History Film / Dreamkeeper

In the story, a young man from the Lakota tribe, Shane Chasing Horse, is asked by his mother to drive his grandfather Pete, a storyteller, to the All Nations Powwow. At first he does not want to, but being in trouble with a local gang makes him change his mind. As they travel, his grandfather tells him several stories.

[This description was copied in violation of our [[Administrivia/AboutImagesAndCopyright Plagiarism]] policy. Please replace it with original writing.]

* AbhorrentAdmirer : The Old Woman in the cave that utilizes Eagle Boy's essence to free herself of her old shell. She is quite hideous with warts, skin tags, and dark patches of sunken skin. One of her eyes is also deformed.

* CoolOldGuy:
** Shane's grandfather, Pete.

--> '''Grandpa: Who the hell's chasing us?
--> '''Shane: Just some guys, Grandpa.
--> '''Grandpa: They must be after Three Moons, my war horse.
--> '''Shane: No, they're after my ass!
--> '''Grandpa: Better off with my horse.

-->'''Grandpa: It has been said that the young people of today are our warriors of tomorrow. I look at you and say, 'we're in big trouble.'
-->'''Shane: You know, sometimes you can be a [[LampshadeHanging mean old man. ]]

** The spirits in the opening sequence with Eagle boys singing are very clearly annoyed with him for making so much noise. One of them even asks, "Is your name No Ears?"
** Dirty Belly's grandmother is pretty Snarky herself, "What does Chief Loud Mouth say today?"

** Sky woman when referring to the Thunderspirit in the story of She Crosses the Water

* IncestSubtext: Sort of the case in Quillwork Girl and her seven brothers though no one makes a pass at ANYONE and Quillwork Girl is completely unrelated to the brothers. While she is doing some work around the teepee, the brothers are watching her from a distance. One of the older brothers comments on how good her cooking is, how efficient she is at curing meat and how impressive her quillwork is when another brother complains, "Yeah but did she have to be so fine looking? A sister should be fat and ugly."

* InterspeciesRomance: The Thunder spirit is-well a spirit and She Crosses the Water is a human woman.

''Dreamkeeper'' is a 2003 film written by John Fusco and directed by Steve Barron. The main plot of the film is the conflict between a Lakota elder and storyteller named Pete Chasing Horse (Creator/AugustSchellenberg) and his Lakota grandson, Shane Chasing Horse (Creator/EddieSpears). The plot unwinds as the two travel from Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota to the fictitious All Nations powwow in Albuquerque, New Mexico, a trip the grandson takes only under duress. Along the way, the grandfather tells his grandson various Indian stories and legends to help him understand and choose the "good red road"; i.e., to embrace an Indian identity.

The film opens with Eagle Boy, a young man who is on a vision quest. It then cuts to the present, where a 17-year-old Lakota named Shane Chasing Horse is living on the Pine Ridge reservation. He is in trouble because he owes some money to a local gang -- money he used to buy a beautiful ring for Mae Little Wounded, a girl he likes. Meanwhile, his mother asks him to drive his grandfather, Pete Chasing Horse, a storyteller, down to the powwow. Shane is reluctant. However, when the gang comes after him, Shane changes his mind and heads out to the powwow with his grandfather, who agrees to give him his truck once they reach the powwow. Grandfather tells Shane the story of a young Lakota man who tries to win the hand of Bluebird Woman. He also tells the story of how a thunder spirit falls in love with a Mohawk woman and brings her up into the ethereal world of Sky Woman, and of how she raised their son back in her village until he was struck by one of the villagers and brought back to live with his father. Later, when a young redheaded man who is eager to learn about Native culture and hoping to be adopted by a Native American family asks to ride with them to the powwow, Shane says no. His grandfather then tells him the Kiowa story of Tehan, a white man who lived among the Kiowa and fought bravely alongside them, and Shane relents and lets the redhead ride with them. Shane’s grandfather then tells how Eagle Boy follows the advice of a shining spirit elk, and seeks out an old woman who can give him weapons with which to slay the mighty serpent Unceliga. He is repulsed when the ugly old woman embraces him, but reacts quite differently when she transforms into a beautiful younger woman. She reproaches him, but gives him what he needs. Eagle Boy slays Unceliga, whose heart instructs him and grants him great power and prophetic visions.

Eventually, the gang members who are after Shane catch up with them, but accidentally drive their car off a cliff and into a lake while chasing him. Shane dives in and saves them, and his struggle is contrasted with Eagle Boy’s underwater battle with Unceliga. The gang members ride with them for a ways, until they and the redheaded hitchhiker leave them in order to travel with a group of attractive young women who are also headed to the powwow.

As they travel, Shane’s grandfather tells Shane many other stories: several are about the trickster Coyote and Iktomi the spider. Another is about a young Pawnee man and his mother who are scorned by the rest of their tribe until the young man finds an unwanted dun pony who brings them good medicine. As Shane and his grandfather look up at the stars, the grandfather tells the story of the Quillwork Girl and her seven star brothers, which is about a Cheyenne girl who puts her faith in a dream and searches for seven brothers, but who must then contend with the Buffalo nation. The next story is about a young Chinook woman who sacrifices herself in order to cure her village of a terrible sickness, and the next is about a young Blackfoot hunter who cannot let go of the memory of his father.

Shane and his grandfather continue their journey, losing their truck along the way and continuing on horseback and on foot. The two become closer. However, it then turns out that Shane’s grandfather has led them not to the powwow but to Shane’s father’s (Sam Chasing Horse) trailer home. Shane is disgusted, but is persuaded to stay the night. The next morning Shane finally makes peace with his father.

Filming lasted four months and took place mainly in Canada. [[ShownTheirWork Representatives of the Lakota, Kiowa, Cheyenne, Pawnee, Blackfeet, Mohawk and Crow tribes came on board the film to evaluate the authenticity of the production during filming and to suggest changes]]. One of the advisors was shocked to see that the crew had managed to get rare Cheyenne leopard dogs for one scene. Some scenes involved shooting a stampeding herd of 1,500 buffalo.

Visual effects supervisor Nicholas Brooks states that in order to create the heavenly, otherworldly look of the land of Sky Woman in the for the “Legend of She Crosses the Water and the Thunder Spirit," the filmmakers decided not to film the actors against blue screen. Instead, the color and texture of the scenes were later altered, sometimes in a rather arbitrary manner controlled by the computer, which Brooks says lent the sequence a particular psychological feel.

''Dreamkeeper'' is a 2003 film written by John Fusco and directed by Steve Barron. The main plot of the film is the conflict between a Lakota elder and storyteller named Pete Chasing Horse (Creator/AugustSchellenberg) and his Lakota grandson, Shane Chasing Horse (Creator/EddieSpears). The plot unwinds as the two travel from [[TheRez Pine Ridge Indian Reservation]] in South Dakota to the fictitious All Nations powwow in Albuquerque, New Mexico, a trip the grandson takes only under duress. Along the way, the grandfather tells his grandson various Indian stories and legends to help him understand and choose the "good red road"; i.e., to embrace an Indian identity.

* DesignatedLoveInterest: Mae Little-Wounded is this to Shane.

* CoolBigSis: Talks A Lot acts like one to Tehan.

* CoolOldGuy: Shane’s grandfather, Pete.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Shane. He isn’t especially nice to most people he encounters. When Verdel and his crew’s car plunges into the Rio Grande, Shane wastes no time in diving and saving their lives. Mind you, only moments earlier they had been trying to kill Shane and his grandfather.

* VisionQuest: Eagle Boy is on one when the movie begins.

* ActingForTwo: Several of the characters from Grandpa’s stories have modern day counterparts.
** Mae Little Wounded is Blue Bird Woman from the story of High Horse. Her father in present day is voiced by the same actor that plays Blue Bird woman’s father too.
** Coyote and Iktomi make a present day cameo as Sam Chasing Horse’s drinking buddies.
** The Red Headed Hitchhiker Shane is reluctant to give a ride to is played by the same actor that plays Tehan
** The Powwow Girl that offers Shane and his grandfather a ride after their car breaks down is also Quillwork from the story of Quillwork Girl and her Seven Brothers.
** Dirty Belly’s grandmother is the same Pawnee woman Shane encounters at the powwow and to whom he intends to give Grandpa’s horse too. Dirty Belly also makes an appearance in present day as one of the competitors in the Powwow.
** Thunder Boy shows up briefly jumping on the hood of a car in present day.
** NathanielArcand plays the roles of Broken Lance and a powwow attendee.
** The Blackfoot hunter who cannot let go of his father’s memory makes an appearance as another powwow goer.
*** Interestingly the two characters that represented Shane (Eagle Boy and High Horse) were played by different actors.

* VisionQuest: Eagle Boy is on one when the movie begins.

''Dreamkeeper'' is a 2003 film written by John Fusco and directed by Steve Barron. The main plot of the film is the conflict between a Lakota elder and storyteller named Pete Chasing Horse (AugustSchellenberg) and his Lakota grandson, Shane Chasing Horse (EddieSpears). The plot unwinds as the two travel from [[TheRez Pine Ridge Indian Reservation]] in South Dakota to the fictitious All Nations powwow in Albuquerque, New Mexico, a trip the grandson takes only under duress. Along the way, the grandfather tells his grandson various Indian stories and legends to help him understand and choose the "good red road"; i.e., to embrace an Indian identity.

----

Dreamkeeper is a 2003 film written by John Fusco and directed by Steve Barron. The main plot of the film is the conflict between a Lakota elder and storyteller named Pete Chasing Horse (AugustSchellenberg) and his Lakota grandson, Shane Chasing Horse (EddieSpears). The plot unwinds as the two travel from [[TheRez Pine Ridge Indian Reservation]] in South Dakota to the fictitious All Nations powwow in Albuquerque, New Mexico, a trip the grandson takes only under duress. Along the way, the grandfather tells his grandson various Indian stories and legends to help him understand and choose the "good red road," i.e. to embrace an Indian identity.