Pete Blacksmith Jr.
Pete is a former teacher’s assistant who has turned to high-risk sexual encounters in order to support his alcohol addiction in Whiteclay. Two months later, the film crew locates Pete back on the Reservation caring for his ailing mother. Concerned about the possible ramifications posed by several high-risk sexual encounters, Pete allows the film crew to accompany him to a tribal health clinic where he volunteers to take an HIV test at the Indian Health Clinic in Pine Ridge.
Reggie Hollow Horn
Reggie is a former tribal police officer in his late 40’s who became an alcoholic shortly after losing his wife to cirrhosis and a sister to a drunk-driving accident. Reggie’s struggles are symbolized by an unplanted garden at his mom’s house in Wounded Knee. Having moved out of his mom’s house six weeks earlier in order to drink beer and live on the streets of Whiteclay, viewers anxiously wait to see whether Reggie has returned home to plant the garden when the film crew returns to Pine Ridge two months later.
colin whiting
Colin is one of the youngest tribal members living in Whiteclay, having recently been released from jail after being charged with domestic violence. The father of four young children, the 30-year-old is still dealing with the physical and emotional trauma of having been shaken and thrown against the wall while an infant by his alcoholic father. Colin brags about “loving the thug life” and being a “big alcoholic” when the film crew first meets him in Whiteclay, but the facade quickly fades when he begins talking about his children.
Robert young dog
Robert is an ex-convict who has lived on the streets of Whiteclay for the past four years. Born with fetal alcohol syndrome, Robert was abandoned by his parents when he was five years old and raised by an adoptive father who sexually abused him. After having earlier declared that “beer is his boss,” the film crew discovers Robert back at home, six weeks sober and helping build a fence for his ex-wife and their grandchildren.