I have often heard the phrase “geography is destiny”.
Originally a geopolitical theory that refers to certain geographic regions that
carry strategic advantage, it can also be applied to the way your life unfolds,
the opportunities open to you and ultimately to what you are able to achieve in
life. This philosophy was brilliantly portrayed in the 2017 neo-Western murder
mystery movie inspired by a true story, Wind River, starring Jeremy
Renner and Elizabeth Olsen.
The story takes place on the Wind River Indian Reservation
in Wyoming in the middle of winter. It is an inhospitable place, isolated from
the rest of the world in a winter wonderland that can turn vicious in an
instant. Early in the movie we learn the atmosphere becomes so cold that the air
in the lungs can actually crystallize, leading to death. When expert tracker
and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Agent Cory Lambert (played by Jeremy Renner) discovers
a young woman’s body six miles from the nearest structure, he recognizes the
telltale signs of pulmonary hemorrhage. The question is why she was so far from
anything; tracing her footsteps, he comes to the conclusion she had been
running for six miles—barefoot on ice and snow.
The Wind River Indian Reservation is a place forgotten by
modern man, though it encompasses over 3,000 square miles as well as 3,500
square miles of water. It is the home of just over 26,000 Eastern Shoshone and
Northern Arapaho Native Americans, descendants of people pushed onto the
reservation from their original territory beginning in 1868, some 30 years
after the Cherokee were relocated along the Trail of Tears to Oklahoma.
The Reservation has only a handful of people on their police
force and because the FBI has jurisdiction on federal property, an agent is
called in from Las Vegas when the coroner confirms the victim had been sexually
assaulted. Jane Banner, played by Elizabeth Olsen, is unfamiliar with the
unforgiving landscape and relies on Cory Lambert to assist her in the investigation.
The landscape itself becomes an antagonist. Regardless of
the temperature in the room, you will find yourself shivering and reaching for
an extra throw or blanket. The fact that Native Americans were forced to live
there—and they survived—is a testament to the ability of human beings to adapt.
Opportunities there are nearly non-existent; in one scene, a young man is asked
why he didn’t get out when he might have been able to escape the poverty, high
crime and hopelessness. One gets the sense that because these people have lived
there for generations, sometimes the land itself prevents them from straying
far, regardless of the opportunities that might be available to them elsewhere.
It is as if their feet have roots grown deep into the frozen ground, fusing
them forever to that place and time.
I admit I closed my eyes during a scene toward the end of
the movie, where we learn in a flashback what occurred to the young woman and
how she came to be outside in her bare feet, running for her life for six miles
over ice and snow that would have stopped an average human being in their
tracks long before it stopped her. By this time, the haunting landscape and the plight of its people had
pervaded my spirit and long after the movie was over, I felt as if I was still
there.
Missing person statistics exist for every demographic except
Native American women. The life expectancy on the Wind River Indian Reservation
is only 49 years and unemployment rates are more than 80%. (Bustle,2017) Though missing person statistics are not kept, Native American women
are 10 times more likely to be murdered than other groups and experience rape
and sexual assault at 4 times the national average. (NewYork Times, 2012)
If geography determines our destiny, it is difficult to
fathom why anyone would remain in a place that appears destined to kill them—perhaps
the original intent when these tribes were forced from their original
territories. And yet it happens all across the globe. The invisible system that
anchors us remain so strong that it is often difficult—if not impossible—to break
free.
Wind River: five stars and highly recommended
