Native American Literatures

							Native American Literatures

Spring 2008

Maija Naakka 77202




           Identity and the Notion of Home in Michael Apted’s Thunderheart



1. Introduction


This essay intends to take a closer look at the way identity and the notions of home and

homecoming are depicted in Thunderheart (1992), a film by the British director Michael

Apted. The identity in question is that of an FBI-agent who is one-quarter Sioux on his

father’s side and to whom his Native heritage is a shameful burden he would rather hide. This

weight of heritage, however, begins to appear to him in a new light after he is sent to conduct

a murder investigation on a reservation located in South Dakota. There he for the first time in

his life actually encounters life on a reservation and slowly comes to terms with his own

history.

  Unfortunately I was not able to find as much previous work written on Thunderheart as I

assumed, but with the help of some background material, I will try to examine how the

changes in the main character’s sense of self are represented as the film progresses and what

kind of tools the director uses to convey this to the viewer. Furthermore, the notions of home

and homecoming are also present and the idea of home seems to change during the two hours

of the film.