Peter Miller, who plays Manutabi, is the only cast member who is non-indigenous. He is French-Irish.
Tantoo Cardinal and Graham Greene have co-starred in at least six other films. They had played husband and wife in Dances With Wolves (1990) as they also do here in this film.
Along with Empire of Dirt released the same year, both movies became the first indigenous-themed films to be nominated for Best Picture by the newly established Canadian Screen Awards, formerly known as the Genie Awards.
The book basis for the movie was published 13 years before the film's release.
For her performance, Roseanne Supernault earned an American Indian Film Festival Best Actress award, this to accompany a Supporting Actress honor in 2011 in Every Emotion Costs, a film she also co-starred with Tantoo Cardinal.