Funding for COLORES was provided in part by: New Mexico PBS Great Southwestern Arts & Education Endowment Fund, and the Nellita E. Walker Fund for KNME-TV at the Albuquerque Community Foundation New Mexico Arts, a division of the Department of Cultural Affairs, and by the National Endowment for the Arts.

and Viewers Like You Actor, writer and director, Morningstar Angeline reflects on her journey in film and television, sharing how personal loss and a commitment to authentic indigenous storytelling shape her work.

Rooted in the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, the all Native women drum group, The Mankillers share how music, sisterhood and cultural tradition became a path to healing.

It's all ahead on íColores!

BEHIND THE SCENES >> Faith: So, Morningstar, thank you for joining me today on Colores, I appreciate you coming here to talk about your work in filmmaking.

So, you've really built a career up, in front of and behind the camera, as both like an actor, writer, director.

So what started you on this journey?

Like, what's your origin story?

>> Angeline: Okay, so, picture this, right?

[both laugh] it█s, like, around Y2K I think it was 1998 -1999, and -- I moved from Gallup, New Mexico with my mom to Los Angeles and proximity, I think, was the first thing.

And then my sister, who's about 11 years older than me, found herself with in film specifically as like, as a director and writer.

And so when she started doing that, she then had to make short films and student films, and she always would ask me and I think -- I have a very specific memory of this film that she did about a basketball player, this trans Navajo basketball player.

And I was playing the role, and there was this actor who had done a lot of theater, who had done, a lot of television, and we had to do this scene together.

I can't even remember what it was about.

But like, I remember being in his presence and feeling like once he started acting, when action went, when it was like the whole room changed in my eyes, it was like, “oh, I'm in this place and you're so -- he was so there.

So, it felt like -- a really interesting way to collaborate and like, be with someone in this playfulness.

But it wasn't until that point that it felt -- like anything beyond just something that made me happy.

It was also like, “oh, I can pursue this, I can hone this skill and all of that.” So, I think those were really the things that that made it feel possible.

And so that was -- kind of how I got started and just kept working my way -- up as best I could.

>> Faith: Wow.

That's amazing.

And then your first major breakout role was, Drunk Town█s Finest right?

So what did that experience teach you at that stage in your career?

>> Angeline: I think I was 23, maybe, pretty young in terms of -- my understanding of bigger projects.

We were also shooting in Gallup, New Mexico, around that area where it's centered.

And, so that's where I'm from.

So when we were shooting there, the impact of what that meant for me was intense.

And I think going into it, I felt like such a little like raw nugget of emotions because one of my childhood friends had just passed away.

So, I remember feeling such a -- intense, like contradiction of feelings because I was so happy and so grateful, but also so like, “I'm not ready to be here.” Like I'm not ready to do anything in my life, let alone perform.

And, the beautiful thing about acting is if -- you hone your skills, you can use those things.

>> Faith: Can you tell me a little bit about the role that you played in Drunk Town's Finest?

Tell me a little bit about the character.

>> Angeline: Her name is, Nazhoni Smiles and she is a product of many things, but I think the biggest one within her character arc is -- is really adoption.

And so she was adopted by non-Navajo people who -- I think -- we're just like, ill equipped to --- to understand someone like a Native young woman who is going to have questions eventually is going to want to pursue things that maybe are difficult.

And really the whole script, it was just a story about meeting people as they are in these hardships they're dealing with.

So, we were very aware that no one [is] the villain either.

And so in portraying her family, it was -- the important thing was just showing that it's complicated and it's tough and it's messy and, I think that's what I also tapped into so much personally.

As well as having my friend pass away, it was also -- my biological father passed away when I was two months old, and I was adopted at the age of two when my mom remarried by a Navajo man.

And I very much identified with the complexities of, like, a complicated family and being adopted and, so her character was so much about that, but also, she's supposed to be, like 18-19, she's going into college.

So she's at this precipice of, like adulthood and, and finding herself.

And when we did, screenings, the amount of people who -- have been through the adoption process or a family who have like the way they related to that was just it made it all worth it.

It was a community film.

And I think that -- that really shone through with that character, too.

>> Faith: That's wonderful.

Wow.

It's so beautiful, how it can affect people, right?

This art form.

>> Angeline: Yeah.

>> Faith: After that early breakthrough, you got behind the camera as a writer and director, can you tell me a little bit about the film that you created and what was the inspiration behind it?

>> Angeline: Yeah, my first film -- was a short that I wrote.

You'll see that the theme is a lot of grief in my art, like the element of grief, and what -- life that kind of takes on and how it impacts how you see everything and touch everything.

So, my stepfather, the Navajo man, Daniel Freeland, he passed away, in 2016.

And, when that happened, it was like -- I knew in that moment that that was the hardest thing I was ever going to go through.

So, in that process, I was just -- I remember sitting down and just wanting to write.

And so the story that came out was ultimately a script called, Yá█át█ééh Abíní which is “Good Morning” in Navajo, when the idea came to mind, I just felt -- it felt so apocalyptic.

What happened?

Like, without him, it felt, like, again, everything just -- everything else was dead.

So the story that came out was ultimately this Navajo, young girl who -- a virus has just broken out, around the world.

But we're focusing on the Navajo Nation.

And, when we meet her, it's her dad's last night on Earth, and then he passes away and she has to bury him, and is just completely by herself.

She has to decide basically whether she is going to pick up what was left to her or leave it and just move on, and I guess kind of dies, what's implied, and so -- as we filmed it, it was really challenging.

I think when you create so much from like who -- what and who you are and where you come from, it's really difficult to put that forward.

>> Faith: What role do you feel most proud of being part of?

>> Angeline: I think the one that meant the most to me as like individual, was definitely Westworld It was such a win for me in that time.

I remember we were filming, I sent in the audition and -- it was for a -- just a girl, a woman.

[Both laugh] She isn't Native, but she is the moment I got placed into that role and she was queer and she was in a relationship with a mixed girl or a mixed woman as well, like -- so there was all this diversity wrapped within her, but it wasn't center-stage to who she is, like -- It informed everything she did, how she did it.

But I loved that I just got to be like -- also a strong woman.

Like she was part of this, like uprising.

And after, you know -- all these robots in Westworld are taking over and -- so I think it was just -- I got to do action stuff.

And I love that.

I grew up doing a lot of karate in Gallup, New Mexico.

So, it was like all these things kind of came to a head that felt like, “oh, I'm getting somewhere.” But I think the one that I felt -- some of the most, like, important impact in terms of what it meant to me and then what it meant to others was, I think, Welcome to Derry Which was part of the IT franchise or the prequel there.

>> Faith: I'm a bit of a fangirl Welcome to Derry.

It was great.

Your character in the forest scene when she is going up against IT, was a very powerful scene, and we talked a little bit about what you tapped into about what you tapped into to get into that moment.

Can you talk a little bit about that scene and what it took to really tap into Sesqui█s, like, anger in that moment?

>> Angeline: Yeah, that, that scene in particular was like two days in the forest, and that sequence was part of a much longer episode.

And ultimately what you're seeing is kind of the climax.

There were moments where the culture really came in -- within the original episode we shot, there was a prayer, she said.

And so there was -- and it was in her language.

So when I read the script, I honestly just thought, “oh, they're going there.” And to do it within horror was just, I thought, a really amazing opportunity.

So, when I read it, I knew there was going to need to be some sort of preparation for me to take care of myself emotionally and, frankly, spiritually, physically.

So, the days we went into shooting that I really just tried to set the intention -- and I was working with, Tazbah Chavez, who was the director.

And she's Native, she's Navajo and other tribes as well, but very much, we were approaching it from, “how do we take care of ourselves?” And so I asked for -- just item so I could like, bless myself with and say a prayer before and so much of what -- I said was or in my thoughts and my intention was, I'm going to open this massive wound, right?

This Native warrior, she's a war chief who is going to ultimately go find her daughter and face something that, like, within the tribe, they see is the most evil thing they've ever encountered.

And she goes in knowing that and she's still like, “I█m going to get my daughter, I don't care.” And it embodies whatever fear, you fear most.

And so for her, she had lost her husband to smallpox.

And, seeing the -- the religion began to also take a hold of the tribes and the negative effects of that.

So when IT presented itself to me, it was a priest, who█s giving me smallpox.

And I just wanted her to have -- an element of like, defiance.

And -- she was so sure that her beliefs were true that her culture is her strength.

And in her final moments, like, that held true.

And that was so important for me.

So yeah, it was hard, like it was hard.

And then, when we wrapped, it was, like, also another prayer and just being like, “okay, we're going to just leave that here.” You also surrender to whatever the studio is going to do.

You have to surrender to all these -- creative choices that ultimately you just -- as an actor, you just make your offering and they do what they decide to do.

But as the episode came out, it was it was really beautiful to see how people responded to just -- I mean, the whole season, like, the whole -- I'm so proud to be a part of that project because of the the truths that were told in the midst of so much horror going on at that time.

>> Faith: What keeps you doing this every single day?

What keeps you coming back?

>> Angeline: I think just not being able to imagine doing anything else.

It feels like this relationship in my life and, it gives so much back to me and helps me grow in every aspect of my life.

When I'm acting, I become a better director, a better writer, a better editor, and vice versa.

With all of them, like, they really inform me and also trying to be like a compassionate person and all of those things.

So it just keeps giving and hopefully it will keep giving, I think so, I think the beauty about film is every job is different.

Kind of the layout is kind of the same, but they're so different.

And so I also think that -- it keeps me fresh, it keeps me feeling like I'm creating new experiences.

>> Faith: What's the beauty and importance of storytelling?

>> Angeline: I think, coming from indigenous people who -- so much of our cultures is about -- being handed down just by talking, not writing things down.

And through this, like, circular story, structure.

And I think all of those elements also are just so important.

And remembering what has happened, stories that help us understand actual events or just understanding the human complexities and all of those things and letting that shine through.

I've seen the power in that through just literally watching people watch the movies, whether it's at festivals or hearing people talk about things like -- I really -- I don't take it for granted and I don't want to because that's where, like, the nucleus is.

It's like, [nibbling sound] it█s like the human existence it█s just so delicious and beautiful and heartbreaking too.

But, I just love it.

>> Faith: Right.

Those universal truths.

>> Angeline: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

MARCH TO THE BEAT OF YOUR OWN DRUM >> Eben: The Reno-Sparks Indian Colony is a federally recognized sovereign nation located here, right in the middle of Reno and Sparks, Nevada.

We have about 1300 plus tribal members, and we represent our membership and descendants of Washoe, Paiute and Shoshone people.

We have 28 acres downtown.

We are located between Mill Street and Second Street.

That's the 28 acres.

We also have 15,000 acres in Hungry Valley.

My name is Michon Eben, I manage the Cultural Resource Program and Tribal Historic preservation office for the Reno Sparks Indian Colony.

And I'm also the co-founder of the all native women drum group.

The Mankillers.

The Mankillers began and were established at Humboldt State University in Northern California.

We were all college students and we just came together as friends.

We did sing with a coed drum group, so other male singers, we were called the Humboldt State University Drum Group and the Humboldt State University Student Drum Group.

We'll just get together and sing on campus for different indigenous events.

>> Dunn: There was a gathering at captain Jack stronghold and the Humboldt State Student Drum was there, and several of the women were singing together and all of a sudden looked at each other and said, hey, you know, you sound really good.

>> Amaro: We were singing, and from that gathering it was like, oh, the women have such different tones that it would be nice to get the women to sing together.

>>Eben: We decided to become a support group and began meeting on the weekends and start drumming on a big drum.

We just began to practice more and more, and then we were asked to sing on campus for an indigenous conference.

We decided, well, let's do this little song for this indigenous conference.

But we need a name.

And somebody had yelled out, what about The Mankillers?

Well, that name is a strong name in the Cherokee Nation.

That name is from Wilma Mankiller.

And Wilma Mankiller is a great role model.

She was the principal chief of her Cherokee Nation in the 80s and 90s.

She was an activist an educator, brought a lot of good economic development to the Cherokee Nation, and we decided to go with, okay, let's be the man killers.

And we knew that we needed to ask permission.

We just couldn't come out and use the name.

So we sent a letter to Wilma Mankiller, let her know who we all were, and after her leaving this world, her nephew approached us and told us how they approve that name.

So our understanding is that she took our letter to all the head men of the Cherokee Nation, and they passed our letter around and they gave us permission.

So hence, The Mankillers.

The Mankillers, encompass many tribal nations throughout the United States.

>> Orona: I█m from the village of Tuah-Tah, or Taos Pueblo, and Rarámuri, The Running People.

>> Amaro: I am Yaqui and Chicana.

So my tribe is from the Arizona area, Tucson.

>> Dunn: I am, Cherokee and Muskogee Creek and Tunica, Choctaw Biloxi.

>> Eben: My father's people are Pyramid Lake Paiute, the Qui-ui-pa and my mother's people are Tampisha Nua.

So that's, Death Valley Shoshone.

When you see and hear us, you will know and understand who we are.

[drum beats and vocalizing] [drum beats and vocalizing] >> Eben: after we started our first conference and did our first performance in public, we decided, let's start learning songs and let's start going to powwows.

[drum beats and vocalizing] >> Orona: One of our songs is called The Gathering Song, and it was given to us by Jermaine Tremmel.

[drum beats and vocalizing] Usually, songs came to us by other drum groups that supported us -- >> Dunn: Or we would ask permission in the right way, ask with an offering from other drum groups and they would give us permission.

And then we started learning our own songs or catching our own songs.

>> Eben: The Mankiller women would come up with songs or would hear songs.

We'd hear songs in nature or would hear songs in dreams.

>> Orona: We started songwriting and dreaming and, you know, again, like Carrie said, catching songs and -- that's a beautiful process, you're just living your life.

And all of a sudden, the beautiful.

Yeah, melody comes to you and you just try to catch it as you would like a poet or a writer.

[drum beat and vocalizing] [gentle guitar] >> Amaro: We have a sisterhood with the drum group, so it makes us stronger as women for ourselves, because we need that -- that healing as women, as moms, as aunties, as grandmas, as cousins.

You know, that women's spirituality is really important and that connects us.

>> Dunn: I lost my sister a long time ago and the drum helped me heal.

So I can say that it helped me find sisters.

>> Orona: And I don't have any sisters, but I do here, and that█s a wonderful, beautiful, fulfilling thing for me.

Just that feminine energy, that bond of other women.

>> Dunn: Yeah.

>> Orona: And, I didn't have that growing up.

So it was a beautiful thing to get as a gift when I was 18.

And it's just never left me.

And I think that drum, refills us.

>> Dunn: Yes.

>> Orona: And -- >> Dunn: Sustenance.

>> Orona: Nurtures and again, loves and protects and, you know, just like the story of that drum is the heartbeat of the mother.

We come back to mother when we come back to sing.

[Drum beat and vocalizing] >> Amaro: It's exciting for me to be able to sing with the women because of the voices that we have.

The different tones.

There was one comment, one time that a male drum group member had said, “oh, you almost sound as good as the men -- drum groups.” and it's like, well, that's not what we're trying to do.

We have our own voice, we have our own tones, and we're not here to compete with the men.

We have our own way of singing and it's just a beautiful thing.

[Drum beat and vocalizing] >> Dunn: When we first started out -- >> Orona: It was a big deal.

>> Dunn: It was a big deal.

>> Orona: It was very controversial.

because men can only sit at the drum, and that's specifically to certain tribal traditions.

And then after a while, people became accustomed to us as a group.

>> Orona: We have a lot of stories where people at first came to be upset with us, and then they changed their tune.

[Drum beat and vocalizations] >> Eben: For 35 years, what we've gone through, there's been really great, good, and some obstacles that we had to go through to become who we are.

But I think once people understood who we were as individuals, as women in our jobs, women in our communities and the type of work we've done, I think that that has changed and were more accepted.

And I'm really proud of Nevada and my relatives and Nevada for being so supportive and embracing The Mankillers.

[Drums beat and vocalizations] The award winning arts and culture series ¡COLORES!

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Funding for COLORES was provided in part by: New Mexico PBS Great Southwestern Arts & Education Endowment Fund, and the Nellita E. Walker Fund for KNME-TV at the Albuquerque Community Foundation New Mexico Arts, a division of the Department of Cultural Affairs, and by the National Endowment for the Arts.

and Viewers Like You