In 2017, Jessica Chastain starred in a movie about a woman painter in the 1870’s, Catherine Weldon, who traveled West to paint Sitting Bull, played by William Grey-eyes. The movie was overshadowed by “Molly’s Game”, which she also completed that year. “Woman Walks Ahead” takes place in a time when suffrage would soon be on the rise and the way of life for Native Americans was on the decline. Two people intersected in this pivotal time when Sitting Bull, the last great chief, and Catherine Weldon, on the cusp of women’s suffrage, experience each other’s suffering. Having recently visited the Big Horn Medicine Wheel in Wyoming, this movie resonated with me in its depiction of the Native American soul by it’s last great chief, Sitting Bull.

In the beginning of the movie, Sitting Bull’s nephew explained to Catherine conditions of the reservation. “Our young get drunk, the old dance the Ghost Dance.” Nearly 150 years later, not much has changed for Native Americans on the reservation. While they have retained their culture in the form of vision quests, tribal dances, medicine wheel ceremonies, and sweat lodges, alcoholism and disease are rampant. They are the poorest socioeconomic group in our nation.

“Billions of government dollars haven’t improved economic growth. The reservation system makes this impossible. The government holds the land of the Natives “in trust” which means they can’t get loans or sell land. Furthermore, natural resources worth $1.5 Trillion are available for development but bureaucracy in the form of government regulations make this process cumbersome, at best, if able to complete at all.” (1) “American Indians Are Still Getting a Raw Deal”, Prager.com, 2017, Youtube)

As the movie progresses and Catherine begins her portrait, Sitting Bull showed Catherine that “he is also a painter.” He had exquisitely painted scenes from every year of his life on animal skins: Including the “vision quest” that gave him a “sign”–“White men falling from the skies.” Two days later, Custer arrived and his army was defeated by Sitting Bull.

By 1876, Sitting Bull was retired from battle, but first spent time in prison. When Catherine questioned him about this he answered, “I was never in jail. I made myself into an Eagle when they thought I was sleeping.”

It’s been recorded that Native American Shamans transform into animal spirits when they journey to the spirit world. The eagle appeared in several scenes in the movie and is seemingly Sitting Bull’s “power animal.” These spiritual practices have endured to modern times, despite the frightening statistics of life on the reservation. As always, there is the life of the ego and one led by spirit, which shines through impoverished circumstances.

Sitting Bull discarded his revenge but his spirit was crushed. “I’ve learned to swallow my revenge,” he concluded. “It’s like swallowing rocks. ” To which Catherine responded, “We fight now with an election.”

As the movie moves toward a conclusion, Sitting Bull is inspired by Catherine to speak at a meeting with Calvary officials and the tribes people. “The thunder spirits have returned,” he declared. “They will vote for us.”

Sitting Bull arrived at the meeting in full tribal attire. He addressed the gathering prior to a vote regarding selling of tribal land to the government: “The Great Spirit speaks to us from the dust of our diplomats, priests, and fallen children. We cannot sell pieces of the earth. The Earth belongs to God.”

The vote resulted in rejection of the sell.

Seemingly, this was a victory, but later, with Catherine, Sitting Bull revealed, “This is the winter that I will pass over into the spirit world.”

In the final scene, Sitting Bull is shot by a sniper as he leaves his tent with arresting guards. The land is taken from the Native Americans, despite the result of the vote. As the scene fades, the eagle is seen flying and then landing in the snow.

After Sitting Bull’s death, the tribes fled south. Weeks later, they were slaughtered at Wounded Knee.

The dignity of Sitting Bull, in defeat and death, and the endurance over time of Native American spiritual traditions, is a soul victory.

But where are the celebrity donors today to aide the Natives in their struggle against government bureaucracy, brutal poverty, and disease?

Catherine Weldon became a Native American champion as a result of her time with Sitting Bull. We need more like her , to “walk ahead” today, but with peace and “in the beauty way.”