CHOCTAW, Miss. — For the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, a small segment in the horror movie “Sinners” represents a significant achievement. This blockbuster film features Michael B. Jordan portraying a gangster turned vampire slayer and offers a brief yet meaningful depiction of the Choctaw tribe, utilizing Choctaw actors and cultural consultants. For many within the community, it marks the first authentic representation of their way of life on the big screen.
The pivotal scene in the movie showcases a group of Choctaw individuals arriving at a farmhouse on horseback and in an old truck to warn its residents of impending danger. When the couple declines their assistance, a Choctaw man expresses his well-wishes in the Choctaw language before departing. “I’ve not seen another movie that has our language, like, spoken correctly,” remarked Cynthia Massey, a cultural consultant for “Sinners.”
Massey, alongside Sherrill Nickey and Jay Wesley, oversees the tribe’s Chahta Immi Cultural Center and was tasked with ensuring that the film represented the Choctaw culture faithfully. They invested time into researching historical archives to accurately depict how ancestral Choctaw people dressed, spoke, and behaved in the 1930s, the time period in which “Sinners” is set. Wesley, who also had an acting role in the film, expressed his honor and pride in achieving true representation.
Wesley played a key role in connecting the filmmakers with Choctaw actors and sharing cultural artifacts, such as the beaded sashes worn by characters in the film. These sashes are now part of a display at the Chahta Immi Cultural Center dedicated to “Sinners.” Additionally, a brief excerpt of a Choctaw war chant, performed by Wesley's daughter, Jaeden Wesley—a UCLA student—features in the movie's introduction. During the recording, the filmmakers expressed their desire for the Choctaw community to experience their music in the film.
Proximity Media, the production company behind “Sinners,” aims to highlight often-overlooked cultures. Founded by director Ryan Coogler, his producer wife Zinzi Coogler, and producer Sev Ohanian, the organization has made it its mission to present authentic stories. Ohanian noted, “It was never a question for us that if we were going to portray the Mississippi Choctaw, we got to have the right people." The team worked with several experts to capture the cultural intersections present in the Mississippi Delta, where the film unfolds.
The film's positive reception led to community organizers drafting an open letter inviting Coogler and the filmmakers to visit the Delta. Responding to this invitation, the Cooglers, Ohanian, and others attended a recent “Sinners” screening in Clarksdale, Mississippi, where the film's story transpires. Ohanian expressed hopes that this project will inspire other filmmakers to authentically represent cultural narratives in their storytelling.
The consultants, including Wesley and Nickey, hope this film will spark curiosity among audiences about Choctaw culture, encouraging them to visit the Chahta Immi Cultural Center. Massey emphasized the importance of being connected to their heritage, stating, "this was here before the public was here," noting that historically, about three-quarters of Mississippi was Choctaw land, with the tribe currently holding only 350,000 acres.
Participation in the film has fostered pride among tribe members, and Nickey expressed her wish for a cultural renaissance, especially as fewer Choctaw youth speak their native language. “I know for a fact that there are a lot of kids out there that don’t even know how to speak our language. They only speak English,” she said, hoping the film encourages a revival of the Choctaw language among younger generations.
