Ian Munsick's ties to cowboy, Native American culture highlighted in 'White Buffalo' doc
29-year-old performer Ian Munsick's journey from the Wyoming prairie to Belmont University and becoming a streaming and touring-beloved country favorite is a tale less usual than the average Western-themed Nashville country star.
Via a new documentary, "White Buffalo: Voices of the West," co-produced by his manager and wife, Caroline Munsick and directed by Cam Mackey, a director/cinematographer from the Tohono O'Odham Nation, the connection that the "White Buffalo" and "Long Live Cowgirls" vocalist has to fellow inhabitants of his native area of Northern Wyoming is vividly explored.
The hour-long documentary arrives on streaming platforms, including Apple iTunes, Apple, Google Play, Kanopy (Libraries), Microsoft, Vudu, YouTube Rentals, and Amazon TVOD on Jan. 26, 2024.
Sharing land and gaining wisdom from the prairie-dwelling Blackfoot, Crow, Northern Cheyenne and Sioux Indians, plus learning how to live in harmony with cattle, coyotes and horses, are as fundamental to Munsick's existence as playing fiddle-driven country songs with his father Dave and brothers Sam and Tris.
"My roots drive the uniqueness of my artistry. People are genuinely curious about those roots, which, in my case, include growing up on a ranch in Wyoming. The culture and lifestyle of the communities of people who inhabit that region are driven by the modern-day relationship between cowboys, ranchers and Native American tribes, and how we rely on each other to live off the land," says Munsick in a phone conversation with The Tennessean.
Dougie Hall, a Pro Buckin' Horse producer and entrepreneur from the Blackfoot Tribe, Stephen Yellowtail, a rancher, horse trainer, and actor from the Crow Tribe and Blackfeet Nation cowgirl and champion rodeo rider Sammy Jo Bird are all featured in the piece.
Moreover, alongside those featured, multi-generational moments, including their families, are also in the documentary.
For Munsick, that inclusion is by design.
"My family and the families of my friends -- so, multiple generations of cowboys, musicians and ranchers -- talk about carrying traditions into a new age where, because of various issues, maintaining the Western lifestyle will be more difficult than ever before."
Of the 46 individual tribes named in the 2010 United States Census, the Blackfoot Tribe is in the top-10 most populated alone or mixed in any combination with any other ethnicity. The tribe also has had a federally recognized Indian reservation in Montana since 1896.
However, Census data shows that the number of American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) children has declined by nearly 130,000 over the last two decades, from 693,726 in 2000 to 565,719 in 2022.
In an Apr. 2023 Tennessean feature, Munsick added, "Being a cowboy is trendy right now in a way that the actuality of living that life isn't. However, more than anything, it's as simple as realizing that, more than anything else, the Earth and its land are magical and beautiful."
Paramount television program "Yellowstone" -- which takes place one state north of Wyoming in Montana -- is ending its run in 2024. This is after a fifth-season premiere in 2022 that grew 52 percent year-over-year with 12.1 million live-plus-same-day viewers.
Thus, documentaries like Munsick's are essential to maintain and humanize the tie to Western culture that has gained such immense popularity as country music's boom continues to resonate nationwide.
For Munsick, using his rising stardom to shed light on indigenous and marginalized people whose voices are shrinking in the national consciousness allows him to note the intrinsic importance of his indigenous friends to the broadly promoted concept of what daily life looks like for non-indigenous Rocky Mountain cowboys and ranchers.
"When the world finally sees content captured from the American West that truly reflects how a truly diverse population of animals and people coexist, people will learn that there's something in how people like myself and my friends live out there that we can all learn from to be more honest, humble people."
Munsick's documentary arrives after his 2023 sophomore album, "White Buffalo." The album's music is featured in the film.
Creating art that combines songs impacted by the decade he's spent as a musician in Nashville with his authentic upbringing fulfills his mantra of "making music [he] wants to make," to satisfy remaining "grounded and happy in country music's lifestyle and industry."
"Bringing Rocky Mountain and Western life into country music -- as much as reflecting a culture where cowboys and Native Americans are one and the same -- allows me to make timeless, relatable art."
Munsick is keenly aware of the unique moment his growing popularity shares with Western culture.
Simultaneous to this occurrence, the culture he represents, when not broadcast on music videos and television programs or made into appealing social media content, is in decline. Thus, he's proud of "White Buffalo"'s release.
"[Western culture's] real deal is still alive. This documentary is an incredibly emotional and powerful [showcase] of how this culture, on multiple levels, impacts America at an incredibly pivotal moment."
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Ian Munsick's ties to cowboy, Native American culture highlighted in 'White Buffalo' doc
