Powwow Highway is a groundbreaking indie from 1988. It’s very hard to find, but it’s airing November 4 on Turner Classic Movies. Powwow Highway is a droll, offbeat road trip comedy, significant for being one of the first movies with a contemporary Indigenous lens.
Buddy (A Martinez) is an activist on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation in Montana, leading opposition to a strip-mining project. To get him out of their way, the big money interests conspire to have his sister Bonnie (Joanelle Romero) framed and arrested in New Mexico. Buddy is desperate to go to her relief, but has no transportation. His childhood acquaintance Philbert (Gary Farmer), having dreamed of a mystical pony, has purchased a decrepit 1964 Buick that he unironically names Protector. Although it is dubious whether Protector can get them off the reservation, let alone all the way to Santa Fe, they begin their quest, and adventures and misadventures follow.
Much of the humor stems from the Odd Couple on the road trip. Buddy is political and Philbert is spiritual. Buddy is in a hurry, and Philbert doesn’t recognize the concept of hurrying. Gary Farmer has become one of my favorite character actors, and his performance here is indelible.
The renowned Indigenous actors Wes Studi (Dances with Wolves, The Last of the Mohicans, Heat and 2020 honorary Academy Award) and Graham Greene (The Green Mile, Wind River and Oscar-nominated for Dances with Wolves) also appear in supporting roles.
Powwow Highway also takes us inside daily life on the impoverished reservation with striking verisimilitude. Powwow Highway was produced by George Harrison (yes, THAT George Harrison), directed by South African Jonathan Wacks from David Seals’ 1979 novel.
Powwow Highway won the Sundance Film Festival Filmmaker’s Trophy, was nominated for four Independent Spirit Awards, and has been selected for inclusion in the Library of Congress Film Registry.
Powwow Highway can be streamed on the Criterion Channel, but is otherwise unavailable. Make sure you DVR this week’s TCM broadcast.
If you like Powwow Highway, you’ll also appreciate another early indie with an Indigenous lens, Smoke Signals from 1998. It’s another wry road trip comedy, starring Adam Beach, Evan Adams and Irene Bedard, with another turn from Gary Farmer. Smoke Signals is available to stream from Amazon, Apple, YouTube and Fandango.
