Share

Four Sheets to the Wind begins with a Muscogee language narration of a story of a rabbit that swallowed a bear, while Cufe (Cree for “rabbit”) Smallhill (Cody Lightning, Smoke Signals) finds his father Frankie “more quiet than usual”—Frankie has committed suicide. Cufe follows his father’s wishes and buries him in a nearby pond. The death and funeral reanimate buried emotions of stark loneliness, neglect, and desire. Cufe’s mother Cora (Jeri Arrendondo) is unhappy about her husband’s not having a proper funeral, but is trying to move on after years of enduring her husband’s silence. Cufe’s troubled sister Miri (Ojibway actress/singer Tamara Podemski) returns home, only to resume a past conflict with Cora. Cufe leaves his Oklahoma reservation to check out Tulsa—the big city—and to visit Miri. As Miri’s not home when he arrives, Cufe hangs out with her neighbor, Francie, and finds shelter from his immense loneliness from his father’s death—and also burgeoning love. He discovers Miri’s self-destructive downward spiral with alcohol and strange men as she aimlessly and compulsively reaches for comfort. MORE »