Native American Film Series: “Barking Water”

A man lays in a hospital bed dying. Sitting next to him, a woman flips through old photographs. Somewhere in a vision the man is petting a horse. Somewhere else there is a flowing river. The man and woman both look weathered, hardened by a life together and apart. In the hall outside their hospital room is a reflection of their lives: the day-to-day, the waiting, the heartbreak and the leaving. The leaving is where the story begins in the film, Barking Water, by Director Sterlin Harjo (Seminole/Creek).

Native Film - Barking Water 2For the man, Frankie, the journey is about preparing for his inevitable death and the importance of making it home before he dies. For the woman, Irene, she is all that Frankie has despite how he may have wronged her. Yet, Irene isn’t without fault. This is a story about people, after all.

Out of money and far from home, Frankie and Irene rely on the help of friends, family and strangers along the way. Call them favors owed, favors returned, or favors paid forward. It isn’t a concept too unfamiliar to life in Indian country. In a place where resources can be limited, people call on each other in their time of need. Perhaps it may be a few dollars, a ride to town, something to eat, or a place to stay, but what it really is about is holding each other up. Part of Irene’s journey is returning the favor.

Love can do that to a person. We are all traveling somewhere. Despite our individual journeys, sometimes we travel the same road together. We call it love. And, it’s a funny thing… Frankie and Irene have travelled together and they have travelled apart. Journeys can be like that.

With Frankie’s terminal diagnosis, they find themselves on the same road again and, despite being a new part of their journey, their history remains… their old hurt, their old ways, their old love. In any relationship, we all do our share of help and harm to others. This is pretty evident in Frankie and Irene’s love.

Native Film - Barking Water 1Place is a part of love too… the place we call home, the place where we fell in love, the place we associate with our ancestors and family, the place we remember in our time of dying. In the end, sometimes we have to journey back to our beginning. Even though these places, in this case the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, may also be associated with hurt and loss, they carry too much importance to deny in our hearts.

Barking Water gets it. Not only does Barking Water get the love and places we relate to as Native Americans and human beings, but it also gets the way we live. Frankie and Irene are common people facing common struggles. They walk with truth, quiet humility, and strength. We can assume that their experiences as Native Americans shape their characters – but Barking Water doesn’t get involved in dramatizations or stereotypes of contemporary reservations or Indian people. It is not that kind of film. Rather, it is a story about real people, people who happen to be Native American, on a journey to which we can all relate. I highly recommend that you check out Barking Water.

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4 Comments

  1. Posted November 16, 2014 at 9:24 pm | Permalink

    Best film I have ever seen. . It gave me something…an emotional memory of these two people, who I felt I knew and loved. So , touching and beautiful

  2. Posted January 12, 2015 at 10:46 pm | Permalink

    Loved the naturalness,it’s how I want to leave.A learning journey – never too late.

  3. Posted July 22, 2015 at 6:22 am | Permalink

    Nice information, good stuff with good ideas and concepts, lots of great information and inspiration, both of which we all need; thanks for this Great blog

  4. Posted June 21, 2016 at 5:51 am | Permalink

    GREAT SITE!

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