Pow Wow Highway (1989) pt I - a podcast by Tyler Randall

HO HO HOKA-HEY! Merry Christmas! It's a Skoden surprise drop right before Christmas. That's right ol NDN Claus restrung the muffler with some fresh baling wire. He put brand new strips of packing tape on the war pony windshield and he's ready to fill some Crown Royal bags hung by the chimney with care full of Bepsie and fried baloney sandwiches. Welcome to the very first HOLIDAY themed episode, featuring one of MY FAVORITE Native movies of all time, Pow Wow Highway.

In this episode, Turtle does a deep dive on one of the most often quoted, iconic buddy road trip films that very few people have ever seen. It features two of the most unforgettable, realistic performances in independent film history, Buddy Red Bow (A. Martinez) and Philbert Bono (Gary Farmer). We talk about the importance of this film and how it relates to contemporary Native portrayals, the history of Protector, the war pony as told in the novel, and even a shirtless Rodney A. Grant just for the hoktes.

The film is also notable for the on screen debut of Wes Studi, and includes cameos from Graham Greene, John Trudell, and Floyd Red Crow Westerman, just to name a few. We also talk about how difficult it is to shoehorn this film into one particular genre as it shapeshifts act to act. All that entertainment packed into one solid hour of conversation. So join me....on the POW WOW HIGHWAY.

Music:

12 Days of NDN Christmas by Warscout off the album, "Red Christmas" available on Itunes. I do not own the rights to the music in this episode.

Sources:

IMDB

Celluloid Indians by Jacquelyn Kilpatrick

Hollywood's Indian by Peter C. Rollins and John E. O'Connor

Further episodes of Skoden Cinema

Further podcasts by Tyler Randall

Website of Tyler Randall