Fancy Dance

Since her sister Tawi’s disappearance two weeks ago, Jax has cared for her 13-year-old niece Roki on the Seneca–Cayuga reservation. Jax and Roki are unable to make the Indian tribal police or the FBI open a missing persons case for Tawi, as Tawi has a history of disappearing unexpectedly. The two get by mostly by stealing cars and selling them to Boo, a trader running a convenience store and scrapyard on the reservation. Jax discovers that Tawi dealt methamphetamine in the oil workers’ camp on behalf of Boo. Child protective services and Indian Child Welfare authorities place Roki into protective guardianship with her estranged white grandfather Frank when they find out about Jax’s criminal record. Frank and his wife are sympathetic to Roki, but are unwilling to let her live with Jax on the reservation or attend powwow. Jax promises Roki that they will meet Tawi at the powwow in Oklahoma City and they decamp in Frank’s car in the night.

Because the reservation is under federal jurisdiction, Frank and his wife file Roki’s abduction in the morning with FBI. At a shopping mall, Roki steals out of one customer’s handbag, her car keys and a Ruger pistol. Jax’s half-brother JJ, who serves with Indian tribal police, tells her that Tawi was seen some time ago at the home of Boo’s mother in Tulsa. Roki overhears their conversation, in which Jax admits to JJ that she knows Tawi will not be at the powwow and is likely already dead. Jax detours to Tulsa to speak with Boo’s mother, and finds out that Tawi used to come by in a red pickup truck.

When an attendant at a filling station in Shawnee recognises Jax from abduction alerts in the media and wants to notify the police, Roki threatens him with the stolen handgun, accidentally discharging it and wounding the attendant in the shoulder. While fleeing from the police, Roki confronts Jax about the danger Jax has put her in over the past two days, and for lying about her mother being at the powwow before running away. JJ locates the red pickup in Boo’s scrapyard.

A remorseful Frank calls Jax and tells her that the police have found Tawi’s corpse in a nearby lake. Realizing that Roki did not go with the police, Jax races to the Oklahoma City powwow. The film closes with Jax and Roki dancing together in the annual Missing & Murdered Memorial dance, as one police officer at the ceremony recognises Jax and alerts his colleagues over the radio.

Last Updated: October 02, 2025 at 13:14