Shining Elk's two roles

Shining Elk Sundance successIn his two premiere appearances, Shining Elk’s characters include Gary, one of “The Mission Boyz” in the film “La Mission,” directed and written by Peter Bratt and Martin Two-Spirit in Kevin Willmott’s film “The Only Good Indian.”

“La Mission” takes place in San Francisco’s Mission District, an area highly populated with Hispanics. The main character of the film, Che, played by Benjamin Bratt is a patriarch of the community who is also an ex-convict and recovering alcoholic. Che discovers his son is gay and reacts with violence.

Shining Elk plays one of the “Mission Boyz,” a group of Che’s close friends that salvage junked cars and transform them into low rider classics.

“The Only Good Indian” stars Wes Studi of “Last of the Mohicans” who plays a 1900s Cherokee bounty hunter hired to capture an escaped student from the Haskell Indian Boarding School. In the film, Shining Elk portrays Martin Two Spirit a patient in an Indian insane asylum.Comment:  For more on the subject, see The Best Indian Movies.