Characters
This Land, is conceived as a multi-protagonist, multi-generational family saga, focused on three families representing the three bands of the Coyote People.
Ten years of story time will pass between each season of eight episodes. A 15-year old in Season One will be 25 in Season Two, 35 in Season Three... and so on. Across Seasons characters will become parents, then grandparents; they will be born, grow old and die . Their children will then become the new focus of the story in the next season.
Rivalries that have their roots in Season One will play out across the generations and across the seasons. White Euro-American characters are there for the coyote to react to and we will not follow them as characters in their own right.
Only two characters alive in Season One will still be alive in Season Five.
Four Principle Characters
Many Faces, is sixteen at the start of episode one. He has inherited the lack of principle, scheming guile and self-centred, ruthlessness of his mother and a profound contempt for his father. In Series 2 and 3 he will become the chief ‘politician’ of the Coyotes in their dealings with the white man. Willing to cooperate and collaborate with the white men if it is to the advantage of him and his family and with little loyalty to the wider community of the Coyote People. By the time of the Coho Treaty in 1855 (Series Four), will have become the Roger Stone of the Coyote, a profoundly dishonest, backroom manipulator and ally of the white man.
White Horse, twenty at the start of episode one. He is a young warrior and future leader. More introvert than both his parents, he has the emotional stability of his mother but with the honesty and principled courage of his father. This makes him potentially a great leader. He is the principled but perhaps naive, nemesis of Many Faces, committed to defending the Coyote way of life but unable to conceive the levels of brutality and treachery the white men and their allies are capable of. Perhaps JFK to Many Faces Roger Stone.
Tangled Head, seventeen at start of episode one. He is a young Medicine Man in the making. Kind, funny and good-natured but clumsy and forgetful. In modern terms he probably has dyspraxia and ADHD. By Series 3 he will have become a powerful spiritual leader and his visions will give him more foresight about the disaster facing his people than anyone else. The Martin Luther King of the Coyote whose life will end just as tragically and violently.
Shining Eyes, eighteen at the start of episode one. She is an independent, funny, courageous and attractive young woman who is being courted by both White Horse and Running Wolf. A 'tomboy' who resists her gendered female role and aspires to the status of a warrior.
But This Land, is a cross-generational ‘family saga’ and it is within the tribal bands, clans and families that the story of these principal characters plays out.
Wise Water Band (non-Treaty) Principled and traditional.
Standing Bear, 40. (War Counselor) An honest man of principle and courage but wears his heart on his sleeve and is too quick to rise to any perceived wrong. Thus, good in a battle but weak in the 'politics' of life in a communal society governed by consensus rather than the assertion of might.
Snow-on-Her, 37. Wife of Standing Bear. Intelligent, principled, kind and gentle but nobody’s fool. Underneath the pleasant easiness of her personality. She has balls of steel. She is the daughter of White Wolf, brother of Broken Hand. She has prematurely white hair, hence the name, a characteristic she inherited from her father.
White Horse, 20. See above.
Two Hearts, 15. A transgender teenager. A funny, intelligent and empathetic observer of people and social interactions. A peace-maker, he can usually see both sides in a dispute and can often find the compromise that diffuses the tension. In Series 2 he will become the 'consigliere' to White Horse.
Morning Owl, 14. An ambitious young woman who is irritated by her father's righteousness and her brother’s moral simplicity - She wants what she wants and sees nothing wrong in setting out to get it. Will eventually marry Many Faces (see below) and betray her own family.
The Three Rivers Band (treaty Indians) Pragmatic, modernizers.
Broken Hand, 45. (Camp Counselor) Son of White Wolf, brother of Snow-on-Her. White Wolf was a wise, brave and generous hero of the previous generation, who was killed by the Blackfeet on a buffalo hunting trip to the plains. Broken Hand's failure to live up to his father's reputation has made him an unprincipled, dishonest, opportunist and his 'aristocratic' heritage has made him arrogant and entitled (don't you know who I am?!). But the ruthless drive of his wife has secured for him the modest social position he has as Camp Counselor - everyone knows Four Shawls is the real power behind the throne. By the end of Season One Broken Hand will have become the first alcoholic of the Coyote Tribe. In Season Two he will be a laughing stock and a broken man.
Four Shawls, 43, Wife of Broken Hand. A bitter woman all too aware of her husband's weaknesses. Could have perhaps been a nicer woman if she had married a different man but her disappointment in Broken Hand has come to dominate her personality. Not without resilience and courage but driven by an overwhelming desire ‘to be somebody’ she is a self-centered and ruthless born for intrigue and politicking.
Running Wolf, 23, son of Broken Hand. Embarrassed by his father and determined NOT to be like him and reassert the 'aristocratic' heritage of his family. Thus, he has become an accomplished warrior and full participant in community life. However, he mistakes bravado for courage and bullying for strength and personal ambition for leadership. Cousin of White Horse.
Many Faces, 15. See above.
The Roaring Falls Band (Neutral)
Leaping Fish, 45, (Fishing Counselor) a quiet, composed, emotionally centred man who is confident in his own competence and not easily riled.
Singing Bird, 40. Wife of Leaping Fish. A funny, no-nonsense, woman, with the ability to cut to the point. Prone to cutting, witty sarcasm and self-deprecation. Daughter of Burning Sky and Silent Thunder of the Stoney River Band.
Tangled Head, 17. See above.
Shining Eyes, 18. See above.
Burning Sky, 50. Medicine Woman. Wife of Silent Thunder. Mother of Singing Bird. An intensely spiritual woman who is paradoxically very down-to-earth.