Graham Greene, a tribal police officer, challenges the roots and attitudes of the FBI agent.
The story in the film revolves around Ray Levoi, an FBI agent of mixed blood venturing in South Dakota to investigate a murder case (Edwards 22). In the process, Ray finds his Indian identity. While on his mission to solve a murder case, Ray discovers that it was an extra-judicial killing because of a scheme surrounding the mining of uranium. Henceforth, he teams up with Walter Crow Horse, a tribal police officer, and Grandpa Sam Reaches, a traditional elder. The three unite with aim of stopping the plot and conserving the environment. Throughout the film, various depictions of Native Americans take place. The depiction is a fundamental difference from the presentation by other films produced before Thunder Heart. The director sets the film in contemporary times as opposed to most films set in a changeless Indian past. Native actors also play roles designated for them with the exception of the starring character. It adds to the revelation identity in Thunder Heart.
The producer uses Grandpa Reaches, Crow, Jimmy Looks Twice, and Maggie Eagle Bear to strengthen the manifestation of the Indian Identity. All the characters show substance in revealing the identity of Native Americans (Indians) in the American society. Generally, the producer and director succeed in depicting Native Americans as dynamic and complex entities. With all the humour shown by characters, they still possess familiar stereotypes associated with Indians. The film displays the relationship between Indians and whites in the US society in an exceptional manner. In so doing, Thunderheart makes the main character half-white and half Indian (Edward 19). The protagonist lives his entire life in a white-dominated society, goes on a job mission in his ancestral land (land of birth for his ancestors), and discovers his identity while on duty.