Netflix's Little House reboot centers on Indigenous stories

Netflix will release a new adaptation of Laura Ingalls Wilder's "Little House on the Prairie" novels on Thursday, July 9, 2026. The eight-episode first season will be available globally at 12 a.m. Pacific Time, with all episodes released at once. The series, which has already been renewed for a second season, represents a significant reimagining of the source material, aiming to address historical criticisms while introducing the frontier story to a new generation.

The show follows the Ingalls family in the 1870s as they journey west with the promise of free land, only to settle on Osage Nation territory and discover the U.S. government is still negotiating a land treaty, making them squatters. A central focus of this adaptation is its intentional portrayal of Indigenous characters. The narrative introduces the Mitchell family, an Osage family depicted as a parallel to the pioneering Ingalls, showing their own love, struggles, and hardships as settlers arrive.

Ojibwe actor Meegwun Fairbrother, who plays Osage farmer William Mitchell, said producers sought an inclusive retelling that avoids the racial stereotypes and colonial narrative for which the original books and prior...