Indians are funny. Forget stoic. Forget the stern image of the Native peering into the horizon or the pathos d’jour shown ad nauseum in documentaries.

Indians are funny. Which is why Cree producer Ernest Webb, co-founder of Montreal-based Rezolution Pictures, developed the idea of Moose TV  with his wife, Catherine Bainbridge, more than six years ago. Funny Indians. Funny contemporary Indians who are neither angry, tortured nor neurotic. Wait, scratch the last one. They’re neurotic, but amiably so.

Airing this summer on Canada’s Showcase Television, Moose TV  is revolutionary. The first Native comedy ever  on North American television starring a virtual Who’s Who of Aboriginal actors—Adam Beach, Nathaniel Arcand, Jennifer Podemski, Billy Merasty, Michelle Latimer and Gary Farmer.

Why it’s taken so long, however, makes total sense to Webb.

“Natives needed to get the other stories heard first. Get it out of their bones,” he says. “This is a natural progression in entertainment. We had to talk about the serious issues. We had to talk about the residential schools and all that first before we could do comedy.”

So this quirky little comedy set in a Canadian reserve is making history, making people laugh through the universal language of humor.

“We’ve taken an established genre and put a Native twist on it. But as far as comedy is concerned, funny is funny, no matter which culture you’re in. That’s why, as producers, we purposely stayed away from all the serious issues. We might allude to them here and there, but we wanted to keep it humorous.”

Coming from a guy who’s make a career of producing edgy cultural documentaries, this may seem to be a departure. Then again, not so much, as Rezolution is continuing to push the envelope by developing a Native-themed soap opera; again redefining what the world perceives when they think of North American Aboriginal people.

The response to our fave Native actors yukking it up in the North Country has been generally positive. But the impact goes beyond seeing Nathaniel and Adam in a buddy comedy.

“No matter the situation, no matter how grim things seem to be, Native people seem to be able to laugh,”  Webb explains.   “I’ve noticed that even in the most solemn of occasions, there’s going to be a chuckle somewhere. That’s where our strength comes from.”

Stoic? Nah, forget that. Moose TV,  the first ever Aboriginal sitcom, shows the rest of the world Indians can be funny. Funny contemporary Indians who are neither angry nor tortured but sure, a wee bit neurotic.

If that ain’t revolutionary, I don’t know what is.

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For more Moose TV  goodies including cast videos and photos, visit the official website: www.moosetv.ca 

Canadian viewers can watch episodes of Moose TV  online following the broadcast on Thursday evenings. For the rest of us chumps outside of the Great White North, however, we’ll just have to wait…