In the history of television, there have only ever been a handful of TV shows made by and about Native Americans, and almost all of them (see also: “Reservation Dogs,” “Dark Winds”) are airing right now. “Rutherford Falls” is an underrated streaming treasure for a lot of reasons, but in particular, it’s a rare gift to see a series focus on telling authentic stories about Indigenous characters that aren’t steeped in the painful, overused tropes that have been the norm in Hollywood for decades.

Series co-creator and Navajo filmmaker Sierra Teller Ornelas explained how vital an Indigenous sitcom is to Today, saying:

“In our lives as Native storytellers, often complex things will happen to us and they’ll be coupled with comedy. It’s in our saddest moments that my uncle would crack a joke or my mom would say something super sarcastic. Those two elements feel coupled in my life. Once Native people are in on the joke, it’s a really wonderful experience for any viewer coming into the show.

And “Rutherford Falls” is very funny: whether Gen Z cool kid Bobbie is referencing the show “Scandal” as if it’s ancient history or Reagan’s friends are luring Nathan out of hiding with unseasoned chicken, the series is chock-full of clever and silly punchlines. It’s sharp, but never mean: there’s a great bit about the book “White Fragility” that I’ll think about every time I see a racial inequality reading list for the rest of my life. The show also addresses specific issues facing Native communities with a witty, thoughtful sense of humor. It tackles everything from the “Pretendian” phenomenon to the maze of bureaucracy involved in securing land assignments to the surreal on-set consultant industry, where Reagan and Terry witness the making of a ridiculously inaccurate series-in-a-series called “Adirondack.”