West of Thunder Page #2

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EUGENE RODGERS:

Something on your mind?

PETER LEWIS:

Indians should stay on the

reservation.

EUGENE RODGERS:

Scalp trading vermin.

KNOCKING ON DOOR

EUGENE RODGERS:

Hello, can I help you?

HENRY SEED:

Hello, I'm sorry to be

bothering you at mealtime but I

was wondering if you would

like these blankets...

They are made by Lakota

artisans.

EUGENE RODGERS:

How much are they?

HENRY SEED:

I believe in that old adage that

if you cast your bread upon the

water, it comes back ten-fold.

EUGENE RODGERS:

Well that's mighty kind of you.

They appear to be well

made blankets...

They must have been hard to come

by.

HENRY SEED:

Well I... I do have my sources.

EUGENE RODGERS:

Well, we appreciate the gesture.

Would you care to join us for

dinner Mr....?

HENRY SEED:

Seed... Henry Seed.

EUGENE RODGERS:

Henry this is my wife Katherine

and our son Matthew.

KATHRYN RODGERS:

Pleased to meet you.

HENRY SEED:

It's my pleasure Kathryn.

KATHRYN RODGERS:

Please join us.

HENRY SEED:

Thank you. What's your name?

MATTHEW RODGERS:

Matthew.

HENRY SEED:

Matthew my name is Henry Seed.

Nice to meet you.

MATTHEW RODGERS:

Nice to meet you too.

KATHRYN RODGERS:

Thank you for the blankets,

they're lovely.

HENRY SEED:

Thank you and you're welcome,

they're very talented artisans.

No grace, no thanksgiving?

EUGENE RODGERS:

You'll have to excuse us, Henry,

we just aren't into that habit

anymore... but you are more

than welcome to have a silent

prayer if you wish.

HENRY SEED:

To be honest with you it's been

a very long time for me

as well...

What do you do for a

living Eugene?

EUGENE RODGERS:

I am a rancher. Got the state's

only long horn cattle.

I've got over 200 head.

HENRY SEED:

You must have a hell of

a lot of land.

EUGENE RODGERS:

Well... we started with 160

acres deeded to us by the

government and then we were

able to buy up another 640

acres per the Treaty of 1873.

HENRY SEED:

Let's see... if memory serves

that was the amended treaty of

the Nez Perce Treaty of 1873

that stated,

once Indians were removed

either peaceably or forcibly,

the land was then given...

I'm sorry, sold to ranchers and

homesteaders.

EUGENE RODGERS:

Yeah I guess that was it.

HENRY SEED:

Did you have any problems

getting them off your land?

EUGENE RODGERS:

I had no problem whatsoever...

CREEPY MUSIC PLAYS

HENRY SEED:

Matthew do you like drawings?

MATTHEW RODGERS:

Yeah...I've got a big book of

them.

HENRY SEED:

I'd like to share these drawings

with you.

They were done by a friend

of mine.

He's a Lakota medicine man. He's

a spiritual man...

a man who has visions.

Do you like them?

MATTHEW RODGERS:

Yeah!

HENRY SEED:

Do you want to know a

little bit about the story?

MATTHEW RODGERS:

Sure!

HENRY SEED:

OK.

This drawing represents

mankind and the space right

there means that the circle

is broken...

And these are Lakota people.

MATTHEW RODGERS:

Are they sleeping?

HENRY SEED:

In a sense they are

Matthew... But these are yours.

MATTHEW RODGERS:

Thank you Mr. Seed.

HENRY SEED:

You are welcome. Well, I must be

off.

Thank you so much for the meal.

EUGENE RODGERS:

Thank you for the nice gifts.

We appreciate the kindness.

HENRY SEED:

It was no problem

whatsoever...

NATIVE AMERICAN MUSIC PLAYS

ELIZABETH JANE:

Hey Gusty I got this book in

town for you.

GUSTY LITTLE THUNDER:

Thank you and I got this

necklace for you...

ELIZABETH JANE:

Oh, Thank you. It's beautiful!

I wonder if I'll ever get to use

these things like my father did?

GUSTY LITTLE THUNDER:

Do you ever wonder what he was

like?

ELIZABETH JANE:

He died when I was so young.

My mother doesn't really

like to talk about it,

but she says that he was a

good and handsome man.

She says he was a dreamer

with a good heart and would

have liked the fact that

you and I are friends...

I wish I could

have known him.

GUSTY LITTLE THUNDER:

Well, our family who is

no longer here,

are always watching over us.

ELIZABETH JANE:

I'd like to think that...

Hey Gusty,

if you had to pick one boy in

all the world to be

with who would you choose?

GUSTY LITTLE THUNDER:

I am partial to strong boys...

with a soft voice and nice

smile...I like your brother...

ELIZABETH JANE:

Do you think

you would ever like to

live in the big city?

GUSTY LITTLE THUNDER:

I think I'd like it to be...

how it used to be...

ELIZABETH JANE:

Was that thunder?

GUSTY LITTLE THUNDER:

I think that was just the wild

horses...Hello Gaka.

ELIZABETH JANE:

Hello Mr. Little Thunder

LITTLE THUNDER:

Hello Tacosha...are

you ready to go?

GUSTY LITTLE THUNDER:

Gaka can you tell us

a story first?

LITTLE THUNDER:

When I was a child I

had a vision..I was standing

on the highest mountain of

them all and beneath me was

the whole hoop of the world.

And I saw the sacred hoop

of my people was one of many

hoops that made one circle

and in the center grew one

mighty flowering tree to

shelter all the children

of one mother and one father.

Slowly all circles will widen

connect just like your

les are connected in friendship.

INTERIOR TAVERN : BAND

PLAYING CALLED THE FISHKILLERS:

(singing)

This is our world,

This is where we live and it

takes our lives just as it

gives and it nurtures us and

burns us too and it taunts

us to make it through....

HENRY SEED:

(in Lakota)

HENRY SEED:
(VO)

There are things in my past,

present and future that I

am equally proud and equally

ashamed of.

FIDDLE MUSIC PLAYS

ERRATICALLY:

COWBOY #1:

Hey you Jackaninny you

stole land from my uncle!

COWBOY #2:

It was legal..and I know

what you did with my sister!

PASTOR CALMES DOYLE:

A few of my church members have

been asking me about this

Henry Seed. He's got'em

spooked a bit.

Who do you think he is?

LITTLE THUNDER:

He's a spirit...a thunder

being, a Wakinyan,

who is from the West. He

inhabits an earthly

body for his purpose.

PASTOR CALMES DOYLE:

Is he a vengeful spirit?

LITTLE THUNDER:

He is.

PASTOR CALMES DOYLE:

In the Old Testament Book of

Daniel...the prophet saw four

winds carrying four

creatures from the north,

south, east, and a man-like

creature coming from the west

bringing retribution and

revenge.

LITTLE THUNDER:

If we choose his

path it will only bring us

destruction and separation.

PASTOR CALMES DOYLE:

"They shall mingle with the seed

of men...

but they shall not

cleave to one another....

CLARENCE O'LEARY:

If we can get this here right

up at the top here if one

of you wants to bring it up?

HENRY SEED:

Hello Father. Do you have

any work today?

CLARENCE O'LEARY:

Actually we do!

We need help with one job

rightly. You seem pretty

strong....Boy that must have

been a close call there.

HENRY SEED:

Actually it wasn't a

close call...it went

straight through my heart.

CLARENCE O'LEARY:

Ooh!

You must have had the saints

watching you that day...

HENRY SEED:

Well someone saw it...

CLARENCE O'LEARY:

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