Among most Western Indian tribes it was customary for a young boy to undergo a stong and symbolic spiritual experince before he was accepted as a man and warrior. He was usually required to obtain a guardian spirit by isolating himself at some spot in the wilderness considered sacred by the tribe. Once attained, the young man's spirit became a strong and personal force upon which much of his future such as a warrior and hunter depended. This was tradition and custom essential in the life pattern of the Western tribes before the influence of the American Frontier. VISION QUEST accurately and dramatically re-creates this important and rarely documented segment of American Indian tradition. Richly set in the rugged Mission Mountains of western Montana and re-enacted by Montana Indians, VISION QUEST tells the moving story of Cheum, a 14-year-old Indian youth, his life in the mountains and prairies of the West, and his quest for a guardian spirit.
Produced in 1961 by Montana State University
