Windwalker is a 1981 Western film directed by Kieth Merrill and written by Ray Goldrup, based on a novel by Blaine M. Yorgason.

As a young husband and father, he had watched helplessly as his wife, Tashina, was killed and one of their twin sons kidnapped during a raid by rival Crow warriors.

The Great Spirit reawakens Windwalker, and after battling the forces of nature and his own physical frailty, he rejoins his family.

With his family safe and his son restored to him, Windwalker confronts his old enemy and offers him peace, but the Crow refuses, forcing a final battle.

[9] Chief Dan George was favored to play Windwalker, but became ill.[10] Merrill cast Trevor Howard, an English actor, for the role.

Janet Maslin's review at the New York Times called the film "a feather in [the production] company's hat" that "takes care not to present its Indian characters in the ways Hollywood traditionally has" with a "mostly" Native American cast.

Siskel said the film was "a chance to examine the Indian concepts of life and death and their notion of spiritual communication between human beings".

[14] Writing in The Hollywood Reporter in 1981, Robert Osborne wrote that viewers should "enjoy its unusual treatment of Indians (as humans, encountering everyday trials, with nary a white man in sight)".

[1] "Mac" at Variety in 1980 wrote that the natural cinematography by Reed Smoot "captures the glories of landscape and weather without indulging in [...] sentimental visual cliches".

He also wrote that since all of the characters in the film are Native American, it gave them "a dignity they have been denied previously, even in the most sympathetic westerns".

[16] While the film has only Native American characters, it still portrays them in stereotyped ways, either as a Noble Red Man or a Savage.

"[18] Osborne's 1981 review supports Aleiss's idea, stating that casting Howard "simulat[ed] commercial acceptance for the film outside the usual Dobs' market.

"[1] Variety's review wrote that while the casting "may be partially justifiable for commercial reasons, this single lapse in authenticity is a painful one, since the filmmakers went so far in the right direction.

"[9] In a 2020 book on Native American images in Hollywood film, Frank Berumen assessed Howard's acting: "[he] is not completely convincing as the aged Windwalker.