A rousing tale of Indigenous resistance to corporate greed, James Cameron’s science-fiction franchise has grossed billions. Now it’s Cameron who stands accused of Native exploitation

By Petala Ironcloud

Avatar, which is still the highest-grossing movie of all time, and which has spawned two sequels, with two more in the works, tells the story of a white U.S. Marine who infiltrates a blue-skinned alien race, falls in love, and joins the fight to save them from corporate extraction. Director James Cameron has said the Na’vi were inspired by Indigenous peoples globally, citing the Lakota Sioux as the “driving force.” Now, in a case of life imitating art, Cameron himself is being accused of corporate extraction by an Indigenous woman. On May 5, Q’orianka Kilcher filed a lawsuit against the director, alleging that he used her face at 14, without her knowledge or consent, as the “keystone” for the character Neytiri. READ ON