Cast & Crew

K̓wak̓waba̱'las ERNEST ALFRED
Traditional & Elected Leader
'Na̱mg̱is

Ernest Alfred is a traditional leader from the 'Namgis First Nation. He has been a leading voice in the fight to rid his homelands of commercial salmon farms. Ernest was deeply involved in the Swanson Occupation that occupied the Swanson Island Fish Farm for 284 days.

CHRISTIAN ALLAIRE
Senior Fashion Writer, Vogue
Ojibwe

Christian Allaire is the Senior Fashion and Style Writer at Vogue in New York City, where he writes about fashion of all kinds including Indigenous fashion. He is also the author of The Power of Style: How Fashion and Beauty Are Being Used to Reclaim Cultures, which looks at the importance of clothing and fashion as a tool of cultural preservation and revival in underrepresented cultural groups.

NED BLACKHAWK
Professor of History & American Studies, Yale University
Western Shoshone

Ned Blackhawk is a Professor of History and American Studies at Yale University. He recently wrote, The Rediscovery of America, which retells American history and the role of Indigenous peoples in the evolution of modern America.

PHILIP DELORIA
Professor of History, Harvard University
Sioux (Dakota)

Philip J. Deloria is a Professor of History at Harvard University, where he teaches about the social, cultural and political histories of the relations among American Indian peoples and the United States. He is also the author of, Playing Indian, tracing the tradition of white “Indian play” throughout American history.

KORINA EMMERICH
Fashion Designer
Puyallup

New York-based Artist and Designer Korina Emmerich is founder of the slow fashion brand, EMME Studio. She is also the co-founder of the new atelier, gallery, showroom, and community space, Relative Arts NYC. With a strong focus on social and climate justice, Emmerich's artwork strives to expose and dismantle systems of oppression in the fashion industry and challenge colonial ways of thinking.

ANGELA FERGUSON
Traditional Corn Grower, Eel Clan
Onondaga

Angela Ferguson is a traditional corn grower and one of the founding members of Braiding the Sacred: A Movement of Indigenous Corn Cultures, a network of Indigenous corn growers working to bring back varieties of corn across Turtle Island (North America).

STEPHANIE FRYBERG
Professor of Psychology, University of Michigan
Tulalip

Stephanie Fryberg is a professor of psychology at the University of Michigan. Much of her work has focused on the psychological harm caused by Native mascots and the impact they have on children and teens. She received the Louise Kidder Early Career Award, the University of Arizona Five Star Faculty Award, and was inducted into the Multicultural Alumni Hall of Fame at Stanford University.

STERLIN HARJO
Filmmaker, Writer, Director
Seminole/Muscogee

Sterlin Harjo is an award-winning filmmaker and creator of the acclaimed and ground-breaking FX series, Reservation Dogs, which has helped reclaim the narrative of Indigenous representation in the mainstream media. He is also a founding member of the Native sketch comedy troupe, The 1491s.

MOMMABEAR WAKERAKATSTE LOUISE MCDONALD HERNE
Bear Clan
Kanien’kehá:ka

Mommabear Wakerahkáhtste Louise McDonald Herne is a condoled Bear Clan Mother for the Mohawk Nation Council. She is a trusted advisor for families and community youth and works closely with them in their homes and schools. Through her work as a matrilineal leader and as a mother, she is a founding member of Konón:kwe Council, a circle of Mohawk women working to reconstruct the power of their origins through education, empowerment and trauma-informed approaches.

SALLY JENKINS
Sports Columnist, Washington Post
Non-Indigenous

Sally Jenkins is a sports writer for the Washington Post, an author and magazine writer. She is also the author of, The Real All Americans, the historical account of how the Carlisle Indian School took on the Ivy League powers in college football at the turn of the century and won.

ZACHARIAS KUNUK
Filmmaker
Inuk

Zacharias Kunuk is a widely celebrated and award-winning filmmaker of the acclaimed feature, Atanarjuat: the Fast Runner, the first Canadian dramatic feature film produced entirely in Inuktitut. The Inuk filmmaker was born in Kapuivik, Nunavut, and his other credits include, The Journals of Knud Rasmussen, and One Day in the Life of Noah Piugattuk.

OREN LYONS
Faithkeeper of the Turtle Clan, Council of Chiefs
Onondaga

Oren Lyons is a traditional faithkeeper of the Turtle Clan and an activist for Indigenous and environmental justice. A lifelong lacrosse player, Oren Lyons was a collegiate All-American in the sport that was invented by the Haudenosaunee.

SHAUN MARTIN
Ultramarathoner & School Principal
Diné (Navajo)

Shaun Martin is a Diné (Navajo) teacher, running coach and ultramarathoner running races of up to 150 miles. He founded the first sanctioned ultramarathon in the Navajo Nation, the 34-mile Canyon de Chelly Ultra. Shaun is currently the principal at Chinle Elementary School in Chinle, Arizona.

MICHELLE SCHENANDOAH
Writer & Speaker
Oneida

Michelle Schenandoah is an inspirational speaker, writer, thought leader and traditional member of the Onʌyota’:aka (Oneida) Nation Wolf Clan of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. She carries her ancestors’ passion to rematriate her people’s lands and bring about the truthful telling of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy’s global influence on modern democracy and women’s rights.

GLORIA STEINEM
Political Activist
Non-Indigenous

Gloria Steinem is a writer, lecturer, political activist, and feminist organizer. Gloria is a multi-published author, and has co-founded several organizations and foundations in the United States; the National Women’s Political Caucus, the Ms. Foundation for Women, the Free to Be Foundation, and the Women’s Media Center. In 2013, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.