It's a great time to be a superhero fan these days with the Marvel cinematic universe, and they are continuing to bring fresh voices to large stages. At least one of those voices is heard louder than ever highlighting Native Americans of the Haudenosaunee nation.

"It's just really exciting as an Indigenous person, especially when it comes to representation," said Seneca Nation's Madison Tighe, who also plays an active role in the Indigenous Studies Department at the University at Buffalo.

The recent releases of Marvel's "Echo" and "What if...?" Season 2 aren't the first Native Americans you've seen on screen, but they might be some of the most important.

"As students would come into my office if they were Marvel fans, I would be like, check out this article," said Amanda Casali, whose St. Regis/Mohawk Nation heritage is on full display in the most recent Marvel animated series. "So every time they would drop like little teasers or hints, I would get really excited."

She is also the associate director of Indigenous Academic Engagement at UB, helping run the department, in it's infancy. Her journey isn't filed with too many people that share her background, something Casali's addressed along the way and even seen in her son's education.

"I could kind of hear what was going on on the Zoom. And they were learning about the native culture or native Indigenous communities in New York as their fourth grade requirement," she recalled. "One of the students, I could hear in the Zoom, said something like, 'Oh my God, this, that sounds so cool. I wish they were still here today, that we could learn more or something along that line. And I was like, 'Oh'."

And even when there is Indigenous representation in media, it has regularly missed the mark, according to Tighe.

"I remember talking to some other students and asking, 'Oh no, like, do we think what if they give the main character like an animal sidekick'," she asked. "Because that's like what's expected from representations like Pocahontas or something."

But ask around the department here at UB and the recent additions to MCU canon are more than welcome.

"It's meaningful. It is impacting indigenous children's lives. And I think their perception of themselves, like in a very important way," said Tuscarora Nation member and assistant professor Montgomery Hill, Phd.

An episode of "What If...?" is the first Marvel installation primarily in another language, Mohawk, and as someone who teaches it, Monty Hill says it was researched and done right.

"I personally, as an academic and also a grammar nerd like this Kahhori name is missing an R in it, but that makes it really difficult to pronounce for English speakers," said Hill. "But it's nice that we have a healthy enough speaking community. Right. That we have a big enough dialect difference where people that have a problem. The fact that it that we're having this sort of representation and especially that it's done in the language is to show that there's people alive still doing these kind of things."

From research to accurate and positive representation.

"The role of like Indigenous people in our current society is growing and it feels like this wave of education and awareness," said Tighe.

"Having there be avenues where there is a wider audience reached," Casali added. "I'm hoping that that will in turn create more interest in preserving our languages among some of maybe our allies."

It's for more than just comic book fans, but whole nations that have been under and misrepresented for too long.

"I think it's exciting that this representation happened and because it is so good and done so accurately, just right off the bat, you want more you're excited to see in the next season you want a live action version," said Tighe. "I think just as a person, it's like we finally have our own superhero and that's not something I thought would have happened ten years ago."