oklahoma in October 2024.

For this episode of the Long Con, Cannupa visits Tulsa, Oklahoma for 48 hours for an artist talk and the two artists take advantage of the opportunity to have a recording session for the Long Con series. They begin the convo on a car drive out to Sterlin’s property. In the true nature of this series we dip into UFO’s, Deadman’s thumbprints, Tarantula’s and coffee shop etiquette, among other random stories.
They discuss the nuance of the city of Tulsa, the current state of Native Art, the economics and precarious nature of popularity and how that may impact a larger community when culture is trending in a market. They touch on land acknowledgements, question and answer: who decides what Native Art is and how that demographic has shifted through the generations. There’s mention of Oscar Howe and his infamous letter to the Philbrook Museum, the legendary artist Bob Houzous and others who have bent an arc between generations of artists pushing boundaries for decades. We arrive at Sterlin’s house and the second segment of the conversation features tales from the real ‘Uncle Brownie’, Sterlin’s dad. Brownie shares stories about his upbringing in Sasakwa, Oklahoma, his experiences as a self taught karate instructor and about the character ‘Uncle Brownie, from Reservation Dogs. Rounding out this long con(versation), Brownie imparts some advice to us in the younger generations to remember to be accountable— that there is an obligation to past and future generations to set a good example. As the artists head back into the city, we get a wave from Sterlin’s mom.

About the artists:

Sterlin Harjo is an award winning Seminole/Muscogee Creek filmmaker who has directed three feature films and a feature documentary all of which address the contemporary Native American lived experience. Sterlin is a founding member of the five-member Native American comedy group, The 1491s. Sterlin’s latest project Reservation Dogs, is a television show created in collaboration with Taika Waititi, now available to watch on Hulu.

Cannupa Hanska Luger is a multidisciplinary artist who creates monumental and situational installations and durational performance and often initiates community participation and social collaboration. Raised on the Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota, he is an enrolled member of the Three Affiliated Tribes of Fort Berthold and is Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara and Lakota.

ARCHIVE EPISODE FROM 11/9/2023

Long Con is a series of conversations between Director Sterlin Harjo and Artist Cannupa Hanska Luger about life, art, film, history and everything in between - informally shared from the lens of two contemporary Native American artists and friends actively participating in the record of the 21st century.

This is the sixth episode of the Long Con series and was recorded live in person on Cannupa Hanska Luger and Ginger Dunnill’s back porch in Glorieta, NM in the Fall of 2023.

Sterlin Harjo is an award winning Seminole/Muscogee Creek filmmaker who has directed three feature films and a feature documentary all of which address the contemporary Native American lived experience. Harjo is a founding member of the five-member Native American comedy group, The 1491s. Sterlin’s latest project Reservation Dogs, is a television show created in collaboration with Taika Waititi, now available to watch on Hulu.

Cannupa Hanska Luger is a multidisciplinary artist who creates monumental and situational installations and durational performance and often initiates community participation and social collaboration. Raised on the Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota, he is an enrolled member of the Three Affiliated Tribes of Fort Berthold and is of Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara and Lakota descent.

ARCHIVE EPISODE FROM 7/31/2023

Long Con is a series of conversations between Director Sterlin Harjo and Artist Cannupa Hanska Luger about life, art, film, history and everything in between - informally shared from the lens of two contemporary Native American artists and friends actively participating in the record of the 21st century.

This episode is the fifth conversation between Harjo and Luger on Broken Boxes, and the artists dive right in, chatting about conspiracy theories, aliens, AI, Indigenous ceramic practices, the current state of the film industry and the writers strike, how creating sanctuary for producing big ideas is important and how everyone's creative process is different, so it’s about finding what your groove is. They also speak about fatherhood, the importance of storytelling, and of course the final season of Reservation Dogs - Season 3. Sterlin shares why he decided to complete the series after three seasons and reflects on his adventures of being a showrunner for a production that has changed the face of television for Indigenous people, and how making this work has, in turn, changed him. I am excited to see what comes next for our dear friend Sterlin. Broken Boxes will continue to produce these long conversations between the two artists and also we are so excited for Sterlin’s podcast The Cuts to activate again, please go listen to his podcast archive If you have not yet!

Sterlin Harjo is an award winning Seminole/Muscogee Creek filmmaker who has directed three feature films and a feature documentary all of which address the contemporary Native American lived experience. Harjo is a founding member of the five-member Native American comedy group, The 1491s. Sterlin’s latest project Reservation Dogs, is a television show created in collaboration with Taika Waititi, now available to watch on Hulu. 

Cannupa Hanska Luger is a multidisciplinary artist who creates monumental and situational installations and durational performance and often initiates community participation and social collaboration. Raised on the Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota, he is an enrolled member of the Three Affiliated Tribes of Fort Berthold and is of Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara and Lakota descent. 

ARCHIVE EPISODE FROM 1/17/2023

Long Con is a series of conversations between Director Sterlin Harjo and Artist Cannupa Hanska Luger about life, art, film, history and everything in between - informally shared from the lens of two contemporary Native American artists and friends actively participating in the record of the 21st century.

In this almost 3 hour long episode and the fourth conversation between Harjo and Luger on Broken Boxes, the artists speak on hunting, vulnerability, taxes, land, fatherhood, facing becoming celebrity, growing up poor, fathers and their love language, the familiarity with relatives in prison, Reservation Dogs Season 2, Sterlin’s uncle Marty’s laugh, taking the time to call your friends and check in, Film Noir, Cannupa’s hats, fashion, ghosts, the art world, normalizing therapy to control inner chaos, writing versus directing, confronting the darkness in life, alcohol consumption, the Gotham Awards, and artmaking and what part of the process brings the most joy and what is the hardest point in the creative journey.

Sterlin Harjo is an award winning Seminole/Muscogee Creek filmmaker who has directed three feature films and a feature documentary all of which address the contemporary Native American lived experience. Harjo is a founding member of the five-member Native American comedy group, The 1491s. Sterlin’s latest project Reservation Dogs, is a television show created in collaboration with Taika Waititi, now available to watch on FX. 

Cannupa Hanska Luger is a multidisciplinary artist who creates monumental and situational installations and durational performance and often initiates community participation and social collaboration. Raised on the Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota, he is an enrolled member of the Three Affiliated Tribes of Fort Berthold and is of Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara and Lakota descent. 

ARCHIVE EPISODE FROM 9/13/2022

Cracked Open: Sterlin Harjo & Cannupa Hanska Luger

In this conversation Sterlin Harjo and Cannupa Hanska Luger reflect on the process and outcome of Sterlin’s journey in creating the hit television series Reservation Dogs, now in its second season. They also talk about creating through a pandemic, lifting up independent filmmakers, swinging for the fences, the actors from Reservation Dogs and their character breakdowns, the latest custom hat by Cannupa, Indigenous film crews, with a little cameo by Sterlin’s son Ayo and so much more.

Sterlin Harjo is an award winning Seminole/Muscogee Creek filmmaker who has directed three feature films and a feature documentary all of which address the contemporary Native American lived experience. Harjo is a founding member of the five-member Native American comedy group, The 1491s. Sterlin’s latest project Reservation Dogs, now streaming on Hulu. 

This is the third conversation between Sterlin & Cannupa for the podcast - check our archive to listen to the first two conversations.

Also check out Sterlin’s podcast ‘The Cuts’ where Sterin chats with the creative team from Reservation Dogs and many other creative peers, including Taika Waititi.

ARCHIVE EPISODE FROM 8/1/2021

It’s How We Do In Our Communities: Sterlin Harjo & Cannupa Hanska Luger talk Reservation Dogs, Life & Indigenous Art 

Sterlin Harjo is an award winning Seminole/Muscogee Creek filmmaker who has directed three feature films and a feature documentary all of which address the contemporary Native American lived experience. Harjo is a founding member of the five-member Native American comedy group, The 1491s. Sterlin’s latest project Reservation Dogs, is a television show created in collaboration with Taika Waititi.

Cannupa Hanska Luger is a multidisciplinary artist who creates monumental and situational installations and durational performance and often initiates community participation and social collaboration. Raised on the Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota, he is an enrolled member of the Three Affiliated Tribes of Fort Berthold and is of Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara, Lakota and European descent. 

In this conversation the artists reflect on the process and outcome from Sterlin’s journey on creating Reservation Dogs. They also talk about Native humor, colonization, fruit flies, equity for women in the film industry, their mullets, anxiety in dealing with the press, boundaries, honesty, Indigenous community responsibility, Billy Jack hats, Indigenous film crews, fatherhood and so much more. 

Also check out Sterlin’s podcast ‘The Cuts’ where this conversation and others with the creative team from Reservation Dogs and Sterlin will be airing and ‘The Cuts’ archive is thick, including an interview with his collaborator Taika Waititi. 

Watch Reservation Dogs: https://www.fxnetworks.com/shows/reservation-dogs

Follow the artists work: 

www.cannupahanska.com 

ARCHIVE EPISODE FROM 7/1/2021

Long Con is a series of conversations between Director Sterlin Harjo and Artist Cannupa Hanska Luger about life, art, film, history and everything in between - informally shared from the lens of two contemporary Native American artists and friends actively participating in the record of the 21st century.

The conversation takes us into the beginning of Harjo’s relationship to Native art rom childhood, through experiences within the Native art market with his peers and into Harjo’s experience in meeting up with Luger in Plymouth, UK to film. We also hear about Harjo’s poetic and visionary approach to the choices he made for Love & Fury’s aesthetic and storyline and Harjo talks about his upcoming exciting TV series with Taika Waititi, Reservation Dogs. Sterlin is an incredible storyteller and we are grateful to share his perspective with you here.

We hope you enjoy listening in to this conversation as much as we enjoyed having it. More info: https://www.sttlmnt.org/projects/love-and-fury

About the film Love & Fury:

Filmmaker Sterlin Harjo follows Native artists as they navigate their careers in the US and abroad. The film explores the immense complexities each artist faces of their own identity as Native artists, as well as, advancing Native art into a post-colonial world.

DIRECTORS NOTE: “The film is a conversation that I’ve wanted to have for a long time. Native art has been shackled to history by a false vision of what Native people are through the settler gaze of our current reality. I wanted to make something bold and in your face, directly putting up a finger to the shackles of the art world and historic representation of our people. We are diverse, we are dark, we are beautiful and so is our artwork. We are human beings.” - Sterlin Harjo

LOVE & FURY
DIRECTOR  - Sterlin Harjo 
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - Robin Ballenger  
RUNTIME - 93 minutes