HBO’s It: Welcome to Derry goes deep into the lore of Stephen King, exploring the cursed Maine town decades before the events of It and It: Chapter 2 along with other characters and imagery from across his many works. The show’s primary source material are a series of interludes in King’s original book, which take the form of fragments of Mike Hanlon’s research into Pennywise’s appearances throughout Derry history. However, one of the Welcome to Derry‘s most interesting plotlines doesn’t come from the book at all.
Instead, Welcome to Derry delves deeper into a slice of Derry’s past created specifically for It: Chapter 2: the inclusion of Indigenous American lore. In one scene from the movie, Mike reveals that he spoke to members of the fictional Shokopiwah tribe, who ruled the land of Derry centuries before. They now stay on the outskirts, away from Pennywise’s wrath, and use a ritual in order to keep the monster away.
This one scene felt pretty superfluous to the main narrative — and even drew some criticism as a result. Now, the creators of It:Welcome to Derry are trying to make things right.
In an interview with Polygon, Kimberly Norris Guerrero, the Native American actress who portrays Rose (a local business owner guarding some dark secrets), points out that while this specific idea didn’t originate from Stephen King, the author has long used Indigenous Americans as plot devices in works like The Shining, Pet Sematary, and Dreamcatcher. With this series, she says, Native Americans finally have a seat at the table.
“It’s a beautiful opportunity to expand on the King universe, because undergirding a lot of the stories is the land,” Guerrero says. “The land is a character itself. The land of Derry is rife with history. The land under The Shining is rife with history. The land underneath Shawshank Prison is rife with history, and that history is our history.”
The land of Derry is rife with history.
The creators of It: Welcome to Derry worked alongside an actual Indigenous tribe, the Wabanaki nation, to help the show’s fictional Shokopiwah tribe feel more authentic. The Wabanaki are an alliance of five Indigenous nations: the Mi’kmaq, Maliseet, Passamaquoddy, Penobscot, and Abenaki. Their traditional territory extends from Newfoundland down to mid-Maine and includes parts of Quebec. Their stories, land, and culture stand in place of this previously tossed-in plot point from It: Chapter 2, and with the help of the Wabanaki nation, they turned it into something with a bit more reverence.
If audiences pay attention to the end of some upcoming episodes, they may even see some traditional Indigenous names in the credits playing the role of some Shokopiwah tribe members. The show’s creators also collaborated with John Bear Mitchell, a member of the Penobscot Nation and a professor at the University of Maine who works in movies and TV both in front of and behind the camera.
“The Wabanaki nation has been there for thousands of years,” Guerrero says. “So it was really quite fascinating and important to go into Wabanaki history, to work with our Elder John Bear Mitchell. It was a deep dive into something that was very culturally relevant and based on historical fact. And it’s not something that used to be, but it’s something that is and something that will be in the future.”
It: Welcome to Derry airs weekly on HBO and HBO Max.
