How the All-Native Writers Room for Netflix s Spirit Rangers Was Assembled
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Half Mexican and half Chumash, showrunner Karissa Valencia grew up “torn” between modern life and Native culture. That meant attending pop music festivals and using cell phones, while also going to sweat lodges, powwows and ceremonies important to her family’s tribe, who live on a reservation in the Santa Ynez Valley in Santa Barbara.
One of her favorites is the bear ceremony, when the Chumash honor the bear emerging from hibernation in the spring.
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That “love for Native magic, but also superheroes and creating really fun cartoons for kids” is the origin of “Spirit Rangers,” Valencia’s upcoming Netflix animated series about three siblings who each transform into unique animal spirits to conserve the National Park they work and live in.