Movie Description

Sioux City is a 1994 American mystery drama film directed by and starring Lou Diamond Phillips, with Gary Farmer, Tantoo Cardinal, and future Touched by an Angel star John Dye. It was Phillips' directorial debut. It was filmed in Santa Clarita, California.

Dr. Jesse Rainfeather Goldman (Lou Diamond Phillips) is a young doctor of Lakota Sioux heritage and was adopted by a wealthy Jewish couple as a child in Beverly Hills, California. He knows almost nothing of Native American traditions due to his upbringing. While doing an internship, he receives an amulet from the Lakota reservation in South Sioux City, Nebraska from his biological mother. Jesse, intrigued, travels to Sioux City, his birthplace, to learn why she sent it. On arriving, his mother's body is uncovered in the smoldering remains of her home. Jesse then begins looking into her mysterious death. While doing so, he gets to know people from the Lakota tribe and learn about the tribe's customs.