Close your eyes. What do you see when you hear “bull rider”? Chances are, it’s a man.
Kristal Puente, of the Navajo tribe, is a woman helping change that perception.
Puente is the focus of “Bucking on the Rez,” a short documentary directed by Ziyi Xu, a multimedia journalist for Rocky Mountain PBS. The film will be shown on Wednesday night at Fort Lewis College and both Xu and Puente will attend the screening and participate in a discussion after. The evening is moderated by FLC English professor Candace Nadon.
Xu, who is based out of the Southwest for RMPBS and works out of FLC, said she was drawn to the subject through social media posts.
“I wanted to explore women’s sports and came across videos of young women bull riding on the Navajo Nation while researching on TikTok,” she said via email. “Their stories intrigued me, leading me to spend a summer immersed in the rodeo culture there.”
The summer yielded three months of video Xu was tasked with editing down to 22 minutes. Overall, she said, the project took about a year to complete.
“The biggest challenge was filming alone in the fast-paced rodeo arena, where action unfolds unpredictably. Over time, I learned to anticipate key moments,” she said. “Editing was also difficult ... My first cut featured three main characters, and it was tough to remove scenes I felt deeply connected to.”
Nadon said FLC and RMPBS have developed a relationship, and through that, Xu works out of an office in the Ballantine Media Center on campus. (Ballantine Communications also owns The Durango Herald.)
“What’s exciting about that partnership is that she tells stories about this region,” Nadon said. “She also will be working with students, so it’s an opportunity for some students to have experiential learning opportunities and work directly with a working journalist. And that’s part of our mission with the Ballantine Media Center. We also have someone from KSUT there, so it’s really trying to provide opportunities for storytelling and for students to be able to get some really great skills.”
The screening and discussion of “Bucking on the Rez” is a great way to introduce both Xu and the FLC/RMPBS partnership to the college’s students and the wider community, Nadon said.
And it’s a great story, she added.
“I have seen the film and ... I love seeing her relationship with animals. I love seeing her relationship with her family and how resilient she is,” she said. “But I also just want the audience to see that we have some really cool opportunities for students at Fort Lewis, and it’s really important to highlight a wide variety of stories well.”
Xu said she’s currently planning a documentary about wild horses on the reservation while continuing her work as a journalist in Durango, covering stories from Indigenous communities.
And she hopes people come away from the “Bucking on the Rez” screening feeling inspired.
“Bull riding has long been a male-dominated sport, but the women in my film are breaking that barrier. Their courage and determination are inspiring a new generation of female riders,” she said. “I hope audiences come away feeling empowered and gain a deeper understanding of life on the reservation.”
katie@durangoherald.com
