The Mystic Warrior is a 1984 American TV movie about a band of Sioux and the efforts of one man to save his people from destruction through the use of mysterious powers handed down by ancestors. The movie was originally a nine-hour miniseries entitled Hanta Yo to be aired in 1980, instead aired in 1984 as a five-hour mini-series with the new name. The mini-series has been released on DVD in Germany, but no international release as yet.
| The Mystic Warrior | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Drama |
| Based on | Hanta Yo by Ruth Beebe Hill |
| Written by | Jeb Rosebrook |
| Directed by | Richard T. Heffron |
| Starring | Robert Beltran Devon Ericson Rion Hunter James Remar Apollonia Kotero Branscombe Richmond David Yanez |
| Theme music composer | Gerald Fried |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Stan Margulie David L. Wolper |
| Producer | Paul Freeman |
| Production locations | Lang Ranch, Thousand Oaks, California |
| Cinematography | Stevan Larner |
| Editor | Michael Eliot |
| Running time | 300 min (including commercials) |
| Production company | Warner Bros. Television |
| Original release | |
| Network | ABC |
| Release | May 20 – May 21, 1984[1] |
Plot
editSet in the years 1802 to 1808, the finished film focused on a young brave named Ahbleza, the son of Olepi, chief of a fictional lakota-speaking tribe, the Mahto ('Bear'). Blessed with supernatural visionary powers by the ancient Mahto seer Wanagi, Ahbleza sets about to save his people from the devastations of the future, among them the invasion of the white man. After a lengthy, truth-seeking odyssey fraught with tragedy and sacrifice, Ahbleza assumes his rightful place as spiritual leader of his tribe.
Cast
edit- Robert Beltran - Ahbleza
- Devon Ericson - Heyatawin
- David Yanez - Rion Hunter - Tonweya
- Brigitte Gault - Kippana
- Victoria Racimo - Napewaste
- Nick Ramus - Chief Olepi
- James Remar - Pesla
- Ned Romero - Wisa
- Apollonia Kotero - Wicahpi
- Branscombe Richmond - Miyaca
- Will Sampson - Wambli
- Doug Toby - Young Ahbleza
- Roger Campo - Young Pesla
- George Aguilar - Kungi Yuha Leader
- Ivan Naranjo - Ogle
- Frank Salsedo - Sinte (as Frank Sotonoma Salsedo)
Production
editThe five-hour miniseries The Mystic Warrior began life in 1979 when producer David L. Wolper announced plans for a ten-hour adaptation of Hanta Yo,[2] an epic historical novel by Ruth Beebe Hill. Using as her main source a full-blooded Sioux named Chunksa Yuha, Hill fashioned what amounted to a Native American version of Roots, chronicling the history of the fictional Matho (lakota: 'Bear') tribe of the Oglala Lakota Sioux. Although Hill's book was a bestseller and received rave reviews in the first year of its publication, it was attacked and discredited by numerous Indian historians, teachers, and activists,[3] who accused Hill of distorting and falsifying truths in order to promote her and Yuha's own sociopolitical agendas (Hill was particularly influenced by the works of Ayn Rand, to which critics such as author and Native American activist Vine Deloria, Jr. and anthropologist of Northern Plains peoples Raymond J. DeMallie compared Hanta Yo,[4] and critics also called Yuha's background into question).[5] Suddenly, all of the Native American support that had been promised to the miniseries version of Hanta Yo evaporated. When the project finally aired on May 20 through 21, 1984, its running time (and budget) had been cut in half, and the producer was obliged to qualify the credits by noting that the teleplay was based partially on Hill's book, but mostly on "other sources". The filming location had to be changed from New Mexico to Thousand Oaks, California, so as not to offend the Indian tribes in the former state.
References
edit- ^ "THE MYSTIC WARRIOR (DO NOT USE) [sic] (1984)". Turner Classic Movies. p. MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
- ^ "BEHIND THE BEST SELLERS". The New York Times. 1979-03-25. Retrieved 2023-06-26.
- ^ "Behavior: A Book Ignites an Indian Uprising". TIME Magazine. 5 May 1980. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
- ^ Kroeber, Karl (1979). "ASAIL Newsletter N.S. Vol. 3, No. 4, Winter, 1979". Newsletter of the Association for Study of American Indian Literatures. Vol. 3, no. 4, Winter, 1979. University of Nebraska Press. Archived from the original on 28 September 2015. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
- ^ "Behavior: A Book Ignites an Indian Uprising". TIME Magazine. 5 May 1980. p. 2. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
The critics have also taken aim at Hill's Sioux collaborator, Chunksa Yuha, who spent 14 years working on the book with her in return for room, board and cigarette money. In the introduction, Chunksa Yuha writes that he was 'kept out of schools and away from contact with whites until age twelve' to learn the ancient, suppressed ceremonies. But Donald Gurnoe Jr., of the Minnesota Indian Affairs Intertribal Board, says Chunksa Yuha's real name is Lorenzo Blacksmith, the son of an Episcopal deacon, and the National Archives show that Blacksmith attended Bureau of Indian Affairs schools when he was between the ages of five and 18.