WGA-nominated writer and director of Reservation Dogs, Tazbah Chavez grew up participating in environmental justice protests aimed at protecting Indigenous lands. As the daughter of a climate journalist four hours away from Los Angeles, the creative who directed and co-wrote Tuesday’s episode of Fox’s “Accused” wanted to bring her background as an activist fighting for Told. Native right to small screens.

“‘Naataani’s Story’ is first and foremost symbolic of the frustration and anger many young people face when trying to prevent the contamination of their Indigenous homelands by destructive industries and foolish development. See justice,” Chavez told TheWrap in an interview.

Developed by Howard Gordon and based on the 2010 British format of the same name, the anthology crime series takes viewers through the defendant’s perspective of the acts that led to the final trial. In “Naataanii’s Story,” a group of Navajo friends are arrested for protesting that a local uranium mine has contaminated their community. The guest cast includes Robert I. Mesa, Natalie Bennally, Kiowa Gordon, Forrest Goodluck, Deanna Allison, and Lindsay G. Melissieux.

Chavez spoke to TheWrap about the making and ending of the episode (spoilers follow), what he hopes viewers will take away from the story, and shared an update on ‘Rez Dogs’ Season 3.

TheWrap: How did you get involved in this project and what was it like working with Howard Gordon to bring this story to life on screen?

TCs: I met Howard Gordon through a WGA speed date with a showrunner type thing set up by the Guild’s Native and Indigenous Writers Committee…and he was one of them. So I spent 15 minutes with him.I was in the trailer filming “Rez Dogs.”A year later he came back and now it’s been a year.I asked him if he was interested. I replied, “absolutely.”

Working with Howard was absolutely wonderful. Because he really allowed me to take an idea they had and make it personal and make it real. He really let go of creative control, co-writing with Chip Johannessen, and directing. There was no resistance. There was never anything I couldn’t say, something I couldn’t say, or something I couldn’t express in a certain way. Many creators want to bring diverse stories forward, but not everyone delegates creative control to such communities.

Can you share the inspiration behind this story, your personal experiences, and the realities of protecting Indigenous lands today as seen at Keystone Pipeline and other events?

Chip and Howard wanted me to bring the stories Chip unfolded and address issues of environmental justice. We chose to highlight uranium mining in the Navajo Nation as an example of environmental racism and injustice in the Navajo Nation. Built 700 mines and created jobs in the Nation, resulting in contamination of land, air, water and people, ultimately leading to the largest radioactive spill in U.S. history. At Church Rock in 1979And this polluted the rivers that flowed through the Navajo Nation, and polluted the groundwater the families used for drinking, irrigation, and livestock. It is a current problem because it has not been removed by .As a result, residents continue to face disease, contaminated water and loss of livestock.that is The largest radioactive spill that never ends.

For me, when I joined this, I was Navajo and my mom was Navajo and she is from Fort Defiance [in Apache County in Arizona]This is something I’ve known for a long time, my mother was a former environmental journalist, so I grew up in an activist household. I spent most of my spring break protesting at the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste site. [in Nevada]When they brought this to me I was very excited because I was really passionate about this, but I didn’t want to do the most recognizable one because there are so many more. Not Just Uranium: You Can See Thacker Pass [where] there is a quest called mine lithium for batteries. The Grand Canyon has the Havasu tribe, [where] companies want to resume uranium miningAnd then there’s Oak Flats and Apache, and there’s a Canadian copper mining company. want to enterThere is a lot of environmentally unjust activity going on in the West. I wanted to use a story like Uran on this occasion, but put it in the present so people can understand that this is not the past. This represents what is going on.

This episode also delves into the systemic failure of the judicial process. Could you discuss exploring the notion of justice when there are obstacles to protecting vulnerable communities?

‘Naataani’s Story’ is first and foremost a symbol of the frustration and anger faced by many young people who try to prevent the contamination of their Indigenous homelands by destructive industries and foolish developments, and to protect our people. reflects a passion to see justice. Federal, state, local, global and corporate institutions ignore the needs and rights of native families. Indigenous youth have a community-instilled heritage and responsibility to protect the land that needs to be healthy for our humanity to exist. The U.S. judicial system and the different, tougher laws against indigenous peoples. Indigenous peoples have different legal jurisdictions, so many states respond first to the federal government before states. serious crime law For felonies, sentences for Native Americans are harsher and longer than state law, resulting in higher rates of imprisonment for Native Americans.

The legal system of this country is not suitable for everyone, [but] The country is affiliated with sovereign nations operating under their own legal jurisdictions that are compatible with the cultures and peoples they serve. This episode does a lot and hits a lot of trouble. I hope people walk away with mostly curiosity. I hope people walk away wanting to do their own research.

Derrick’s departure from the reservation is a point of contention with the group, a dynamic also explored in “Rez Dogs.” Was it?

the way [Native people] I think there are times when viewers and even non-natives want to do something different, as if they want to go to college, get a degree, or get an appointment. Many of us think and act, but that doesn’t mean rejecting our people or our culture. is a similar desire. And on the other side of the coin, there are other people at home who are defenders of our culture, who are learning our language and how our ways are so important, so important for survival. I think you need both dynamics, two sides of the coin, and sometimes they run into each other.

Not an uncommon experience. I live in Los Angeles, but it’s about four hours from here, so I’ll be there whenever I can.I split my time between the two and whenever I was [there], I was like, ‘Oh, I know you like it here,’ but then you go back and say, ‘Oh, no, but I don’t want to leave here,’ and it’s always been a struggle and it’s is honestly the underlying tenet of colonization. You are from where you are and you have a desire to be with your peers, but you are expected to operate in the world that has been created around you.

Regarding the ending, how did you finally settle on the recording that puts the FBI agent on trial?

We always wanted this bailiff to be an unexpected hero. [who also plays Willie Jack’s mother in ‘Rez Dogs’] It is a great honor to give us the time to do that. A lot of the time we are put in a position where you have a job or a role where you have to make difficult choices. I think I’ve been standing in that court and watching shady things happen. I think this is her final straw and I don’t think this is right. She knows this is not what happened. . The ending doesn’t happen very often, so I wanted it to be hopeful. As it stands, there will be no good news, no mine closures, and no accountability for collusion. And I really hoped that in this world that we created in the story, there would be an ambitious outcome of the possibility that someone could be held accountable for this, the possibility of justice being served. So, whether it happens in real life or not, I hope you can feel some power in “what this is like”.

When can we expect Season 3 of ‘Reserved Dogs’?

The writer’s room is over, and it’s already back and forth. She will start production on March 20th. He leaves on March 8th to go to Tulsa and start production.

Every season, it was pretty much the same schedule. The last two seasons we came out like he did in late August/early September. That’s my guess. But it’s going to be a fun season.

“Accused” airs Tuesdays at 9pm ET/PT on Fox. Streaming on Hulu.