''Nate and the Colonel'' is a 2003

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film written, directed and edited by Paul Winters. The film also stars Winters as Colonel Ben Loftin and

Ricco Ross Ricco Ross is an American actor. Life and career Born at Cook County Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, he is the fifth of eight children, and in addition has three step sisters and another brother from his father's first marriage. He first acted ...

as Nate. ''Nate and the Colonel'' is the first feature film to use the Native American

Ojibwe language Ojibwe , also known as Ojibwa , Ojibway, Otchipwe,R. R. Bishop Baraga, 1878''A Theoretical and Practical Grammar of the Otchipwe Language''/ref> Ojibwemowin, or Anishinaabemowin, is an indigenous language of North America of the Algonquian lan ...

(for the first half of the film, the Native actors only speak in the Ojibwa language with English sub-titles). The film also stars Mark S. Brien and Carlos Milano. Milano also produced the film and accepted the "Best Feature Film Award" at the 2004 American Indian LA Film and TV Awards.

Plot

The year is 1865, and the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

has just ended. Former slave Nate Washington and his boyhood friend, Confederate Colonel Ben Loftin head west together from the

Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

which lie in ruins. On the Western Plains, they encounter a band of

Chippewa Indians The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...

who will forever change their lives. Along the way, they must deal with a renegade band of

Union Cavalry The American Civil War saw cavalry tactics move largely away from the offensive towards the defensive, with the emphasis on screening, raiding, and reconnaissance. Development of the rifled musket had also rendered the cavalry charge both ...

with a score to settle.

References

External links

* Ojibwe-language films 2003 Western (genre) films 2003 films American Western (genre) films Films about Native Americans Films scored by Terry Plumeri Films set in 1865 2000s English-language films 2000s American films {{2000s-US-film-stub