Lady Warriors is the compelling story of the Tuba City High School girl's cross country team during their 2000 season on its quest for a fourth consecutive state championship in Arizona.The film chronicles the events from the summer trip to the Wolf Creek Running Camp in Utah to the final race at the Arizona State Meet. Throughout the film we watch the Lady Warriors grow; we share their experiences; witness their lives; see where and how traditional and modern life intersect while learning about their hopes and dreams. John C.P. Goheen (read interview below) produced, directed, photographed, and edited this exceptional documentary and he can be contacted for more information at Jgo10@aol.com. Music is blended well and performed by native artists, including Keith Secola. The video was released by Corbis Production in 2002 with distribution rights currently from Filmakers Library, and be sure to ask for the 90 minute version (they also offer a 56 minute version) as you will not want to miss a moment of this movie. To view a short trailer using your windows media player visit Terranova Pictures.com.
The Coach: Milfred Tewawina acts as the narrator and brings his experience as a Division I top ten finisher back to his home town in the role of coach as he leads his team. The town of Tuba City, and reservation life, is revealed through his eyes and his vision is rich and insightful. Team selection, meetings, travel, motivational talks, recruitment letters, race plans, and advocacy for the team members is all handled in the finest fashion. You will have to watch this film to see team rituals that will leave a lasting impression. In the coaches own words:
"My workouts that I'm giving these girls are comparable to the runners that are at the Division I level, just a notch lower. My philosophy is that I do not want to burn these girls out and I believe, I truly believe, that I am giving these girls workouts where I can get the best out of them at this level, but the same time save them for later on, later on, if they want to compete at the collegiate level."
"People come down here and live the life that we live I'm sure that they would be humbled when they leave from here because this will really teach you who you really are and what you are really about if you can live this kind of lifestyle."
"Customs and traditions are pretty darn strong around here. In order to become successful you need to believe in something and you need to know where you come from because knowing where you come from and knowing what you believe in your going to be successful"
"One thing that I've always preached among these girls is that running serves a purpose in their lives. There are no boundaries for anyone."
"In the Anglo way you have to win to succeed but in the native way it doesn't matter where you come in. What matters is that you participated and finished. For some of these girls this will be their greatest achievement in their whole life and for the others it's only the beginning. Today they honored themselves, and their tribe, and in the native way they have all contributed to life."
The Runners:
Ciji Honahnie, Hopi: As a junior she won the individual 3A title after placing second the previous two years. Will she be "on" when she competes in the state championships this year?
Marietta "Bitsie" Riggs, Navajo: Will the team captain meet her goal of finishing in the top ten in state this year?
Christina Begay, Navajo: Running since fifth grade, will she maintain her academics to have eligibility to travel and compete for her team?
Jayme Lomakema, Hopi and Navajo: She has a tough attitude, yet without a goal will she end the season on a good note?
Crystal Dugi, Navajo: She ran all Summer and enters the season in great shape. Will an ankle problem slow her progress and affect her determination this year?
Khrysten Seweingyawma, Hopi, Navajo and Black: She broke through last year onto varsity. How will her efforts during practice sit with her memories of this season?
Brandi Atene, Navajo: Initially, she wanted to have fun and stay in shape for basketball yet this freshman surprised the team by making varsity during the time trial. With a hard "initiation" during the first meet leading to cuts and scabs, how will her running lead to new goals if she stays focused?
The Film Festivals and Awards: Lady Warriors has appeared at nearly 20 film festivals and for a complete list visit Terranova Pictures.com. Some of the highlights include:
Denver International Film Festival - October 2001 People's Choice Award-winner
American Indian Film Festival - November 2001 Best Documentary Award-winner
Durango Film Festival - March 2002 Audience Award-winner
Phoenix International Film Festival - March 2002 Best Picture Award-winner
International Family Film Festival - April 2002 Best Documentary, Runner-up
Saguaro Film Festival - May 2002 Best Documentary Award-winner
Maine International Film Festival - July 2002 Best Documentary, Runner-up
Santa Fe Film Festival - December 2002 Best Native Film-winner
Postscript: The three senior girls (Bitsy, Ciji, and Christina) entered college and each has continued to find success in their running as their teams have all finished in the top 10 in their divisions. Milfred went on to coach for another school, Grey Hills Academy, for the 2001 season. He coached both the boys and girls cross country teams, taking the boys to state for the first time in any sport, finishing 5th. Milfred chose not to coach during the 2002 season.
Running Movies: As an independent film maker you could have gone anywhere to make a movie. What prompted you to follow the cross country season of girls team at Tuba City High School?
John Goheen: When I was approached by Corbis Documentaries (which no longer exists), I was given a once in a lifetime opportunity. I could pretty much do any subject anywhere in the world I wanted to and I was given a healthy budget to work with. This is something very few documentary filmmakers ever get the chance to do. In the beginning, I chose doing something on the broad subject of Native American running. Eventually, the subject of the story was narrowed down to profiling the Tuba City girl’s cross-country team.
As I worked to find a good story to tell, I decided to do a story on a high school running team. I made many, many phone calls and the name Tuba City High School kept coming up in conversation after conversation. Milfred Tewawina’s name kept coming up as well. I eventually spoke with Milfred and we agreed to meet. Milfred was very cautious about committing to such a project. As you see in the film, he is very protective of "his" girls.
Prior to meeting Milfred, one of the elements that peeked my interest about him was the fact that his great-grandfather, Louis Tewanima, is one of only two Americans to win an Olympic medal in the 10,000 meters (Billy Mills the other). I was able to actually get film of the 1912 Olympics showing Louis, but the Olympics own the rights and they wanted $25,000 for less than 25 seconds of film. And that was for only 5 years. Milfred ended up getting to see the footage for the first time, so there was some good that came out of it.
Originally, both the girls and boys teams were to be profiled, but working alone on this film, I discovered it was impossible to cover both. At the first meet, so much happened with the girl’s team, that I realized I couldn’t be in two places at once, which I often needed to do.
RM: You were a runner in college. Did these experiences with your own running influence decisions on what to film and how to edit Lady Warriors?
JG: I ran both high and intermediate hurdles and long jumped in college at Eastern Washington University. I still run today, just to stay in shape and in the winter I run in a few snowshoe races. I am still interested in running as a subject and my oldest son, Ryan is a collegiate distance runner at the University of North Dakota.
A major factor in determining whether I would shoot this subject had to do with my son. I was pretty sure Ryan would make it to state either as an individual or with his team, and of course I had to be there. If his state meet conflicted with Arizona’s state meet, I never would have done this subject. As it turned out, Colorado’s meet was the week before Arizona’s. I hired another photographer to go to the regional meet in case anything crazy might happen. Ryan went to state as an individual and nothing exciting happened at the regional.
RM: Was there a time when you felt like you were excepted and brought into the local community and Native American culture in Tuba City?
JG: I would never go as far to say I was ever brought into either the Navajo or Hopi communities. Being non-native this just isn’t going to happen. Eventually, I earned the trust of many and the end result of the film was something everyone could be proud to be a part of.
I knew I had earned the trust of the girls when they went off to a running camp in Utah. Part of this weeklong experience appears in the film. At the last minute, Milfred was unable to make the trip, which meant the girls were left without his ever-present guiding hand. This was a huge opportunity to spend time with the girls without Milfred and see them in an entirely different light. It was the only time I would get this opportunity.
One night the girls started telling jokes and at some point they start telling some pretty risqué ones. I couldn’t believe they were doing this knowing I was documenting it. But they did and some of that makes it into the film.
Later when I returned, I told Milfred about this. He told me that in both the Navajo and Hopi cultures, women telling dirty jokes is part of the culture. Milfred told me that if you want to hear some good jokes to see his mother. After hearing that, I had no problem putting this element in the film.
RM: With you shooting most of the film by yourself, was there any unique challenges in filming the running sequences or at the Arizona State Cross Country Championships?
JG: The film was shot using a professional Beta camera and SP tape. At the first meet I actually set up a second and third DV camera, but since DV quality is so inferior to Beta that I did not use any of this and did not use a second camera until the state meet. Working alone has it advantages and disadvantages. Being in good shape helped a lot too, as Milfred likes to run the course to get ahead of his team. That meant I had to do the same. For the most part, I think I was able to capture what needed to be shot with one camera.
As for the state meet, I hired three friends of mine to work with me, and used an unmanned lock down camera that was relocated a couple of times during the race by one of the other photographers.
RM: Your film was very successful at numerous film festivals in 2001 and 2002. What was that experience like for you and what opportunities did that create for your movie?
JG: This was the first time I experienced the film festival circuit. There are hundreds of festivals worldwide, some more prestigious than others. Lady Warriors got into quite a few festivals and received recognition at virtually every festival it was in. In one festival, it was the only documentary to appear at that festival and it came away with the Best Picture award. Whenever a documentary can beat out Hollywood feature films, you know you have something interesting and entertaining.
Probably the best thing to come out of these festivals is that Milfred and most of the girls got to attend various screenings along the way. Milfred wanted the girls to see the film first on "the big screen". At various festivals, different girls would attend. Probably the best one was the Native American Film Festival in San Francisco. Lady Warriors was the opening night film, which is a huge honor in itself. The film appeared at the Palace of Fine Arts to a near capacity crowd of 800. Milfred and three of the girls were able to attend. The girls sat right up front and the audience could hear them laugh and giggle throughout the film. During the state meet scene, much of the audience was on its feet cheering the team.
At the end of the night, awards were given out and Lady Warriors received the Best Documentary award. Milfred and the girls spent the weekend as celebrities. It was a lot of fun for everyone.
RM: HBO picked up rights to Lady Warriors in 2003, and broadcast it often during that year. How is your film being distributed now and how can people obtain their own copy of your movie?
JG: Presently there is no further broadcast anticipated for Lady Warriors. The best way to get more information about Lady Warriors is to contact me at JGo10@aol.com.
RM: Have you maintained contact with the coach or any of the athletes since you completed your film?
JG: I continue to hear from several of the girls from time to time. Same goes with Milfred. At last update, all but one of the girls were in college and Milfred now works in law enforcement on another Arizona reservation.
RM: Do you have plans on producing another movie in the future that features running?
JG: At this time, I don’t have any plans on doing another running film. I have thought about doing a follow-up film 10 years after to see where everyone is in his or her lives at that time. That would depend on a lot of things. One, whether the team would be okay with that. Two, if I can get Corbis to give me the rights to do this using their film. And lastly, if I can get the funding to do this.
RM: Thank you for your time, providing the film for the monthly give away in the past, and is there anything else you would like to tell the viewers at RunningMovies.com?
JG: This film proved to be not only a film about running, but also a unique look into Native culture. It was one of the best projects I have been involved with during my 25-year career.
