The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven

Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

“Page to Screen: The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, Smoke Signals, and Reservation Dogs”

In this activity, students will synthesize themes from The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, the 1998 film Smoke Signals, and an episode from the 2021 television series Reservation Dogs.

Smoke Signals, directed by Chris Eyre from a screenplay written by Sherman Alexie, is based on Alexie’s short story collection The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, specifically, the story titled “This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona.” Reservation Dogs is a 2021 television series directed by Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi and is the first series to feature all Indigenous writers and directors and an Indigenous North American cast and production team. You will watch the film and the first episode of the television series and evaluate how thematic concepts can be translated from the page to the screen.

• Analyze how the unit themes appear in Smoke Signals and Reservation Dogs, and compare and contrast the ways these themes are presented in The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven.