Watchlist: ‘Blood & Myth’

By Kamiah Koch

Social media/digital journalist

Note: Smoke Signals would not recommend viewing the “Blood & Myth” documentary around children because it contains mature content and graphic images.

During the Indigenous Journalists Association Indigenous Media Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico in August, Smoke Signals staff watched an early screening of Hulu’s new documentary called “Blood & Myth.”

This true-crime documentary, available for streaming on Hulu Thursday, Sept. 4, follows the 2012 true story of Native Alaskan (Inupiaq) actor Teddy Kyle Smith, who disappears into the Alaskan wilderness for 10 days after the death of his mother and while on the run, he shoots two hunters seeking shelter in a remote cabin with him.  

He was captured and while in the custody of Alaskan authorities, his interview under oath centers on his encounter with the “wild people out there,” known as Inukuns.

Inukuns are described as short, leathery people with supernatural strength. Their population supposedly lives in deep wilderness away from humans. These mythical beings are known in the Inupiaq community from oral stories passed down from Tribal Elders. They are considered sinister beings and feared by the Inupiaq people.  

And according to Smith, the Inukuns were the reason he shot the hunters. 

This thrilling documentary is narrated by James Dommek Jr., an Alaskan Native from the same remote village as Smith.

“It just stopped me in my tracks, gave me the shivers,” Dommek said in the documentary trailer. “I wanted to know what made him tick.”

You can watch the trailer for “Blood & Myth” at  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jm9TjZuN3aE.

After the screening, Dommek and Producer Jonas Bell Pasht joined a question-and-answer session with the IJA audience via Zoom.

“I started getting all these pieces of info that aren’t journalistic, I am not a journalist,” Dommek said. “I am just a dude. A guy that became obsessed with this story.”

To Pasht, this documentary is a powerful personal story and a search for identity.

“This story of identity and search for identity really resonated with me and I hope it resonates with audiences,” Pasht said.

They shared some behind-the-scenes details of creating this documentary. The film took more than four years to create and getting people to talk about the death, the shooting and Inukuns was challenge. Additionally, talking to the main character of this story, Teddy Smith, was an additional challenge because he is incarcerated.

But to Dommek, this story needed to be told and done so through an Indigenous lens.

“I came to realize it’s a cautionary tale,” he said. “It was going to be told by someone and there were big names trying to get this story but couldn’t get into the community. As Alaskan Native people, we are so used to other people telling our stories and we never get the chance to tell our own story. It matters that we tell our own stories and be respectful and culturally sensitive.”