Where the Waters Divide

Crime Drama Series | 10 X 60 Minutes | General | Development

Jake Stoney, an Indigenous ex-Marine, returns to Walpole Island, aka Bkejwanong, after a decade away to become a rez cop and search for his missing sister. But old relationships make enforcing the law difficult in a community whose strategic position on the Canada-U.S. border near Detroit make it a magnet for gangs and cartels—and one of the most dangerous places in North America. As Jake confronts crime and investigates his sister’s disappearance, he is gradually drawn into a realm of Anishinaabe spirituality and ways of knowing in which the line between the earthly and supernatural worlds is blurred, and clues and truths come to him in dreams, signs and visions.

Walpole Island Indian Reserve no. 46, or Bkejwanong (“Where the waters divide”), as it's known to the people who call it home, is a 350-square kilometre delta at the mouth of the St. Clair River, between Canada and the USA. Bkej's unique position on the international border, close to one of America's most crime-ridden cities and on the doorstep of half of Canada's population, has given the reserve and its people an equally unique problem: they never have to go looking for trouble. Because trouble comes straight up the Interstate or down the 401 to them. And straight to tribal police officer Jake Stoney.
Jake is an honest cop who is trying to bring order to the rez after more than a decade living away.

As the series begins, Jake has been back long enough to know that his task is going to be a lot more difficult than he thought. Now, as he investigates his siter Kate's disappearance and confronts crime on Bkej, Jake faces challenges worthy of Nanabozho, the traditional Anishnaabe figure who, while trying to help his people, struggled with loss, enemies and his personal demons. Bad enough taking on organized crime, but Jake can never be sure whether a seemingly innocent kid, a fellow rez cop, a band councilor or even an elder is telling the truth or is on the take and playing him for a chump. And then there's the off-rez cops who know nothing about him and who mostly assume that anyone who is Indigenous is either a drunk, a drug addict, a criminal, useless, or all of the above.

Where the Waters Divide is more than just a police procedural or a show about Indigenous issues. Like all great crime dramas, such as The Sopranos, The Wire, True Detective and Broadchurch, Where the Waters Divide deals with universal themes – the complex motives, emotions and loyalties that define human existence, heightened by the tides of international politics and economics that make pawns out of all of us. Some days, Jake feels like it's a fool's errand. Fortunately, he has some loyal allies who will help steel his resolve to free the residents of Bkejwanong from crime, corruption, and addiction.

[We are currently looking for development funds and broadcaster interest]