GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — A barrier-breaking comedian and Oneida Nation member is featured on Wednesday’s Google Doodle.
The artwork of Charlie Hill is displayed on the search engine’s home page on what would have been his 71st birthday.
Hill, who belonged to the Oneida Nation and also had Mohawk and Cree heritage, moved to Wisconsin as a child.
During the 1970’s, Hill got involved in stand-up comedy and eventually rose to stardom at the renowned Comedy Store in California. He also wrote for the television series “Roseanne.”
At 26 years old, he became the first Native American comedian to perform on television in the U.S. when he appeared on “The Richard Pryor Show” in 1977.
According to Google’s tribute, the show’s writers asked him to portray a racist caricature of a Native American person, but Hill declined.
Throughout his career, he worked to fight against racial stereotypes and promote positive images of Native Americans through humor.
In 2013, Hill died of lymphoma at the age of 62.
Hill’s image on Google was drawn by an indigenous creator, Alanah Astehtsi Otsistohkwa (Morningstar) Jewell, a French-First Nations artist from Thames, an Oneida Nation in Canada.
