How did you come to be the director of Skinwalkers?

I met Michael Nozik, the executive producer of Skinwalkers, at the Sundance Institute. I workshopped my first movie, Smoke Signals, up there in 1995.... Michael gave me a copy of the Skinwalkers script about two years ago. Eventually, when it actually came together for this shoot, he started talking to me again. So I have known Michael for a couple of years, and actually Robert Redford for the same number of years.

What was it about the script that appealed to you?

I really was interested in the thriller/mystery aspect of the screenplay. I wanted to try my hand at that, so to speak. The movies that I've been involved with are very personal movies, and I wanted to take some of that sensibility and take a genre, thriller-type movie and put them together. The other part of it that I really enjoyed was the Indian aspect of it. I wanted to throw all of this together and have a go at it. I was glad that they felt like I was the right person to do it, because the way the movie is turning out, I'm real excited about it.

So how has it been working with this genre?

I enjoy it. Like I said, the movies that I've worked on in the past have been great, personal movies, and this one has more to it than personal catharsis. This has an actual concrete story structure and storyline and a resolution in the mystery, and that's interesting, and that's fun to work on.

When you're directing, you often take the actors aside and talk with them. Why?

I really like to talk to people one on one, and not do theater on the set. ... Secondly, maybe you don't always have the most articulate words. People seem to think the directors have the most articulate or the right words, and sometimes it's as lame as "Go faster," and you don't want to break the magic there. A lot of times I end up giving those types of directions, and they work; they work well.

How is it to work with Adam again?

Adam is great. ... He just has this wonderful, positive, optimistic energy. And it's contagious. It helps the crew work. It actually telegraphs on screen. This guy, he seems very young and vibrant and youthful and childlike, and it's because he is, to a certain degree. I mean, he's a wonderful man, and I admire him. So it's nice to work with him. It's very comfortable to work with him. As I direct him in scenes, I am reminded of things that he did in Smoke Signals, certain laughs and smiles that he did. And it's nice to be able to work with him again and take another step in our relationship together.

He said that he was excited about working with you because he wanted to show you how much he had learned from you.

It's difficult for me to remember really. I see Adam... the same way that I saw him in Smoke Signals. ... He said that he's grown as an actor, and I believe it, but it's all relative. I just have an expectation that he's going to do this and do this at the right time, and he does it. You don't have to give him all the ins and outs. He knows what he's doing, and he does it. He makes my job easier.

Speaking of your job, how do you define your responsibility?

My responsibility is to get all the shots, to make sure I get the whole story. Beyond that, it's a level of quality. I always tell my wife that the difference between a good movie and a great movie is hard to calculate. I mean, you can make a good movie, but the difference between a good movie and a great movie is positive energy, good communication, the cards being in your favor. There's a lot of variables between good and great. Most of all, for me, it's about positive energy when you're working. And we have a great group of people here.

How did you come up with such a great cast?

I believe that this is probably the best cast that I've been involved with on an Indian movie, which is a result of the informed choices that I've made over the last couple of years, the input of Wildwood [Enterprises, Redford's company] and Granada [Entertainment], and of course, the casting director, Rene Haynes. Rene Haynes cast my movie Skins last year, and she's really my right hand in terms of up and coming Native talent, Native talent that I really think should be seen more than they're seen now -- Adam [Beach]; Wes [Studi]; Graham Greene, who was part of my cast in Skins; and Erik Schweig. There's a number of female actresses, too. Rene Haynes is really the database of Indian talent in Canada and the U.S., and she deserves a big credit for the cast.

You blessed this movie before starting. What does that mean?

The blessing was a ceremony that we did up on the dam earlier in the shoot, and it's something that I've done on all the movies that I've been involved with, because it's the right thing to do. It's the same thing as a prayer. We all have that mutual hope that everybody be well. It's about this family that's come together to make this baby.

What does the future hold for you?

I'd like to be part of the generation of Indians in Hollywood that say "This is who we are as Indians," not "This is who we're written to be," or "This is who we're directed to be," or "This is who we're produced to be." I want the stories to emanate from the inside and reflect not so much anything different, but a different perspective. I want to be part of that cycle, a part of that revolution if it does ever come to pass. And I'm optimistic it will with movies like Skinwalkers.

It's really about portraying Indians in contemporary society. It's about bringing Indians into the 21st century for me. It's about not romanticizing the past as much as portraying the present. The period piece in the past -- it's not grounded in much reality; it's grounded in the romance of icons or myths. I'd like to make movies that are about Indians here and now, Indians living in the 21st century, and show that they are as complex as any other people; that you can make a movie about Indians in 2002 and it has nothing to do with spirituality or oppression. It's just about people being people. That's really what I'm seeking.

What kind of impact do you want to have beyond the Indian community?

Well, I'm not making movies for the Indian community. If I wanted to make movies for the Indian community, I'd be unemployed. One-half of 1 percent makes up the populace of Native America in this country. ... I'm making movies that understand Indians and Indian country, but I'm not making movies for Indians. If anything, I'm the emissary. I am what we as Americans hope to be, which is a bridge to other people who aren't like us, whether they be Asian, black, or white, or anything else. I make the movies that I make about Indians because I care, because I am a patriot. Even if I'm talking about stuff that seems unpatriotic, or seems, you know, against the Republican status quo, I'm actually a patriot because I care enough to put the work into it; to love my characters, to tell the stories. I'm in the type of stories I'm in because I love the stories, because I love the characters, because I want people to see these people, because I want people to know the people that I've known. I think they're worthy of being known.