MEET KIOWA GORDON OF NEW MOON – FROM THE ANCIENT PATHS OF THE HUALAPAI TO TWILIGHT’S INTERNATIONAL CINEMATIC SPOTLIGHT

MEET KIOWA GORDON OF NEW MOON: FROM THE ANCIENT PATHS OF THE HUALAPAI TO TWILIGHT’S INTERNATIONAL CINEMATIC SPOTLIGHT

by Sam Cruickshank of Horiwood.Com

Cast in the wolf pack of Twilight‘s highly anticipated New Moon, Kiowa Gordon bursts onto the Young Hollywood movie scene from the Hualapai First Nations Indians tribe. He joins Taylor Lautner, Chaske Spencer, Bronson Pelletier, Solomon Trimble, Alex Meraz and Tyson Houseman in making the wolf pack dramatically exciting.

Kiowa Gordan - An emerging tall pine in Hollywood

Horiwood: I like the name of his tribe, as the “pai” part in the indigenous Maori language of New Zealand,  where I hail from, means “GOOD.” So that tells me, Kiowa Gordon, is a good one!

But more specifically, Kiowa’s tribe’s name, Hualapai is derived from “hwal,” the Yuman word for pine, “Hualapai” meaning “people of the tall pine.” They live in the mountains of Arizona, and with his casting in New Moon, Kiowa Gordon is an emerging tall pine in Young Hollywood.

Casting agent  Renee Haines, found Kiowa Gordon by conducting a nationwide search. Haynes’ office searched their database of up-and-coming Native American actors.

There was a call-out for video auditions, which brought in 600 tapes (”I watched them all,” she says). There was also open auditions, which brought out thousands of hopefuls and Kiowa shone and somehow rose to the top to earn a place in New Moon. 

It was crucial to Haines — who specializes in Native American casting − that each of the characters chosen was of Native American descent. “It was important to the filmmakers,” says Haynes. ‘That is why they hired me. And that was my job.”

It is not hard to see why, perhaps when Hollywood owes a lot of its success to First Nation Indian representations onscreen with the once staple Western movie genre. It’s a nod back to the past, but with more spiritual and authentic linkage to the people of the land.

When you cast a First Nation Indian actor, they bring their spirituality and presence with them to the set of a film project. Their energy is uplifting and their performances are  always edgy and dynamic. In a storyline like New Moon which is about “hunt or be hunted,” there are no more convincing hunters than people who descend from First Nation Indian hunters.

Kiowa’s ancestors, and the original American people have hunted on American soil for centuries. It’s in their blood to hunt instinctively and their casting in new moon, is a respectful nod from Twilight‘s filmmakers to America’s indigenous people  of the land.

Kiowa Gordon’s people know a lot about entertaining and entertainment. For centuries the Hualapai tribe were active traders between the Southern tribes of Arizona and the territories of The Pacific Coast. Today, however, daily they entertain tourists from all nations around the world at the Grand Canyon where guests visit their Hualapai  Ranch and experience their culture, story telling ability and mythologies of tribal life that they share.

If Kiowa Gordon can reflect what his people do well, marry their tribal ancient traditions and share them in an entertaining experience on an international level to global visiting audiences, then he will more than represent his Hualapai tribe and his ‘new’ tribe of New Moon’s cast and crew, with dignity, talent, honor and pride.

Go Kiowa Gordon in Hollywood! May this emerging young tall pine do well  in Hollywood. Welcome!