Zahn McClarnon – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

DARK WINDS Season 3 – Review by Susan Granger

September 18, 2025September 21, 2025 Susan Granger amc, Dark Winds: Season 3, Graham Roland, Indigenous, Jenna Elfman, Kiowa Gordon, netflix, robert redford, series, Tony Hillerman, Zahn McClarnon

It’s significant that Robert Redford’s last screen appearance was a quick cameo on Dark Winds: Season 3. He’s seen incarcerated in a Navajo Tribal Police jail cell, playing a game of chess. Based on a series of Tony Hillerman books, Dark Winds is a pulpy, neo-noir Western crime drama set in New Mexico’s Navajo Nation during the 1970s. About 95% of the cast and crew are Indigenous, and they’re depicted in a way that’s respectful to their culture.

Reviews

DARK WINDS – Review by Diane Carson

July 18, 2024July 19, 2024 Diane Carson amc, Dark Winds, drama series, Graham Roland, Leaphorn and Chee, Navajo Nation, Noah Emmerich, rainn wilson, Zahn McClarnon

Dark Winds tells Diné stories from their perspective. Set on the Navajo Nation, based on author Tony Hillerman’s novel series Leaphorn and Chee, Dark Winds foregrounds investigations into murders and mayhem by Tribal Policeman, Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn, his deputy Jim Chee, and Sergeant Bernadette Manuelito. The two seasons, six episodes each, immerse viewers in the reservation near Monument Valley with events straddling forensic and spiritual realms.

Reviews

RESERVATION DOGS – Review by Diane Carson

September 22, 2022September 28, 2022 Diane Carson Dallas Goldtooth, Gary Farmer, hulu, series, Sterlin Harjo, Taika Waititi, Zahn McClarnon

Teenage driven narratives stretch back to earliest films and television dramas. But, to its immense credit, the two season series Reservation Dogs breaks new, extraordinary ground. Set on an Oklahoma Indian reservation, and there are many in Oklahoma, we’ll learn four young men and women face what they consider bleak futures on the rez and envision better lives elsewhere. Typical, eh? But several unique elements elevate and recommend Reservation Dogs above what certainly could be formulaic struggles.

Reviews

DARK WINDS – Review by Susan Granger

July 18, 2022July 20, 2022 Susan Granger amc, Camel Rock Studios, Chris Eyre, Dark Winds, Deanna Allison, Graham Roland, Kiowa Gordon, Noah Emmerich, Zahn McClarnon

Why is AMC’s series Dark Winds so compelling? Perhaps because it emphasizes the importance of realistically depicting Indigenous people in Westerns and what it means to have an all-Native American writers’ room, along with Navajo elders as background extras. Series creator Graham Roland insisted on authenticity, concentrating on Navajo customs and character development. He was determined to make a show about two Native Americans who were the heroes of their own story, as opposed to being brought in by a Caucasian character.