A member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of South Dakota auditioned to play the role of Pocahontas in a new film.
Kyla Bearheels, 17, currently lives in New Zealand. Her mother, Jo Hawk-Sanders, heard about the casting call and sent a resume and pictures to the directing crew.
Bearheels was invited for an audition for the role, which originally called for a young woman with a British accent. Hawk-Sanders said the casting request got her upset.
"It was bad enough that Disney chose an Oriental Asian girl to be the model for the Disney animated film 'Pocahontas,' but now this," the mother told the Associated Press.
"The New World" starring Colin Farrell as John Smith and other Native actors is set to film in Virginia in mid-July.
Get the Story:
Lakota teen sets sights on stardom
(AP 6/18)
Related Stories:
Native actors joining cast of Pocahontas
romance (05/20)
Lakota teen hopes to portray Pocahontas in new film
Friday, June 18, 2004
Trending in News
1 Tribes rush to respond to new coronavirus emergency created by Trump administration
2 'At this rate the entire tribe will be extinct': Zuni Pueblo sees COVID-19 cases double as first death is confirmed
3 Arne Vainio: 'A great sickness has been visited upon us as human beings'
4 Arne Vainio: Zoongide'iwin is the Ojibwe word for courage
5 Cayuga Nation's division leads to a 'human rights catastrophe'
2 'At this rate the entire tribe will be extinct': Zuni Pueblo sees COVID-19 cases double as first death is confirmed
3 Arne Vainio: 'A great sickness has been visited upon us as human beings'
4 Arne Vainio: Zoongide'iwin is the Ojibwe word for courage
5 Cayuga Nation's division leads to a 'human rights catastrophe'