'Reservation Dogs' has brought the fictional town of Okern, Oklahoma, to life. Here's how

Whether the characters are riding a bus home from California, taking a fishing trip that turns into a Bigfoot hunt or snacking on fried catfish with the spirit of a long-lost friend, the tight-knit, rural community of Okern, Oklahoma, is the center of the universe in "Reservation Dogs."

Okern is a fictional Oklahoma reservation town, but it feels real on the acclaimed series — even when its towering trees, rolling hills and green riverbanks are viewed through a shimmering LSD haze.

Actually filming the streaming show in Oklahoma has been key to achieving that sense of reality, even when the teenage Rez Dogs are hatching an outlandish plot to break one of the town's wayward elders out of a mental hospital.

"Sterlin (Harjo, the show's co-creator and showrunner) had to fight to get the show shot here — and what an important battle to win. I just think it's been so great for Tulsa and Oklahoma," said Crystal Echo Hawk, founder and executive director of IllumiNative, a Tulsa-based Native woman-led racial and social justice organization.

"Reservation Dogs" is not only the first mainstream television show on which every writer, director and series regular performer is Indigenous, but it's also the first full-time, scripted network TV series to film entirely in Oklahoma.

As the third and final season of "Reservation Dogs" draws to a close — new episodes are debuting every Wednesday, with the season finale scheduled to premiere Sept. 27 on Hulu — fans are getting to spend more time exploring the fictitious but true-to-life community of Okern, including the multigenerational connections among the larger-than-life characters.

Where is 'Reservation Dogs' showrunner Sterlin Harjo from?

A coming-of-age comedy about a group small-town Indigenous teenagers growing up in Okern, "Reservation Dogs" — co-created and executive produced by Harjo, a native Oklahoman and longtime indie filmmaker who is Seminole and Muscogee, and Taika Waititi, an Oscar-winning New Zealand moviemaker who is of Maori ancestry — has been blazing trails since it debuted on Hulu in 2021.

"Reservation Dogs" made the best TV shows of 2022 lists from USA Today, The New York Times, Rolling Stone and more, recently earned its first Primetime Emmy Award nomation and previously won a Peabody Award, a Gotham Award and two Independent Spirit Awards.

"Taika and I, we always tell stories from our homes, and one of the things that we noticed is all of the stories that we told from home were funny. They were never sad. Non-Natives make really depressing movies about Native people, and we wanted to make a comedy," Harjo told The Oklahoman in 2021.

"And yes, there are serious situations and sadness and things like that, but we still handle it through comedy, because I think that's reflective of what Native people do. ... I love the comedy that butts right up against tragedy."

"Reservation Dogs" has made viewers laugh, cry and gasp as they've followed the misadventures of tight-knit teens Elora Danan Postoak (Devery Jacobs), Bear Smallhill (D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai), Willie Jack Sampson (Paulina Alexis) and Cheese Williams (Oklahoman Lane Factor) and their colorful, primarily Native American community in Okern.

A Holdenville native based in Tulsa, Harjo said the only reason "Reservation Dogs" is made in his home state is because "I am stubborn and wanted it to be made in Oklahoma."

"There was talk about going to New Mexico, but to FX's credit, I told them, 'I think that the land on which we film the story is most important.' I took photos of rural Oklahoma. I sort of told them how the people that we're portraying got here — through the Trail of Tears, through history — and how important it is to honor that. And also that it just had an interesting vibe. They saw the photos, and they read my email; they all loved it. And they said, 'Yeah, we'll shoot in Oklahoma,'" Harjo told The Oklahoman.

"I think it takes artists from here to plant their feet and say, 'I'm not gonna leave; I'm making it here because the place is important.' I think it's slowly changing things, and I think that the show's going to help us have a sustainable industry here in this state."

Where has 'Reservation Dogs' filmed in Oklahoma?

"Reservation Dogs" has primarily filmed in around around Okmulgee, which means the northeastern Oklahoma city is the primary inspiration for the fictional town of Okern.

In a 2021 interview with Conde Nast Traveler, "Reservation Dogs" production designer Brandon Tonner-Connolly said Okmulgee also is "kind of a stand-in for Sterlin's hometown, which is about two hours away from Tulsa and just too far, logistically, to work."

The Muscogee Nation is headquartered in Okmulgee, so the town has a large Indigenous community and strong Native culture.

"A wide range of Natives can relate to the subject matter and the things that are being explored in the series. But I think for us more specifically, as Muscogees, it's just a pride in our home," Muscogee Nation press secretary Jason Salsman, who worked with the scouting and locations crew on "Reservation Dogs," told The Oklahoman.

"We're watching a television show that is a global phenomenon that people are watching around the world, and it's showing the places that only we know, our inherent community spots."

Filming on "Reservation Dogs" also has taken place in Tulsa, Beggs, Inola and Terlton.

Meadow Lake Ranch in Sand Springs, a bed and breakfast, dude ranch and wedding and event venue that in 2019 became the main filming location for the Oscar-winning movie "Minari," was an early shooting spot for "Reservation Dogs."

And Rogers State University in Claremore was a Season 3 filming location, with principal photography taking place in May at Loshbaugh Hall, the Health Sciences Building and Markham Hall.

What Oklahoma actors have helped bring Okern to life on 'Reservation Dogs?'

Even as the series winds to a close, Harjo has worked with his "Reservation Dogs" crew to make Okern look like a real Oklahoma place, from the vintage 1970s-era Sonic sign in the Season 3 flashback episode "House Made of Bongs" to the muddy red river flowing under a rusty metal bridge during an emotional scene in the recent installment "Wahoo!"

But creating that sense of Oklahoma authenticity goes beyond just cannily chosen filming locations: When the Rez Dogs arrived back in Okern at the beginning of Season 3 following their California quest, they were greeted by fan-favorite recurring characters Mose and Mekko, played by Oklahoma City-based Pawnee and Choctaw rappers Lil Mike and Funny Bone.

Oklahoma native and Oscar honoree Wes Studi, who is Cherokee, co-stars as another popular recurring character — the eccentric local artist Bucky — and the show's final season has delved deeper into the backstory of Okern medicine man Old Man Fixico, played by OKC actor Richard Ray Whitman, who is Yuchi and Muscogee.

Along with series star Factor, several other Sooner State performers have made memorable appearances on the show, including Emmy winner Megan Mullally, Josh Fadem, Cate Jones, Kimberly Guerrero, Darryl Cox, Ben Hall, Nathalie Standingcloud and "Reservation Dogs" writer Ryan RedCorn.

What Oklahoma musicians have been featured on the 'Reservation Dogs' soundtrack?

"Reservation Dogs" not only looks like Oklahoma, but it also sounds like the Sooner State.

The series features Oklahoma musicians in practically every episode, including Wanda Jackson, John Fullbright, JD McPherson, The Call, Turnpike Troubadours and Native creatives like Lil Mike and Funny Bone, Penny Pitchlynn and Samantha Crain.

"It's made for anybody to enjoy, but there's all of these weird cultural inside jokes that I think make it even doubly more entertaining for Native people to watch, because we've just never seen it ... on a television screen," Crain, a Norman singer-songwriter who is Choctaw, told The Oklahoman.

"People from Oklahoma, even if you weren't involved in the show at all, everyone sort of has this ownership of it. It's like, 'This is our show.'"

So far, the "Reservation Dogs" Season 3 soundtrack has showcased songs by Oklahomans Zach Bryan, Dwight Twilley, Jesse Ed Davis, JJ Cale, Jacob Tovar, Sten Joddi, Blaine Bailey and John Moreland.

"It should be a real source of pride for Oklahoma. I mean, how many of us have heard, 'Where is Oklahoma?' Or, 'I've only flown over it,'" said IllumiNative's Echo Hawk, an enrolled member of the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma.

"That's just another one of the beautiful things about 'Reservation Dogs': It's just been such a love letter to Tulsa and to Oklahoma. And I think it's helped to put the state on the map."

Even if Okern only appears on the map to our hearts.

HOW TO WATCH 'RESERVATION DOGS'

The third and final season of the groundbreaking Oklahoma-made FX series "Reservation Dogs" is streaming exclusively on Hulu, with new episodes debuting every Wednesday.

Season 3 is 10 episodes, with the series finale slated for Sept. 27.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Okern Ok from 'Reservation Dogs' isn't real, but still very Oklahoma