''Spirit of the Wind'' (also known as ''Attla'') is a 1979 American Northern film directed by Ralph Liddle and starring Chief Dan George,

Slim Pickens Louis Burton Lindley Jr. (June 29, 1919 – December 8, 1983), better known by his stage name Slim Pickens, was an American actor and rodeo performer. Starting off in the rodeo, Pickens transitioned to acting and appeared in dozens of movies and ...

, Pius Savage, and George Clutesi.

Plot summary

The film is a semi-biographical story based upon the early life and rise to prominence of Native American dog musher George Attla, Jr. (1933–2015). Attla, known as "the

Huslia Huslia (; in Koyukon) is a city in Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska, United States. Rarely known as Hussliakatna, it is inhabited by Koyukuk-hotana Athabascans. The population was 293 at the 2000 census and 275 as of the 2010 census. ...

Hustler," took his nickname from one of his mentors, Jimmy Huntington, who first began winning races during Attla's childhood. In recent generations, this nickname has become associated with Attla far more than with Huntington. Attla was a leading star of the 1960s and 1970s in the sport of sprint dog sled racing. He won the Fur Rendezvous World Championship race, held in Anchorage, Alaska, 10 times between 1958 and 1982. He also won 8 championships in the Open North American Championship race, held in

Fairbanks, Alaska Fairbanks is a home rule city and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska and the second largest in the state. The 2020 Census put the p ...

. In addition, despite his mushing experience being geared more towards sprint than distance racing, Attla competed in the inaugural

Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, more commonly known as The Iditarod, is an annual long-distance sled dog race run in early March. It travels from Anchorage to Nome, entirely within the US state of Alaska. Mushers and a team of between 12 a ...

in 1973, placing fifth. In a 2011 interview, Attla spoke of the popularity of the Iditarod, and how sprint racing "is now a second-class sport" as a result. The general theme of the story centered around Attla's rivalry with the other leading sprint competitors of the day, fellow Alaska Native Gareth Wright (the brother of political gadfly Don Wright and grandfather of modern-day dog musher Ramy Brooks) and Massachusetts musher Roland "Doc" Lombard, the preparations for an upcoming big race, and his first major race victory. The movie was shot on location in Fairbanks, Alaska. A number of local actors, including local Alaska Natives,

University of Alaska Fairbanks The University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF or Alaska) is a public land-grant research university in College, Alaska, a suburb of Fairbanks. It is the flagship campus of the University of Alaska system. UAF was established in 1917 and opened for c ...

professor Lee Salisbury, and

KFAR KFAR is a commercial radio station programming news/ talk in Fairbanks, Alaska, United States, broadcasting on 660 AM. Founded in 1939 by industrialist Austin E. Lathrop, KFAR is the oldest radio station in Fairbanks and one of the oldest in ...

disc jockey/newscaster Bill Walley, appear in minor roles.

Cast

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Spirit of the Wind 1970s adventure films 1979 drama films 1979 films Films set in Alaska Films shot in Alaska Films shot in Minnesota Films about dogs Mushing films 1970s English-language films Northern (genre) films American adventure drama films 1970s American films