Sandra Hale Schulman
Special to ICT
Many kids who grow up off the reservation don’t dream of going back to their people’s traditional ways. For Eric Michael Hernandez, Lumbee, who grew up in Southern California away from his tribe in North Carolina, the lure of a life in sports – first basketball, then football – was an early goal, until his uncle, champion hoop dancer Terry Goedel, Yakima, nine-time world champion, told him the reality of that life versus the life he could have as a hoop dancer.
“I remember when he started, he was kind of lost and didn’t understand being Native,” Goedel told ICT. “Eric went to college. He graduated. Then he was working out with a football team and I’m trying to get him hoop dancing. His dad wanted him playing football. One day he comes to me, and he says, ‘My dad has me trying out. What do you think?’
“I said, ‘Well Eric, they have one of the best teams in the country, they’ve recruited the best athletes. You’re a walk-on and may not even play until the third year. Do you think you can get into a life of playing football? Do you want to be just average, or do you want to be the best hoop dancer?’ He looked at me and said, ‘Oh I get it. That’s some real talk.’”
Eric went on to be a champion hoop dancer, joining Cirque du Soleil and touring the world.
“I was making videos when I was on tour with Cirque du Soleil,” Eric told ICT. “I started making videos backstage and posting when Instagram first came out in 2012. The company thought this is good for marketing. They asked me to make videos to promote our next city run. I started investing in equipment and teaching myself editing.”
Then the pandemic hit, and Cirque du Soleil closed, along with live performance worldwide. How was he to make a living now as a full-time hoop dancer?
Eric made a TEDX talk, telling his story.
“The TEDx talk forced me to dive into understanding the important moments of my story. It was well received and opened a lot of different doors for me.”
Soon he was invited to film festivals and got the idea to make a film about his journey. He wrote a script in two days.
Flash forward and he is releasing “Courage,” which he wrote and directed. The short film stars Mateo Ulibarri, three-time world champion hoop dancer, age 15 from Pojoaque Pueblo, who plays young Eric. Cara Jade Myers, Wichita Kiowa, Academy Award nominee from “Killers of the Flower Moon,” plays his mother; PJ Vegas, MTV Award winner and son of Pat Vegas of Redbone, plays his father; Pyet Despain, Prairie Band Potawatomi, winner of Next Level Chef and Hernandez’ fiancée, plays his schoolteacher; and Terry Goedel, Eric’s real life uncle, plays his mentor. Original music is by Emmy nominee Genevieve Gros-Louis.
How did he assemble such a stellar cast? Friendships, professional connections, and family members all came through.
“I’ve met Eric a few times. I’ve met PJ, the people involved were amazing,” Myers told ICT.” He was caught between modern society and culture and tradition and the conflict between that. It’s how all Natives have felt at one time or another. I thought it spoke to not only urban Natives, but rez Natives. It’s a powerful story that I was honored to be a part of.”
“Me and Eric met through his fiancée Pyet, we hit it off for both being urban Natives,” PJ Vegas told ICT. “I got to witness one of his shows in Irvine at Cirque du Soleil. He was amazing. I had no idea that he was focusing on filmmaking when he mentioned that he was making a film. I’m thinking I’m going to maybe make a song for the soundtrack, but after hanging out, he said you remind me of my dad. You should play him.
“I got to meet his dad, we hung out and we exchanged stories. We are on the same wavelength, me and his pops. When I read the script, I was into the dialogue and the whole narrative. Because I too was put in a situation at a young age where I had to choose between a legacy of my own or a path that my father created for me. I resonated with that storyline. And the kid Mateo, he was really accurate for a first-time lead.”
Eric pulled Genevieve in early on for the score.
“He wanted a big Disney-esque type of score that portrays all of the emotions,” the composer told ICT. “I’m able to do that through symphonic instruments, but then implementing Indigenous instrumentation, there were a lot of beautiful, full-circle moments in the creation of this score from having Terry come in the studio to play flute on the track that is his own scene. I told Eric we need traditional drums, so he invited me to a powwow practice at a community center where I recorded the drum group that Eric dances with regularly.
“Collaboration is my favorite way of creating. We can create something bigger than just by ourselves. It’s not just my story, it’s Eric’s story. I’m trying to bring that to life through sound and through music.”
Pyet DeSpain has been on camera for years as a successful indigenous chef, but acting is new to her.
“Originally Eric wanted to cast me for Jean, the mom role, but then we realized that’s kind of weird. I know his mom, obviously. But I would be his adult real-life fiancée playing his mom and married to his real-life best friend. I said I don’t think that role is for me! I’ve been wanting to get into acting for the last couple years. I felt comfortable because I have that nurturing experience, I work with kids all the time.
“During the shoot I was making food and crafts in the kitchen helping the staff. Eric would come in and say, ‘Hey, you need to get in hair and makeup. You need to take it seriously.’ But whenever it was time to be on and be in that persona of that nurturing teacher mode, it felt natural for me. I’m grateful to have this as my acting debut. I get to support my fiancé. I get to support all these people that I love and believe in and work with them.”
“It’s really been fun to relive my experience with Eric,” Goedel told ICT. “Watch what it’s become and to see what he’s done with the story. Eric and I have a good relationship, and we get kind of crazy with each other. When you see the story, that is the story. His dad’s pulling him one way, and I’m the traditional uncle over here pulling him the other way. I helped him learn and he said, ‘I’m going to be the best hoop dancer.’ Then Cirque called him, and he ran away with a circus!
“Now seeing all the characters, I said, ‘Oh my goodness, this is your dad. This is your mom right here.’ He couldn’t cast better characters for everybody. And it came down to me, and I said, ‘Well, Eric, I’ll do the best I can to be me.’ I was recreating that time in a different moment to share the things that I felt. It’s been a pleasure and an honor for me.”
The end of the film shows real life adult Eric performing at the halftime show for the Phoenix Suns on a basketball court, a full circle moment.
“He’s grown up. He’s in his career. He’s exactly where he’s supposed to be and still ended up on a basketball court. I still ended up at the NBA!” Eric laughs.
The film is playing various festivals. The LA premiere is in July at the LA Shorts International Film Festival, an Oscar Academy Qualified Festival.
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