These words are said often in Dreamkeeper, a two-part Hallmark production that runs from 9 to 11 p.m. Sunday and Monday on ABC.
The movie is the tale of an old man at the end of his road and a young man on a road to nowhere. They are Pete Chasing Horse and his grandson, Shane Chasing Horse, members of the Lakota Sioux tribe who live on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.
Pete is a storyteller, which is not someone who spins yarns to anyone who will listen. His is a sacred trust, to share the legends of his people and impart the wisdom within them. But Pete is old, and he fears that when he leaves this world, the stories will disappear, for no one seems interested in carrying on the tradition.
Pete's bigger fear is for his grandson. Shane's father disappeared some years back, more interested in where his next drink was coming from than in his wife and son. Now Shane has fallen in with a street gang on the reservation, and his future seems bleak.
It's bleaker than even Pete knows, for Shane owes money to his gang, money he can't pay. When Shane's mother urges him to take Pete to the All Nations gathering of the tribes in Albuquerque, Shane can't fathom spending all that time in the company of a doddering old man who tells story after story. But a trip like this would have its advantages: It would get him away from the gang and give him time to come up with the money he owes.
So they set off in Pete's broken-down pickup truck, pulling a trailer in which Pete's last horse rides, a gift for the giveaway ceremony at the All Nations.
Dreamkeeper is a production of Robert Halmi, Sr., and Robert Halmi, Jr., who gave the world such "events" as The Odyssey, Merlin, Moby Dick, and The 10th Kingdom.
Although one can argue that the Halmis are guilty of paying more attention to the spectacle side of the stories rather than the literary side, they are also the only ones producing such specials for television on a regular basis. They are willing to spend money on high production values, and if their cast is not filled with big-name performers, it still offers plenty of talent and a high degree of entertainment.
The lack of big names is an advantage for Dreamkeeper, for it allows us to accept the performers as their characters. Pete is played by August Schellenberg, whose most mainstream roles to date were in the Free Willy movies. Eddie Spears, an actor who truly is a member of the Lakota Sioux, plays Shane.
Perhaps the most recognizable of the performers is Sheila Tousey, who plays Shane's mother. She has been featured in PBS's Leaphorn and Chee mysteries as Joe Leaphorn's wife, Emma.
The journey of Pete and Shane is the weakest part of Dreamkeeper. Their rocky relationship is smoothed over too easily as Shane comes to appreciate his heritage.
On the other hand, the journey is merely a vehicle for getting us from one story to another.
They are wonderful stories, filled with courage, wisdom, poignancy, and comedy. There is the one about High Horse (Sean Wei Mah) who is in love with Bluebird Woman (Sage Galesi), but the girl's father rejects High Horse's suit. High Horse makes one last foolish attempt to steal his beloved, but he not only fails, he loses his honor. But fate isn't done with him yet.
Another is the story of Tehan (Scott Grimes), the white boy who is adopted into the Kiowa clan but who is not fully accepted because of his skin color. The love of his adopted sister, Talks a Lot (Delanna Studi) makes the doubters into believers.
The Legend of Coyote and Iktome is a tale of two tricksters who have the tables turned on them.
There are more legends, many more, and they span the Indian nation. Some are legends of the Lakota, others of the Blackfeet, still others of the Pacific Northwest. Though there are differences in what is considered courage and honor, they are meant to instruct, and each has a lesson.
Shane at first spurns the lessons. "Times change, Grandpa," he snarls.
"Times change," Pete agrees. "People don't."
Another time, when Shane has been particularly whiny, an exasperated Pete snaps, "There is no word in our language for 'me' or 'I,' just 'we' and 'us.'■" Then he segues into the Legend of Raven, in which a young woman sacrifices herself for the good of her tribe.
"That girl didn't think of herself, she thought of her people," Pete explains.
Along with his stories, Pete is somewhat of a trickster himself, and he has a few schemes left to help Shane find his way.
With its almost exclusively Native American cast giving the movie a major dose of credibility, Dreamkeeper is a fascinating look into another culture. Like the legends of the various tribes, there are differences in points of view from mainstream America, but there are many more similarities.
If nothing else, that makes the four hours spent watching Dreamkeeper well worthwhile.
First Published December 26, 2003, 1:06 p.m.
