Supporting roles feature authentic Native casting such as Gil Birmingham as Natalie's father Martin, Graham Greene as tribal police chief Ben Shoyo, and Tantoo Cardinal, aligning with the reservation setting rather than forced swaps of established characters. Director Taylor Sheridan explicitly stated his intent was to raise awareness of missing and murdered Indigenous women through real-inspired stories and a closing title card noting the lack of official statistics for Native American women, and he later testified in support of related legislation like Savanna's Act after consulting tribes during production.

These elements introduce progressive themes of systemic issues on reservations and violence against Indigenous women as subtext, but they remain secondary to the core mystery, revenge arc, harsh winter survival, and traditional male grief narratives without lectures, identity politics as premise, or clashes with source lore. Reception shows mixed critiques from some progressive outlets on portrayal depth or exploitation but no widespread audience backlash labeling it activist-driven or prioritizing message over story.