Dark Winds: Season 1

 

Based on: 1970s & 80s Leaphorn & Chee novel series by Tony Hillerman

Created by: Graham Roland

Starring: Zahn McClarnon (Joe Leaphorn), Kiowa Gordon (Jim Chee), Jessica Matten (Bernadette Manuelito), Deanna Allison (Emma Leaphorn), Rainn Wilson ("Devoted Dan"), Elva Guerra (Sally Growing Thunder), Jeremiah Bitsui (James Tso), Eugene Brave Rock (Frank Nakai), Noah Emmerich (Leland Whitover)

Dark Winds season 1 trailer:

Another series I dove into for one of my side passions (learning about Indigenous culture), this show absolutely did not disappoint. 

It's always sensitive finding media (TV series/movies/books) that accurately depict the cultures I'm curious about, and honestly, as someone on the outside, I don't think I can ever be 100% sure. At least not without first-hand experience, which I don't have much of. But I feel as confident as someone in my position can about the accuracy of Dark Winds. It seems that the author of the books grew up immersed in Potawatomi culture, both cast and much of the crew of the show is from various Indigenous tribes, and the settings line up with my (very little) own experience seeing the Navajo Nation. 

A family pays respects to one of their own who is a murder victim

The show is about two Navajo Police officers investigating a series of murders and other crimes on the Reservation. One of the officers, Joe, is a veteran tribal officer, and the other, Jim, is an undercover federal agent who becomes Joe's newest deputy. Much of the series plot centers around Jim's internal conflict: having just returned from schooling in a bigger city, his first priority is pleasing his federal superiors, who have a discriminatory view of Navajo crime and issues and want to solve the cases quickly so they can be promoted to better positions in the city. But as the show continues, Jim feels kinship and belonging both with the Navajo Nation itself and with his coworkers Joe and Bernadette. 

Joe, Jim, and Bernadette in their office

A man gives advice to Jim after he visits their home as part of a case

The greatest strengths this show has are its focus on Navajo tradition and its depiction of the reservation. One of the things that shapes the show is how the landscape is something of its own character. The Navajo Nation is massive; it takes hours to get from any one point of interest to another, and much of it is desolate. There are few landmarks and much of it us unmarked gravel road. This lines up with the one visit I had, and I was glad to see it depicted that way in the show. In one episode, there's a moment when Bernadette and Jim are investigating an abandoned car and Bernadette cautions him with something like, "Do you know where we're at? Do you know what road we're on?" She tells him that learning the roads and coming to understand locations on the reservation is essential because a lot of times officers can find themselves on their own with backup hours away. 

Another great thing was the show's depiction of Navajo beliefs and lore. The show didn't dive into this extensively because there wasn't necessarily reason to. Plus, some of their beliefs are guarded and only relatable within their people, not to outsiders. One episode depicts a showdown between Bernadette and another Navajo woman, Ada Growing Thunder (Amelia Rico), who has unique spiritual abilities. In their confrontation, Ada appears to create a curse (I don't know what the more appropriate term would be) with herbs and an incantation, subjecting Bernadette to blurred perception and flashes of her own trauma. The show uses subtle sound and lighting effects to depict the effect on Bernadette, blurring what the viewer understands as reality. Ada continues to throw and shatter her own home herbs and oils, laughing as the concoction sparks ablaze, trapping both women in the fire. Bernadette is forced to rely on her own knowledge of cultural defenses as well as her police training to keep her wits and escape. 

Long before the confrontation, Bernadette speaks privately with Ada's pregnant daughter Sally about possible abuse Ada may be subjecting her to

I'm very happy to say I don't have any complaints about this series. There are things that annoyed me a little, like a stereotypical depiction of corrupt Christianity, but I'm far beyond used to negative depictions of my faith in media, and it's not like the church has a good reputation among the Navajo. In fact, there's a pretty tragic history of horrifying abuse that I can only pray the modern church will make efforts to change. But that's a whole other topic, very worthy of discussion, but not on this post. Even with that stereotypical character, he was relevant to the plot, so I can't complain about him too much. 

I'm thrilled to state that the show has been renewed for a second season! Each season has been quite short (6 eps each so far), which is unfortunate, but quality over quantity, right?