--- title: Blood and Myth Explores Possible Paranormal Factor in Crime description: The Hulu doc explores the case of an Indigenous Alaskan actor who claims he was possessed by little people when he shot two brothers. canonical: https://time.com/7314591/blood-and-myth-true-story-teddy-kyle-smith/ author: Olivia B. Waxman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-09-04T18:28:39.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-11T00:12:57.401Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: The Story Behind Blood & Myth’s Northern Alaskan True-Crime Saga og:description: The Hulu doc explores the case of an Indigenous Alaskan actor who claims he was possessed by little people when he shot two brothers. og:url: https://time.com/7314591/blood-and-myth-true-story-teddy-kyle-smith/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt783132aaf921a151/6998c9829fbc7c1a07d9a633/Blood-and-myth-hulu-documentary.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TEDDY KYLE SMITH, JAMES DOMMEK JR. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Story Behind Blood & Myth’s Northern Alaskan True-Crime Saga twitter:description: The Hulu doc explores the case of an Indigenous Alaskan actor who claims he was possessed by little people when he shot two brothers. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt783132aaf921a151/6998c9829fbc7c1a07d9a633/Blood-and-myth-hulu-documentary.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Story Behind _Blood & Myth_’s True-Crime Saga of Violence and Indigenous Alaskan Lore > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account.  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Sep 4, 2025 6:28 PM UTC  James Dommek Jr. with Teddy Kyle Smith, in Smith's first interview since his arrest. James Dommek Jr. with Teddy Kyle Smith, in Smith's first interview since his arrest.Disney  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Sep 4, 2025 6:28 PM UTC _Blood & Myth_, a Hulu documentary out Sept. 4, explores an unusual [true crime story](https://time.com/7282036/angi-fake-life-true-crime-netflix-story/): the case of an Indigenous Alaskan actor who claims he was possessed by little people when he shot two brothers who were hunting in 2012\. The brothers, Paul and Charles Buckel, survived. And Teddy Kyle Smith, an Iñupiat actor most famous for the 2011 [Sundance](https://time.com/7012205/eugene-hernandez-latino-leaders/) film _On the Ice,_ is currently serving a 99-year prison sentence. In 2014, a jury found him guilty of first-degree attempted murder two years after he shot the brothers in a cabin by the Squirrel River, 40 miles from Kiana, a city in northern Alaska. Smith shot the Buckels while on the run after the death of his mother, claiming he thought the men were sent by iñukuns, little people who some [Inupiat](https://time.com/6170359/climate-change-alaska-native-traditions/) say live in the Alaskan tundra and may have mystical powers. While police could not determine the mother’s cause of death, and did not find any evidence of foul play, Smith was afraid he would be considered a prime suspect because he was in the house with her when she died. _Blood & Myth_ features the first interview with Smith since his arrest, an on-camera conversation filmed in prison. A film adaptation of _Midnight Son_—an audiobook about the case co-created by James Dommek, Jr., an Iñupiat writer and musician—it features interviews with law enforcement involved in the case and [Indigenous Alaskans](https://time.com/7275134/north-of-north-netflix-interview/) who knew Smith and are knowledgeable about iñukun lore. Dommek and Kahlil Hudson—the director of _Blood & Myth,_ who is from Juneau, Alaska, and who is a member of the Tlingit tribe—spoke to TIME about what they learned from Smith’s interview and the history of iñukuns. **Read more:**[ _33 True Crime Documentaries That Shaped the Genre_](https://time.com/7019618/essential-true-crime-documentaries/) ## **The story of iñukuns** According to Iñupiat storytellers like Dommek’s great-grandfather, iñukuns are believed to be nomadic people of diminutive stature who live in “places humans don’t go,” deep in the Alaskan tundra, as Dommek explains in the doc. They’re said to be very strong and speak in their own language, Iñupiaq. Some Iñupiat, like Dommek’s mother, believe they are supernatural beings with shamanic powers. Whether or not they actually have supernatural powers depends who you ask. As Hudson explains, one theory explored in the documentary is that "these iñukuns might be flesh and blood. They might not be the supernatural being, but they might actually be a lost tribe, an un-contacted tribe that is choosing to live apart from the Western world." ## **Smith**'s alleged encounter with **iñukuns** Smith believes he met iñukuns when he was on the run for about a week after his mother died. The doc features a recording of Smith telling attorney Angela Greene that he lived on berries and ice from frozen ponds as he marched through the wilderness in an area where people claim to have seen iñukuns. Smith tells Greene that he began to feel possessed, like he was being led somewhere, and he heard people following him along the way. He claims he saw iñukuns wherever he slept that night. He says that they would come up to him and talk to him, and they made squirrel noises and bird noises. At a stream, he says he saw iñukuns across the way chanting the words “vulnerable,” “weak,” and “death.” He sought refuge in a cabin off the Squirrel River that he happened to stumble upon. Then the Buckel brothers arrived, intent on doing the same, and Smith was startled. “He thought that these hunters were somehow linked to these iñukuns and that they were still terrorizing him,” Dommek tells TIME. Smith shot the brothers, and then floated away on the Squirrel River in the hunters’ inflatable boat, along with their food and guns. Yet the wounded hunters managed to call the authorities, who were already looking to talk to Smith since his mother’s death. Alaska State Troopers arrested Smith about 16 miles from the city of Kiana, and law enforcement officials interviewed in the doc say he was fixated on iñukuns.  Teddy Kyle Smith's mugshot, as seen in the Hulu doc Blood & Myth. Disney ## **The belief that iñukuns are real** The main theory in the documentary arguing that iñukuns really exist points to structures that looked like houses that were discovered in the mountains north of the Kobuk river. They were spotted by archaeologists who were scouting out the area to ensure a proposed mining road that would deliver minerals to Anchorage would not disrupt the ecosystem. The structures were made out of rocks and did not resemble any Iñupiat houses. Mary Black, a tribal liaison who worked with the archaeologists, believed they were iñukun homes, saying she told the team, “We need to stop work. I said, ‘This is their land. We can’t be going on their land.’” After hearing about the structures, and Inupiat elders who described first-hand experiences with iñukuns, _Blood & Myth_ director Hudson says he became “absolutely 100%" convinced that iñukuns were real, telling TIME, “Whether or not they have magical powers, I think that's another question.” From the get-go, Dommek believed the members of his tribe: “I've always heard these stories growing up by sane, credible people who I just know are good people. They have nothing to gain by telling these stories…I believe that \[iñukuns\] are out there.” He also believes Smith when the actor says he saw iñukuns and does not believe his claims are a sign of mental illness, arguing that Smith taught explosives in the U.S. Marine Corps where he had to pass several psychological tests to prove he was competent enough to do the job. **Read more:** [_The Best New TV Shows of August 2025_](https://time.com/7312298/best-tv-shows-august-2025/) ## **The biggest revelations from Smith’s interview** Smith denies having anything to do with his mother’s death and says he’s sorry for shooting the Buckel brothers. “Every opportunity I get to help them out, I will, in whatever way I can.” He says when he saw the iñukuns, it felt like “time just stopped” and maintains that he thought they were speaking to him. Looking back on that moment from prison now, he thinks the iñukuns were trying to send him a message. “I wasn’t living a good life, I was on the wrong path,” Smith explains. In retrospect, he thinks the iñukuns were probably saying, “‘You need to go to the old path, the old way.’ They see we no longer live in respect anymore—respect of land, respect of elders, respect of each other. They have seen our culture disappearing—the language, the drumming, the singing—giving up this for Western society.” He hopes that his story will be a wake-up call to all Native Americans to not lose their connections to their culture and history. ## **Where Smith is now** Smith is still serving his 99-year sentence in Alaska. In prison, he plays basketball and serves as a Christian preacher who blends Christian stories with Iñupiat lore. About once or twice a month, when he is allowed to call someone for 15 minutes, he calls Dommek. They talk about the latest basketball news and what Dommek is reading and watching. Whenever Smith calls Dommek, he identifies himself as “your uncle.” ## **Lessons from** **_Blood & Myth_** Whether or not viewers will believe that iñukuns are real, Hudson and Dommek wanted to make a film that presented an authentic look at Indigenous people in northern Alaska. Hudson and Dommek say non-Indigenous people assume all Indigenous Alaskans live in igloos and dress in furs, but that’s not typical of many, including the Iñupiat people. They hope their film will provide a better understanding of Iñupiat people today. As Dommek puts it, “We don't just live in museums, and we're not a thing of the past. We're still here, despite it all. 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