Dark Winds is a Western thriller, but from the perspective of Indigenous people—showing Monument Valley, and the beautiful Southwest desert landscape through the eyes of the land’s first inhabitants. After criticism during season one, the show is back this summer with even more focus on representation.
Based on the novels Leaphorn & Chee by Tony Hillerman, the AMC show Dark Winds was created by Graham Roland and executive produced by George R.R. Martin (the creator of Game of Thrones), Robert Redford, and Zahn McClarnon—who also plays the lead role in the series. And now it’s coming back for season two.
Set in Navajo Nation in the 1970s, the show was created by a crew of Indigenous writers, actors and producers. The show’s director, Chris Eyre, is of Cheyenne and Arapaho descent. The show follows Tribal Police Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn and his team as they investigate a series of crimes including murders and a bank heist. The result is a glimpse into a place and culture viewers won’t ever have seen from this perspective.
“What was unique about [Dark Winds] was the opportunity to tell a story in the Native community without a white character bringing you into the community and experiencing it through the white character’s point of view,” Graham Roland, the show’s creator, executive producer and a citizen of Chickasaw Nation, told the Associated Press. Instead, the perspective is that of the Indigenous character “who grew up there, lived there, and polices that environment.”
The Diné (Navajo) community takes center stage, with the tribe’s customs and beliefs woven through every scene. A large chunk of each episode’s dialogue is in the Diné language. It also offers a broader audience a look at a region that hasn’t been filmed in decades: The gorgeous Southwest desert landscape of the sovereign Navajo Nation, including the stunning Monument Valley. Navajo Nation is the largest Native American reservation in the United States and spans three states (Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah). According to AMC, 70 percent of Dark Winds was filmed with special permission on tribal lands at Tesuque Pueblo in New Mexico, using their facility Camel Rock Studios. Another 30 percent of the series was filmed on tribal lands at Cochiti Pueblo, also in New Mexico.
On the most basic level, Monument Valley is a stunning area, and who can capture and tell the region’s story better than its original inhabitants? The sweeping shots of the vast valley and its rock formations are, simply put, awe-inspiring. And to see them in the context most meaningful to the community whose connection to the area reaches back through millennia is a welcome change in TV and film.
“We’ve been telling our stories for thousands of years… I think that the television business is finally seeing that, and realizing that we have our own stories, and that they’re rich, deep stories.”
- Zahn McClarnon, actor
That said, some Indigenous critics caution against conflating “Native” with “Navajo”. The lead actors all belong to different tribes, and not all the show’s Native writers are Diné. That’s led to come critique in representation and, specifically, pronunciation of certain words in the Diné language.
“It’s critically important to all of us that we represent the culture correctly,” said Eyre. In an interview with Rima Krisst at the Navajo Times, director Chris Eyre reassured readers that he and the rest of the team want to continue improving the show and its representation in season two and beyond. “If there’s course correction to be made, we’re happy to do that,” he said, adding that language and culture consultants on the show were hired through recommendations by Navajo filmmakers while some of the Diné actors on set offered additional guidance.
“If the language has some anomalies, I apologize for that,” he said. “It’s something that we can learn from and correct. As we go forward, we want to make sure we’re reflecting as much as we can of Navajo culture in the best way. It shouldn’t be thrown away because of the mispronunciation that we’re going to work on. This is all done in the most respectful way, but again, we’re working with actors and interpreters and different dialects.” He added that the cast and crew have put their “heart and soul” into the production and want to make it as accurate as possible by filming more of “Dark Winds” on the Navajo Nation and consulting with Diné cultural advisors.
Conversations about diversity and representation in popular media often focus on how impactful it can be for members of a community to see themselves represented in television or movies. We’re not here to make that point again. But while watching Dark Winds—in the brief moments we’re not totally transfixed by the suspenseful storyline—it’s obvious that we all are better off when historically marginalized groups get to tell their own story.
“A lot of our history is based on oral tradition,” Zahn McClarnon, the Hunkpapa and Lakota actor who stars as Lt. Leaphorn, told the Associated Press. ”We’ve been telling our stories for thousands of years… I think that the television business is finally seeing that, and realizing that we have our own stories, and that they’re rich, deep stories.”
Roland agrees. “Having control over our own stories is very important,” he told the Navajo Times. “I think it’s a great step towards seeing Natives and their experience as normal, for the audience to see that Native culture is American culture.”
Dark Winds is one of several new shows starring and written by Indigenous creatives, including the acclaimed Reservation Dogs and Rutherford Falls. The creative team doesn’t hold back from referencing historical harm done to their people by Hollywood, settlers, and the US government alike, including the forced sterilization of Native women that was ongoing in the 1970s, when the show is set, and the trauma of Indian Boarding Schools still felt today.
It’s hard to measure the cultural impact of a piece of media, especially when it’s still in the works—season two of Dark Winds will be out this July—but it feels like a step in the right direction.
“The (United) States is like a big satellite dish to the rest of the world,” Jessica Matten of Red River Métis and Cree descent, who plays a tribal police officer in the show, told the Navajo Times. “We’ve kicked down the door,” she said, “so now I feel there’s this responsibility to make sure those stay open—that this isn’t just a trend in a moment in time, but that through the exposure we’re getting now we’re able to humanize Native people in a global way.”
Miyo McGinn is Adventure.com's US National Parks Correspondent and a freelance writer, fact-checker, and editor with bylines in Outside, Grist, and High Country News. When she's not on the road in her campervan, you can find her skiing, hiking, and swimming in the mountains and ocean near her home in Seattle, Washington.
