Wind River Trailer
Synopsis of Plot
Wind River, directed by Taylor Sheridan, is a Western Murder Mystery Film based on the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming. The movie starts out with the main character Cody Lambert, who is a Fish and Wildlife Service Agent, finding a young 18-year-old girl dead in the wilderness, barefoot and without proper clothing in the Wyoming winter. The FBI is called, and Agent Jane Banner shows up to work on the case. Between Banner, Cody, and Ben (Tribal Police Chief) they figure out the girl’s name is Natalie, and she was recently at an oil rig drill site with her new boyfriend Matt Rayburn. They also find out that she died of Pulmonary Hemorrhage, a condition where the lungs freeze up due to cold weather and they essentially explode killing the person. Banner later finds out that a similar incident left Cody’s daughter dead three years prior, making Cody feel responsible for finding the person who did this to Natalie.
The three of them visit Natalie’s parents to try and find information about the murder and suspect. Jane Banner gets cultured shocked by the Native American culture that is before her and goes silent. Cody tells Natalie’s father, Martin, that he will make whoever did this pay for it.
Cody and Banner do some more exploring in the woods following snow mobile tracks and come across Matt Rayburn’s body in the snow with wounds showing like he is beaten. A decision is made to have Cody continue to follow the tracks while, Banner and Police Chief Ben visit the drilling camp, where they are met by some cautious looking workers. Tension is running high between the two sides as both have their guns drawn. The viewer at this point is puzzled as to why the tensions are high. They get to the modular where Matt was staying and knock on the door.
The film then goes into a flashback. It shows Natalie and Matt having a loving relationship in the modular, and then four drunk rig security workers entering the modular. One guy, Pete, tries to become sexual with Natalie, prompting Matt to engage with Pete by beating him up. The other three guys then turn on Matt and beat him while Pete rapes her. Matt eventually gets to Pete and takes him to the ground, long enough for Natalie to get away and run barefoot out into the snow. The four guys then beat Matt to death.
Back to the original storyline, Cody finds that the tracks from Matt’s body lead to the drill rig sight, and radios Chief Ben to warn him. At the exact same time, a shotgun is shot through the door at agent Banner wounding her. An all-out gunfight is fought between the guards and officers in a close-range battle. The guards finish off Chief Ben and the rest of the officers before turning to Agent Banner to kill her, however Cody comes in and takes out the remaining guards with his sniper rifle, saving her life. Pete gets away and Agent Banner tells Cody to go after him.
Upon capturing Pete, Cody takes him up to a Ridgeline in the mountains. He gets Pete to confess to raping and killing Natalie and Matt, and then tells him he is free to leave. Pete, having no shoes and minimal clothing, takes off running only to make it 600 yards and collapsing due to Pulmonary Hemorrhage. This is good karma working its magic as Pete dies the same way Natalie does. The movie ends with Cody and Martin sharing a moment of grief talking about their daughters and how they miss them.
Before the credits roll, the film shows a series of words that say there is no recording data of missing Native American girls. This film is supposed to depict this and raise awareness for Native American girls. This makes the movie have a realist approach as it draws real-life experiences with the power of getting people aware of certain circumstances regarding Native American girls.
Critical Appraisal of Wind River
Wind River is a fictional film that is about detectives solving the murder on the Wind River Indian Reservation after a girl from the tribe was raped and murdered. Even though this story is not directly based on a true story, it still presents relevant information that is applicable to other cases surrounding missing and murdered Natives. The director, Taylor Sheridan wanted to put a light on the topic as it is a common occurrence in the Native community and does not get the attention which needs to be a priority of law enforcement.
The setting of the film did well to represent the terrain and landscape that the tribes live on the reservation. The Wind River reservation is in western Wyoming and spans for over 2 million acres. The tribes were pushed into this corner back in the 19th century and have had to deal with the situation ever since. This aspect of the film shows the harsh environment that these tribes already live in. The way that the first woman was murdered in this movie was by her running away from a rapist and freezing to death.
This community is heavily impacted by abuse, poverty, drug addiction, alcoholism however due to the nature of their culture, how Native Americans live on their own accord and are almost outcasted by society, no one notices. “It’s based on thousands of actual stories just like it,” is what Sheridan told National Public Radio. His goal was to showcase the horrific events that happen within the community that do not get put on the front page of the news. One quote that is very touching from this film that I believe encapsulates the true message of the movie is at the very end. “While missing person statistics are compiled for every other demographic, none exist for Native American women.” This calls out and recognizes the fact Native culture is not appreciated to the point that the we are not even sure how many have gone missing.
Sheridan had researchers dive into this topic for months and were not able to configure a statistic. Sheridan looked at this as its own statistic and knew it was his duty to bring these tragedies to light. The story of this film is telling of how the Native American community is treated. The way that lambert in the film brings the murdered Native American up to authorities and they seem to not care is truly telling of how Natives are treated in society today. In my opinion I feel that Sheridan is challenging people to be more aware of the tragedies that happen within the Native community and should not be ostracized from society for the way they live their lives. Statistically, 84% of Native American and Alaskan Native women have experienced violence of some sort; 56% have experienced sexual violence.
The fact that women in the native community are more likely to face both violence and more specifically sexual violence than not shows a glaring issue among the community and there should be an emphasis on their safety from the law enforcement in their areas. This along with the fact that there are no statistics on missing women in the community shows why. The detriment that Natives have faced along with the lack of recognition on this topic is the reason that I believe Sheridan created this movie and I believe that he did a good job on representing this topic on a grand stage.
Suggestions for Relevant Reading
1 in 3 American Indian and Alaska Native women will be raped, but survivors rarely find justice on tribal lands(USATODAY)
(Rape survivor Szymanski)
An article articulating a 18 month investigation into prosecutions of sexual assault on tribal lands can speak on the histocracy of Wind River (the story of an investigation into the rape and murder of a native female).“Reporters uncovered break downs in the federal and tribal criminal justice systems so severe that sexual perpetrators often received minimal or no punishment and survivors were left with little justice,” (Machles, etc.). One of the subject of the article is Szymanski, a sexual assault victims sharing her story. One of the most shocking quotes I found was “Native women have told me that what you do when you raise a daughter in this environment is you prepare her for what to do when she’s raped – not if, but when,” (Machles, etc.). Another Native woman stated that ‘I can’t think of anyone, any woman that I know who hasn’t been victimized in this way,’ just going to show these verity of this issue within their community.
Why is there a lack of justice? Through the investigation they have found that because the issue is a local issue but has federal involvement, so if the two systems don’t work together the case can fall through leaving the victim without justice. Federal involvement stems back to the legal document known as “trust and responsibility” from a treaty between the U.S and tribal nations in the18thand 19th century. Due to the treaty the federal government has an obligation to help protect the lives of tribal members and this is depicted in the involvement of FBI agent Jane Banner in the case of the young American Indian woman. This article has made it evident that director Taylor Sheridan did substantial research predating the release of the film. No film is without creative liberties but Sheridan captured the harsh reality of sexual assault and violence in Native cultures, and legal struggles these victims face.
Bellow: part of the Federal Trust and Responsibilities doctrine
Native American women speak out about sexual assault and violence(NBC Left Field)
(Rape survivor Caroline)
In the short but very impactful six minute NBC sponsored documentary, the viewers are given an insight into the very lives of Native women affect by the ever present violent and sexual assault culture. The video speaks on two women’s experiences, but their stories honestly reach back decades. Caroline tells her story going as far back as the age of six years old. Not only was Caroline experiencing this assault from one person but five different people. In the case of Caroline’s story her trauma was domestic, being assaulted by 5 distant relatives. Like many others Caroline was scared to tell because she was never educated on the topic, and blamed her parents for not making her more aware. However, at the time of her attacks“… there were no words for it. Their best way at the time was to be silent, and not bring attention to yourself, because then you might get hurt worse,”. This fear to come forward is an issue of many native women, because in the above article there are complications within the justice system and they are fearful their situation will only get worse
The video claimed that “ The old official statistics from the United States Department of Justice were that one in three American Indian/Alaskan Native women were survivors of sexual violence”. However, according to more recent information by the federal government it is more like 50% are survivors. Even more shocking if community officials were asked they answered somewhere between 80%-90%. So while the case in Wind River it was not a specific relevant event it is based on the hundreds of thousands of real sexual assault and violence cases against indigenous women, and this is what the director sought to expose, doing so quite accurately.
Team Work Duties:
Synopsis of Plot – Written by Will Gase
Critical Appraisal of Harriet – Written by Carson Knabe and Austin Dues
Suggestions for Relevant Reading – Written by Julia Cashwell
Final Editor and Post Creator – Austin Dues
Group, this is a solid job. Can you tell me more about Indigenous culture other than that women are victims violence? What is distinct about relationships? What challenges are people facing (including some of the other characters, like the victim’s brother, Cody’s wife, etc.) What about the oil & gas workers? What brings them there and what are the impacts? Think about the Dakota Access Pipeline protests from a few years back.
Also, tell me a bit more about the movie’s style. Is it realist? What about the “mise en scene,” the use of flashback or time jumping. Is it a western, a mystery, an action film, or all three? What might another genre have done with this story?