Los Angeles ? As a child, Sonny Skyhawk slipped out of bed one night to eavesdrop on his parents and other grown-ups. He wondered: Did they secretly talk in the odd, staccato way Tonto did on “The Lone Ranger”? Turned out the television series wasn’t realistic.

Through his four-decade acting career, Skyhawk grew increasingly frustrated by the way Hollywood misrepresented or ignored his culture.

Abel Silvas, a Juaneno tribe member in San Diego and a finalist in the 2001 Four Directions Talent Search, appears in the semifinals at the Oneida Nation's Turning Stone Casino in Verona, N.Y., in November 2001. The goal of the showcase competition, sponsored by Four Directions Entertainment and NBC, was to connect Indian talent with Hollywood.

But he believes he and other American Indians can start to make a change because they’re finally able to talk the entertainment industry’s language: money.

Flush with proceeds from the gambling business, the Oneida Indian Nation has joined with Skyhawk and his partner, filmmaker Dan C. Jones, to form a TV, movie and new media production company.

“We’re not going to sit around and wait for others to do what we think is right. We’re going to do it ourselves,” said Skyhawk, a 58-year-old Lakota Indian whose credits include nearly 50 films (“Young Guns II,” “Buffalo Soldiers”) and dozens of TV shows.

Four Directions Entertainment the name reflects the Indian concept of a global human community is a bold first step, said Ray Halbritter, chief executive officer of the Oneida nation.

“We’ve never been empowered in a way that would allow us to affect the way we’re portrayed,” Halbritter said. “Now, with some newfound resources, we want to try to effect change in the portrayal of Indian people.”

The Oneida nation in central New York is one of the success stories of American Indian gaming. It has become the leading employer in Oneida and Madison counties with its Turning Stone Casino Resort, which opened in 1993 and generates more than $100 million in annual revenues.

(More than two-thirds of tribes do not have gaming operations and most remain mired in poverty, according to the National Indian Gaming Assn.)

For the Oneida, prosperity has offered a chance for social investment. In April, the nation gave $10 million toward building of the Smithsonian Institution’s new museum honoring Indian culture.

While a stake in Hollywood production may seem less weighty, Halbritter contends that Four Directions ultimately could help improve the legal, political and social standing of Indians.

“The entertainment industry is a powerful medium. It’s very much how people are educated, or at least affected. … We believe with a change in perception comes a change of treatment,” Halbritter said.

Animation, movie and TV production are goals. Four Directions is marketing a documentary on American Indian ceremonial dance festivals, hoping to interest channels such as Discovery or National Geographic.

But Four Directions’ immediate task is to help connect Indian talent with Hollywood, Halbritter said. The company wants to boost industry hiring of Indians in front of and behind the camera.

Early results have been encouraging, according to Halbritter and Skyhawk, who lauded NBC and its chairman, Bob Wright, for supporting their efforts.

In a talent showcase organized by Four Directions last year with NBC’s help, several impressive writers and performers emerged.

Writing samples from three people were being circulated to network executive and series producers. And one actor found in the search auditioned for NBC.

“He didn’t get the part, but they are looking at these people and giving them shots,” Oneida spokesman Peter Golia said.

“These people have to make it on their own merits,” Halbritter said. “We’re not pushing the industry for some sort of sympathy.”

American Indians are a relatively small ethnic group. The 2000 U.S. Census showed 4.1 million people identified themselves as all or part American Indian or Alaska native, compared with 35.3 million Hispanics.

But Indians have been especially scarce on-screen.

A recent report by the child advocacy group Children Now, for example, found that American Indian women are nonexistent on television today.