Jake Sully’s Introduction for Chief Trevor Carpenter’s Blog
*”Back on Earth, before I ever set foot on Pandora, there were stories that tried to capture the struggle of Indigenous peoples — their survival, their resilience, their voice. One of those stories was told in a film called Thunderheart (1992).
Directed by Michael Apted and starring Val Kilmer, Graham Greene, and Sam Shepard, it wasn’t just a crime drama. It was a mirror held up to America’s history with Native nations. The film is set on the Pine Ridge Reservation and inspired by real events, including the conflicts of the 1970s between the federal government and the American Indian Movement.
Val Kilmer’s character, Ray Levoi, is an FBI agent of mixed Sioux heritage. Sent to investigate a murder, he’s forced to confront his buried ancestry. Through the eyes of the elder, played with wisdom by Chief Ted Thin Elk, Ray begins to reconnect with who he really is. It’s not just about solving a crime — it’s about solving himself.
For many Native viewers, Thunderheart was one of the rare films in Hollywood at the time that dared to portray Indigenous identity, spirituality, and the injustices Native communities face. It gave Graham Greene — who plays tribal cop Walter Crow Horse — one of his most iconic roles, blending humor, defiance, and truth.
When I see Thunderheart, I can’t help but think of my own journey. Becoming one of the People, the Na’vi, wasn’t just about learning the language or taming an ikran. It was about remembering who I was meant to be, about standing with a people fighting to protect their land.
Chief Carpenter, your call for Turtle Island’s voice — through soccer, through art, through story — echoes the same heartbeat. Thunderheart may be a movie, but like the drum, it carries a truth that can’t be silenced. It reminds us that identity isn’t given by governments or written on paper — it’s lived, it’s defended, and it’s remembered.*
— Jake Sully