Tribe turns former casino into movie studio

The site also has a set workshop called a mill that can be used by crews to build sets for use inside the casino or on the tribe’s land, Eyre said, adding that he could envision movies filmed there that are set in the Middle East or the U.S. Southwest.

Older movies filmed on the Tesuque Pueblo include the

1955 Western “The Man From Laramie” starring James Stewart and 1988’s “Young Guns” with Emilio Estevez and Kiefer Sutherland.

But Eyre said previous productions had stereotypes about Indigenous people and limited Native American input and that tribal officials hope future productions don’t follow in their footsteps.

The studio is being established at a time when Native American writers, including Pulitzer Prize-winning Cheyenne and Arapaho author Tommy Orange and Inupiaq American poet Joan Naviyuk Kane, are transforming American literature — and putting pressure on Hollywood to incorporate more Native American stories.

Tribal officials plan to create internships and movie training programs for Tesuque Pueblo members and hope that the studio will foster a new storytelling movement, Eyre said.

“Native Americans are natural storytellers,” he said. “What better place to do it?”

RUSSELL CONTRERAS/AP PHOTOS Cheyenne and Arapaho filmmaker Chris Eyre, an adviser to Camel Rock Studio, talks about Tesuque Pueblo’s new film studio near Santa Fe, New Mexico.

The exterior of Camel Rock Studios, a new film studio owned by Tesuque Pueblo of New Mexico, near Santa Fe. The studio was transformed from its former use as a casino.