Cowboys and Indians: The J.J. Harper Story

I grew up in Winnipeg and saw the treatment of the natives almost everyday. There are good and bad in EVERY race, why make them all out to be bad? That goes for all races today. John Harper was an educated man, he graduated from high school, he even had a year of university under his belt before going back to the reserve. How do I know this? John Harper lived with my family for the 3 years he was in high school, and he kept in contact with us the year after graduation. He was a kind and gentle soul, he could be fun loving and he could be serious when the times were right. I wasn't very old when he left our house, but I can still remember all the times he helped me with my homework when my own brother couldn't be bothered. He even taught grade 3 the year before he came to Winnipeg. None of this is mentioned in the movie, and the suicide of constable cross is an admission of guilt as far as I'm concerned. What happened to John is unforgivable, not only in the native community, but also in the white community. Not everyone in Winnipeg think like the police do, I knew the person inside, and what he was like as a PERSON, not an Indian!

Amazing (and disheartening) how similar this case of a First Nations man's lethal shooting by police in 1988 Winnipeg is to any given police killing of a Black/POC victim in today's United States. (Or even to the murder of Trayvon Martin by a wannabe cop.) Not sure if Canada has made much progress toward justice in the intervening three decades, but apparently south of the border we have not.

The film itself is engaging and concise, albeit a bit melodramatic and unmistakably a TV movie of its time. (Remember fades to black for commercial breaks?) Worth watching for the subject matter and for its Indigenous representation.

I just watched it for the second time today and I must say with all my heart it is about damn time they made a movie about us as people not as spiritual beings. Such a waste of human life as this story was maybe some good will come out of it. And Eric is hotter than ever. To often in the movies First Nations people are seen as other than everyday people. We are always portrayed as chiefs or medicine people. Hey we are just like everyone else. And this movie showed just that. We hurt when an injustice is done and we can win in quest for justice. It is really to bad that the big movie companies cant see that. I cant wait till this comes out on DVD. Thanks to those who chose to show this story as it really was.

I loved it. Follows a cover-up of the killing of a Indian young man. Well made and captivating.

The cowboy in the movie Cowboys and Indians: The J.J. Harper Story was a City of Winnipeg policeman, the late Constable Cross, and not an R.C.M.P. officer as stated in a review by Richard Maurer. Anyone submitting a review has to have the correct facts before submitting.