By
Chris Talkalai
Wind River is Taylor Sheridan’s directorial debut exposing one of the dreadful things that have happened in some Native communities. The movie was released to theatres on August 4. But producers Matthew George, Basil Iwanyk, and Wayne Rogers gave permission to Rebecca Balog, Princella Red Corn, and Rose Quilt to premiere the film to Haskell. Sheridan, who is non-Native, has written “Sicario” and “Hell or High Water”.
Not to give any spoilers but may have been explain in movie trailers, and TV spots for general purposes of the movie. The film tells about a wildlife officer, Cory Lambert, who guns down any vicious animals that harm any animals’ around the area sites. But when he comes across a dead teenage girl in the middle of snow covered wastes, he calls for local authorities. FBI agent, Jane Banner, is the only agent to investigate the scene. While investigating further to find out who’s responsible for the death of the teen girl, Lambert and Banner get into situations that may risk their lives of solving the murder. The film stars, Jeremy Renner, Elizabeth Olsen, Gil Birmingham, Jon Bernthal, Kelsey Asbille Chow, Julia Jones, and Graham Greene, in this mystery, violent, drama package.
The film takes place on the Wind River Reservation located in central Wyoming. The social issues that plague the Wind River resemble the adversity many Indigenous nations face. The Wind River Indian Reservation is home of the Eastern Shoshone band also known as Sosori and the Northern Arapaho Tribe.
Haskell Junior, Randy Nagitsy had this to say about the film, “The ending of the film we are left with the startling reality that many cases regarding violence against Indigenous women are unaccounted for. This movie has come during a time of many injustices against Indigenous people. The film had me asking questions of legislative ways we can address this issue in our communities. I love the film for creating a dialogue amongst our communities in addressing the issue at hand. One of my favorite activist whose name is Pamela Palmater, begins this argument by outlining Canadian laws that are discriminative toward First Nations women. This movie has shifted my thinking process in understanding the legislative agenda against our Native American women in the U.S. In my opinion I think Wind River had served its purpose in bringing startling the dialogue on this issue.”
Bottom line, if we lack the problem that address to our Native communities, it could result in missing or murdered tribal members. Most investigation cases of missing Native women, even children, are never solved. Native women are treated unfairly in these matters, and anyone that thinks they can take advantage of them, or think they can be disposed will come across to the consequences. This film highlights the issues that Native women are facing, and premiering this film to Haskell shows the impact of how a situation may occur to any person.
