Paramount+ developing Native American drama series Yellow Bird from Reservation Dogs co-creator

Deadline

The streaming service has won the rights to Sierra Crane Murdoch’s Pulitzer Prize-finalist book Yellow Bird: Oil, Murder and a Woman’s Search for Justice in Indian Country, based on a true story. Reservation Dogs co-creator Sterlin Harjo and writer-director Erica Tremblay will co-create the series with House of Cards' Beau Willimon on board as executive producer. Murdoch and the book’s subject, Lissa Yellowbird, will also be executive producers of the show. "Yellow Bird the series is described as a true crime show, a family drama and an immersive look at modern Native American life," according to Deadline. "Newly released from jail, Lissa Yellowbird returned to her reservation in North Dakota in the midst of one of the largest oil booms in modern history. Her attempts to reconcile with her estranged family were complicated when she became obsessed with a young oil worker’s disappearance. An amateur sleuth from the wrong side of the law, Yellow Bird ultimately exposed a sweeping criminal conspiracy of murder and corruption, healing her own family in the process of helping the oil worker’s mother find closure regarding her son’s fate. She has gone on to investigate cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women nationwide, which will be the focus of subsequent seasons."