The story behind the true crime epic Blood & Myth
The Story Behind Blood & Myth’s True-Crime Saga of Violence and Indigenous Alaskan Lore
“Blood and Legend,” a Hulu documentary premiering September 4, explores an unusual true crime story: the case of an Alaska Native actor who claimed to have been possessed by trolls when he shot two hunting brothers in 2012.
The brothers, Paul and Charles Buckle, survived. Teddy Kyle Smith, the Inupiat actor best known for his 2011 Sundance film “On Ice,” is currently serving a 99-year prison sentence. In 2014, a jury convicted him of attempted first-degree murder two years after he shot the brothers in a cabin on the banks of the Squirrel River, 40 miles from Kiana, a city in northern Alaska. Smith shot the Buckel family while fleeing after his mother’s death, claiming he believed the men were sent by the Inupiat, dwarves who some Inupiat say live in the Alaskan tundra and may possess supernatural powers. While police were unable to determine the mother’s cause of death and found no evidence of foul play, Smith feared he was a prime suspect because he was with her in the house at the time of her death.
“Blood and Legend” features the first interview with Smith since his arrest, a recorded conversation filmed in jail. The film is based on the audiobook about the case, “Midnight’s Son,” co-authored by James Domek Jr., an Inupiat writer and musician. The film includes interviews with law enforcement involved in the case and Alaska Natives who knew Smith and have knowledge of his Inupiat heritage. Domek and Khalil Hudson, the director of “Blood and Legend,” a Tlingit native of Juneau, Alaska, spoke to TIME about what they learned from interviewing Smith and the history of the Iñupiat people.
The Iñupiat Story
According to Iñupiat storytellers, such as Domek’s great-grandfather, the Iñupiat are thought to be short, nomadic people who live in “unreachable places,” deep in the Alaskan tundra, as Domek explains in the documentary.
They are said to be very powerful and speak their own language, Inupiaq. Some Iñupiat, like Domek’s mother, believe they are supernatural beings with shamanic powers.
Whether they possess supernatural powers depends on who you ask. As Hudson explains, one theory discussed in the documentary is that “these Inupiat may be flesh and blood. They may not be the supernatural being, but they may actually be a lost tribe, an isolated tribe choosing to live apart from the Western world.”
Smith’s Alleged Encounter with the Inupiat
Smith believes he encountered the Inupiat while on the run for about a week after his mother’s death. The documentary includes a recording of Smith telling attorney Angela Green that he was living on berries and ice from frozen ponds while hiking in the wilderness in an area where people claim to have seen the Inupiat.
Smith tells Green that he began to feel possessed, as if he were being led somewhere, and that he heard people following him along the way. He claims to have seen the Inupiat wherever he slept that night. He says they came to him and spoke to him, making squirrel and bird sounds. He says he saw the Inupiat on the other side of the road by a stream, chanting “weak,” “weak,” and “death.”
He took refuge in a cabin on the banks of the Squirrel River that he had stumbled upon. Then the Buckel brothers arrived, intent on doing the same, and Smith was taken aback. “He thought these fishermen were somehow connected to these Inukons, and that they were still terrorizing him,” Domek told TIME.
Smith shot the brothers, then floated away down the Squirrel River in the fishermen’s inflatable boat, along with their food and guns. However, the wounded fishermen managed to contact authorities, who had already been seeking to speak to Smith since his mother’s death. The Alaska State Police arrested Smith about 16 miles from the town of Kiana, and law enforcement officials interviewed in the documentary say he was obsessed with the Inukons.
Belief in the Existence of the Inukons
The main theory in the documentary, arguing for the existence of the Inukons, points to house-like structures discovered in the mountains north of the Kobuk River. They were spotted by archaeologists exploring the area to ensure that a proposed mining route, which would transport minerals to Anchorage, would not disturb the ecosystem.
These structures were made of rock and did not resemble any Inukons homes.
Mary Black, the tribal liaison who worked with the archaeologists, believed they were Inukons, saying she told the team, “We have to stop working. I said, ‘This is their land. We can’t work on their land.'”
After listening to these structures and Inupiat elders talk about their personal experiences with the Inukons, Hudson, the director of Blood and Legend, says he became “absolutely convinced” that the Inukons were real. He told Time magazine, “Whether or not they have magical powers, I guess that’s another question.”
From the beginning, Domecq believed his tribe members: “I’ve always heard these stories, and I’m older than reasonable, credible people. I know they’re good people. They have nothing to gain from telling these stories… I believe [the Inukon] exist.”
He also believes Smith when the actor says he saw the Inukon, and doesn’t believe his claims are evidence of mental illness, arguing that Smith taught explosives in the U.S. Marine Corps, where he had to pass several psychological tests to prove his competency.
Key Revelations from Smith’s Interview
Smith denies any involvement in his mother’s death and expresses regret for shooting the Buckle brothers. “I will do whatever I can to help them, with all my might.”
He says that when he saw the Inukon, he felt like “time stood still,” and insists he thought they were speaking to him.
Recalling that moment from prison now, Smith believes the Inukon were trying to send him a message.
Smith explains, “I wasn’t living a good life. I was going down the wrong path.” Looking back, he believes the Inupia were probably saying, “You need to go back to the old path, the old way.” They saw that we were no longer living with respect—respect for the land, respect for our elders, respect for each other. They saw our culture fading away—the language, the drums, the singing—giving it over to Western society.
He hopes his story will serve as a wake-up call to all Native Americans so they don’t lose touch with their culture and history.
Where is Smith now?
Smith is still serving his 99-year sentence in Alaska. In prison, he plays basketball and works as a Christian preacher, blending Christian stories with Inupiat traditions.
About once or twice a month, when he’s allowed 15 minutes of one-on-one time, he calls Domek. They talk about the latest basketball news and what Domek is reading and watching.
Whenever Smith calls Domek, he introduces himself as “your uncle.”
Lessons from “Blood and Legend”
Whether viewers believe the truth about the Inupiat people or not, Hudson and Domek wanted to make a film that provides an authentic look at the Native people of northern Alaska.
Hudson and Domek say that non-Native Alaskans assume that all Native Alaskans live in igloos and wear furs, but that’s not common among many, including the Inupiat. They hope their film will provide a better understanding of the Inupiat people today.
As Domek says, “We don’t just live in museums, and we’re not a thing of the past. We’re still here, despite everything. We’re still connected to our land and our stories.”
