Despite some mystical elements, there is a gritty realism to crime drama Dark Winds that comes from a place of authenticity, according to its star and executive producer, Zahn McClarnon.
The groundbreaking series – set on an impoverished Navajo reservation in the starkly beautiful American southwest in the early 1970s – has a cast that’s 90% Native American, which he describes as a dream come true.
“This is the first cop drama with Native leads, Native writers, Native producers and a Native director,” he said to Vulture.
“It’s great to walk onto a set and realise we’re getting a chance to tell our own stories.”
Much of the authenticity comes from McClarnon himself, who plays veteran Navajo cop Lt Joe Leaphorn. Of Hunkpapa Lakota and Irish heritage, the actor grew up in Montana and spent a lot of his childhood living with relatives on a reservation.
“Being part white and part Native, I always felt I didn’t belong to either community,” he reveals.
“I took a lot of those experiences and put them into Joe.”
Dark Winds is ostensibly a murder mystery – Leaphorn investigating brutal deaths often complicated by his own painful, personal history.
Zahn McClarnon as Joe Leaphorn in season 1 of Dark Winds. Credit: Michael Moriatis / Stalwart Productions / AMC
However, the first season of Dark Winds was his first lead role and he is mesmerising. His well-worn face is perfect for TV and the cinematography takes full advantage of it. Each time Leaphorn is onscreen the camera lingers on his every expression, be it anger, dog-tiredness or sorrow.
Zahn McClarnon as Joe Leaphorn in Dark Winds season 1 Credit: Michael Moriatis / Stalwart Productions
He cares deeply about his community, even if many of the residents resent and distrust him for being on the side of what they see as “white man’s law”.
He carries himself with stoic dignity and decency, only occasionally allowing his true emotions to break through when alone. McClarnon drew on personal experience to flesh out his character’s moral code and emotional scars.
Backing up the lieutenant are fellow Tribal Police officers Bernadette Manuelito (Jessica Matten) – a deeply spiritual woman who would rather spend time with her horses than other people – and newcomer Jim Chee (Kiowa Gordon), who has his own bitter childhood experiences and a hidden agenda.
Jessica Matten as Sgt. Bernadette Manuelito in Dark Winds season 2. Credit: Michael Moriatis / AMC
Ever-present in Dark Winds is the element of racism. In one distressing scene, a pregnant teenager is checked out by a white doctor who asks if she plans to have the baby at home or in the medical clinic.
With a fake smile, the nurse standing nearby translates his query into Navajo, adding, “After you deliver, he will operate on you to prevent you from having more children while you’re under anesthesia.” She smiles again as the doctor smiles back, oblivious to her warning.
The nurse is Leaphorn’s wife, Emma (Deanna Allison), who carries her own personal trauma that drives her to protect the more vulnerable people in her community.
The gripping action continues in the third season of Dark Winds, which deals with more murder and more mysterious cults. Like the first two seasons, it’s based on the Leaphorn & Chee series of 18 novels written by Tony Hillerman between 1970 to 2006, and – following his death – eight further novels penned by his daughter, Anne. There is no shortage of material the directors can tap into - proven by the fact season 4 has already been green-lit.
Kiowa Gordon as Jim Chee (left) and Zahn McClarnon as Joe Leaphorn. Credit: Michael Moriatis / Stalwart Productions / AMC
“They’re seeing the different characteristics of those cultures and the humour,” McClarnon tells UPI.
“They’re not seeing them on horseback in feathers and leather sitting next to a teepee.”
Three seasons of Dark Winds are streaming now at SBS On Demand.
