Over this summer, I enrolled in a course titled “Specialized Strategic Communication Application: Indian Country” at my university. It was an interesting and eye-opening course since I was not that familiar with Indigenous culture and its representation in media. One of my assignments was to watch a film made by an Indigenous person or about Indigenous culture and I chose Mekko by Sterlin Harjo.
*I’d like to note that I’m not a professional film critic and these opinions are mine and mine only. I interpret based on what I think is happening or what is meant in certain scenes. This article contains some minor spoilers, by the way!
Sterling Harjo, a member of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma with Muscogee heritage, is known for the hit FX comedy series, Reservation Dogs that he co-produced and co-written with Taika Waititi. He directed Mekko in 2015.
Mekko is set around a community of homeless indigenous people in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and follows our main protagonist, Mekko, who is being released from prison after 19 years. Mekko had killed his cousin during a drunken brawl and had no other family or friends after his release, as his “surviving Creek-tribe family members haven’t and will never forgive him” (Harvey 2015). Mekko is homeless and meets a waitress named Tafv; his old friend, Bunnie; a Native college dropout named Allan that was battling substance abuse; the homeless Native community in Tulsa; and a sinister character named Bill who claims he’s the homeless community’s “protector”.
There are several exceptional sides to this film. One of them is the main cast consisting of indigenous actors and actresses; its crew is also from the local area with knowledge of Tulsa and the indigenous community. The main cast of Mekko consists of Rod Rondeaux, a member of the Crow tribe of Montana, as Mekko; Zahn McClarnon of Hunkpapa Lakota heritage as Bill; Sarah Podemski of Saulteaux heritage as Tafv; Wotko Long, a member of the Muscogee nation as Bunnie; and Tre Harjo, Sterlin’s brother and of Seminole and Muscogee heritage, as Allan (IMDb.com).
Rondeaux’s performance as Mekko was truly captivating. Although his character often seemed introverted, Rondeaux was able to show the qualities of what makes Mekko interesting. McClarnon’s character, Bill, is the main antagonist and is somewhere between one-dimensional and well-developed. Bill is the opposite of what Mekko is, the yin to Mekko’s yang. Bill is loud, violent, and puts all the attention on him while Mekko is quiet and more reserved.
There was one scene that I felt was thematic to the film’s purpose. A homeless man Mekko met asked him if he was Indian, further asking Mekko, “you civilized then?” (Harjo 2015). Despite the homeless man claiming he had Native blood, he was a white man who said that to Mekko, an indigenous man. This can be a way that Harjo is showing that language can be weaponized and how, despite the modern era, there are still microaggressions and blatant racist words that indigenous people face.
Another similar instance occurs after Mekko kills his cousin; he talks of how he “started drinking” and how he “drank until it stopped” to avoid feeling guilty. In a few short scenes, the other homeless members can be seen drinking alcohol or taking drugs (Harjo 2015). This can be taken as Harjo talking about the problems and stereotypes that face indigenous communities who are left to the streets, both literally and figuratively, by society.
As Donato Totaro of Off Screen states, Mekko “manages to speak to the core of [Harjo’s] Native roots while opening up to more universal themes such as homelessness, disenfranchisement, poverty, social crime and cultural alienation” (2017).
References
Harjo, S. (Director). (2015). Mekko [Film]. A Crazy Eagle Film Production.
Harvey, D. (2015, September 12). Toronto Film Review: ‘Mekko’. Variety. https://variety.com/2015/film/reviews/mekko-review-toronto-film-festival-1201591452/.
IMDb.com. (2015). Mekko. IMDb. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3743068/fullcredits/?ref_=tt_cl_sm.
Totaro, D. (2017, June). Mekko: A Drifter’s Tale of Longing For Home. Offscreen. https://offscreen.com/view/mekko-tale-of-longing-for-home.