Explore every episode of the podcast Reel Indigenous

So tradish! Jason Asenap and Sunrise Tippeconnie look back at 2026 SWAIA Indian Market with its fashion and films. The Lords of the Plains discuss sling bags, riding your bike thru the Rio Grande and traveling to Tucumcari to attack tourists. Tune in for the fun!

First-time author Joey Clift shares why he wrote We've Been Here The Whole Time! and how writing a book is weird. Thanks for hanging out with us and remember to keep it Reel!

This week, playwright, actor, producer, and proud Diné Rhiana Yazzie sits down with Sunrise and Matt to talk theater, films, and being a cool person.

Zoe Leigh Hopkins joins Sunrise and Angela to talk about her career, starting with acting, then to editing and now to directing episodes of the award-winning Netflix series North of North. She talks about the importance of learning her language and all of the power that comes with it.

Back to deadCenter for the next round of interviews! We mix it up with Icon Loren Waters, Tulsa filmmaker Keith Daniels, and fashion icon Peshawn Bread, who lays down the law about AI. And remember, narrative sovereignty is the goal! #sunrisen #filmfestival #indigenous

Actor, writer, director, producer, graphic designer, but funny? Let's find out this week when Tai Leclaire visits with us.

Fresh off King of the Hill, we talk Rutherford Falls (!), the Best Holiday of the Year (Halloween, duh) and his upcoming film Cheyenne!

Meegwun Fairbrother has come a long way from Butterhead to playing an Osage family man in the new Little House on the Prairie series dropping on July 9. Charles Ingalls just got a new neighbor!

He joins us this week to talk about working with Sydney Freeland, learning Osage, and his upcoming projects.

It's deadCenter 2026 Part 1 - The Reckoning!

First, we got Blake Pickens and Caleb Vesely, who worked with Brenda Fisher and Chief Marchand Rice to share Chief's story of his life sentence and his journey into reconnecting with his heritage in a moving documentary that won Best Indigenous Festure at dC2026.

Next, we got Josiah Jones, whose documentary short Stankface Standing Soldier follows DJ and Mato Wayuhi, known for his work on Reservation Dogs. It can be seen on PBS In the Making American Masters Short Docs online.

Spend the next hour with Noetta, Angela and Sunrise flying their geek flags as we discuss the different types of conventions, their own convention experiences, cosplaying and the importance of being Native in these spaces. What cons have you gone to?

deadCenter Film Fest programmers Sunrise and Paris share their knowledge of the upcoming OKC film festival, with some pretty amazing films screening in Oklahoma City!

Lots of info on the films and how to see them this week!

Steven Paul Judd, director, writer, artist, currently writing and directing Dark Winds, finally joins us on the podcast this week. Special appearance by Ghost Will Sampson and the Bricktown IHOP (RIP).

We are thrilled to welcome Banchi Hanuse, Qwaxw Siwallace, and Q'umulha Schooner to the pod this week. They were nice enough to sit down with us at SXSW for a chat before winning the SWSX Documentary Audience Award!

The history of North America is littered with centuries of imperialism, and scars run deep. In Bella Coola, this story is even more harrowing than most. The Nuxalk Nation has seen attempts to wipe them out with smallpox, genocidal acts to steal their land, and now, the disappearance of the ooligan has been a major hit to the local customs. Ceremony tells the story of a people and a land, highlighting the ways that culture and the land remain as ingrained as ever.

Dr. Jennifer Nez Denetdale, citizen of the Navajo Nation, joins us this week to talk Dark Winds Season 4, from her Dine perspective. Dr. Denetdale is chair and a professor of American Studies at University of New Mexico, and brings her unique point of view to our ongoing discussion of this fan favorite show.

How many Indians are nominated for the 2026 Oscar Awards? More than we thought, but still, we are losing some steam on this front.

Our hosts debate who will win, who should win, and more this week!

Last year in Utah! And Sunrise went to say goodbye to all the Park City Pals. Matt joined virtually, and we got the scoop on the 2026 Final Park City Sundance!

February is made for love, and no one loves a love story more than our hosts. Which ones made the top of the list?

Our hosts watched the 1997 Shining so you don't have to, followed up by 2019's Doctor Sleep. And yes, Angela watched one with the sound muted.

Pod favs Cliff Curtis and Zahn McClarnon join the cast of Doctor Sleep to finish out Danny Torrance's story for an interesting addition to the King Universe.

How tropey does Derry get? Our hosts have all the feels about the new series on HBO Max. It takes us all back to the 60s and how Pennywise became the clown we all know and love?

2025 was...a...year. We've had a wild ride and are here to talk about it!

So long, 2025. You've been a year. To finish it off, let's talk about the last four episodes of FX's The Lowdown.

Thank you to our listeners for sticking with us for 4 years, and we hope 2026 will be the year you want! Be kind, and in the words of Rosebud Sioux citizen Bob Barker, please spay and neuter your pets.

Because no one asked for it, we, once again, revisit and discuss, "Edington" (not sure if it's spelled correctly, but too lazy to look it up).

Anyways, our all father, god creator extraordinaire, the OG, Jason Asenap graces us with his presence to talk about Edington.

Just like the mighty Cicada, Jason shows up every seven years and whips out his Tymbal to sing his shrilling chorus. Your ears will be blessed to hear such a song.

Also, we meander a bit and talk about the lovely power couple, Ramona Emerson and Kelly Byars -- and lavish them with words of love. Turns out they’re working on a documentary right now . we didn’t know at the time of the recording so keep your eyes up for that .

And as an added bonus, because all enquiring minds want to know, we discuss our favorite Taylor Swift era.

So, turn on, tune in and drop out.

The muzak is:

"Leavin' u wuz ez but lovin' u is hard" by Chahta Vba Isht Taloa Cocophony Broken Consort

Until the Gregorian calendar becomes measured by the eras of Taylor Swift, we won't just keep it real, we'll keep it

REEL INDIGENOUS!

Nominations for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences are all under consideration by voters right now, and WHAT!!?? Several Native films have qualified to be considered!

Tiger is a live-action documentary short about Dana Tiger and her family of artists, who changed the landscape of North American Indigenous art. Their t-shirts have been seen most recently in Reservation Dogs and The Lowdown (and are available online).

A family triumphant and devastated, the Tiger story is deftly told by documentarian Loren Waters, and it's now available to stream on FNX and Criterion.

Richard is a multi-hyphenate: artist, actor, activist, photographer. And he took time to sit down with our hosts to discuss his career, his experience on the set of American Indian Graffiti, and a host of other topics.

Quyana to Oklahoma Film Exchange for hosting our retrospective!

In a run-up to our live interview with Richard Ray Whitman, we present...American Indian Graffiti: This Thing Life.

A deep dive into the feature by Steven Paul Judd (Dark Winds) and tvli jacob (American Experience). Twenty two years ago, shot in Norman, OK, featuring Kimberley Guerrero (Welcome to Derry) and Yvonne Russo (Vow of Silence: The Assassination of Anna Mae Aquash), this film kicked off a wave of New Native Cinema, focusing on the modern experience of Indigenous folks in the US.

Friend of the pod Adam Piron curated a collection of Native Narratives for this month on the Criterion Collection streaming service, so we celebrate by talking about the list, and making our additions to it!

What would you add?

Join our Patreon and get a hand-selected movie from Sunrise and a discussion with him about it!

To celebrate the beginning of Native American Heritage Month, we take a look back at the short film that brought so many of our hosts together.

Throwing it way back to Sunrise Tippeconnie's Contest, with a cast and crew of today's film luminaries. Our long-winding convo starts with Contest, then next week will feature tvli and Steven Paul Judd's American Indian Graffiti.

Our horror hosts hone in on Will Sampson's performance in Poltergeist II, and wander through the dark and scary haunted houses and woods from there.

Happy Halloween!

Lowdown Entertainment hosts a look at Sterlin Harjo's new show on FX: The Lowdown. Shot on location in Tulsa, Oklahoma, guest David Bizzaro joins us for some local flavor on the locations and background talent.

Another true crime doc set in Indian Country has dropped on Hulu. Inupiat creative James Dommeck Jr. has adapted his Audible original "Midnight Son" now titled Blood & Myth. Our true crime expert Monica discusses the ins and outs of Natives and true crime this week. Is it exploitative? Condescending? And are the iñuktuŋs the cause?

We lost a giant in our community. Graham Greene began his journey on Sept 1. Our hosts reflect on his body of work, and impact he had on each of us.

Short answer: not enough. Long answer, they get it right, every time.

Sunrise, Matt, tvli and Angela sort through what exactly Eddington is, and what it all means. But if you make it to the end, let us know what you think about chronological or release order.

Remember, keep it reel!

Get ready to get inspired! Our next gen of Native filmmakers are here and showing us how its done.

We met filmmakers Sabrina Saleha and Littlebear Sanchez at imagineNative and deadCenter film fests, and just had to have them on to share their experiences as young Indigenous filmmakers going through Sundance, imagineNative, and even Tisch.

Let's decolonize filmmaking together!

Pod favorite Jhane Myers joins us as two films she produced make their festival runs: Comanche Academy: A Healing Journey and Free Leonard Peltier

Up next, seven projects,including a feature on the Miccosukee Nation, and a look at how we are consuming media these days. We love having Jhane on to get all the news!

Being Native can be complicated. Often we are confronted with challenges from both within our communities and from outside our communities, and this week's episode looks at our filmmaker perspectives on their stories they tell.

Amanda Erickson brings true crime producing experience to this beautifully crafted doc about a missing sister, and the struggles of those who remain behind in "She Cried That Day", and our friend Joey Clift joins again for a look at his animated short "POW!" that is taking the film fest circuit by storm. You may even hear host Angela's voice in it!

We're always thankful for the quality of talent that deadCenter Film Festival brings to Oklahoma and want to wish them Happy 25th Birthday. We look forward to many more years of great Indigenous content with them.

We visit with host/producer Paris and director/writer Caleb on this extra edition of Reel Indigenous, looking at the inception of a short film project!

This week we catch up with deadCenter filmmakers Sabrina Saleha, Loren Waters, and Kyle Kauwika Harris as they screen their films at the world-famous festival, celebrating 25 years!

Loren's "Tiger" debuted at Sundance and has been taking the world by storm. Sabrina is multi-talented actor, writer, and director, and can be seen in The Cleaning Lady and Barry. Kyle's debut feature film Reverence was a labor of love for the Oklahoma filmmaker.

Our Host Interview series continues with Noetta Harjo, PhD candidate, radio personality, savage auntie and more.

Drowned Land is a feature documentary about efforts to build dams along the Kiamichi River in SE Oklahoma, and efforts by water protectors to stop the resource extraction by flooding a section of the state.

Filmmaker Colleen Thurston joins Paris and Angela to talk about her years-long process to creating this beautiful documentary, and how personal it became to her in making it.

Join us as we join the rest of the world raving about the CBC/APTN/Netflix series North of North, starring Anna Lambe.

The fashions, the earrings, the romance! We can't wait for Season 2!

Friend of the Pod Mark Williams knows vampire hunters, and now we do, too! If you've seen Sinners, you know who we're talking about. The legendary Choctaw Vampire Hunters have caught the imaginations of the world, and we want to know more.

Be sure the crank up the volume for this episode, where Jay Wesley, Mark Patrick, Marco Patrick and Eric Willis join us from the Chahta Immi Cultural Center in Mississippi, and Jaeden Wesley joins us from school in LA to talk about their experiences working with director Ryan Coogler and how their characters became a cultural phenomenon.

tvli, Paris and Angela stan Erica Tremblay and were mighty impressed with Steve Judd and how they wrapped up the third season of Dark Winds.

Just give all the awards to Erica, Steve, Zahn, and Deanna already!

Come for the Dank Winds, stay for the cats.

See you n Toronto!

This is an episode recorded a while back when these flicks were fresh on the screen. Now, they're probably on streaming or at the dollar movie. So, check them out.

Better late than never, as we get to chat it up about two movies starring Amber Midthunder -- "Novocaine" and "Opus" ("Opus" also has Tatanka Means, and so there's an extension of love to him). Hope you enjoy this episode as we give endless praise to Amber.

The music is "Op. 49" by Chahta vba isht Taloa cocophony orchestra consort

Also, check this career retrospective out:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt23902472/?ref_=vp_ov_btn

And while you're online, check the link tree for all our links -- and then some.

https://linktr.ee/reelindigenous

Anyways...

So, remember, whether you're impervious to pain or dealing with some cult-like people, don't just keep it real, keep it

REEL INDIGENOUS!

Our hosts discuss, at length, the 70s, episodes 4 and 5 of Dark Winds, and much, much more. Tune in after the closing music for more musings on CBs, Convoy and who worked on that film.

Or, How We Survived SXSW and various other projects during the winter.

Our hosts have been busy with new, exciting endeavors, and they share all their experiences with you this week!

Noetta and Angela sum up Episodes 2 and 3 this week with some luck and lots of auntie laughs.

These two episodes are setting up a lot of stuff, and we are here for it! Spoilers abound, so beware going forward, and thanks for listening!

Noetta is on spring break and joins us to talk about Season 3 of Dark Winds! This season brings more monsters, more intrigue and more Zahn, Twilight alums and Jessica Matten.

"I write to preserve my culture; I edit to protect my culture," says Angeline Boulley, author of NYT bestseller "Firekeepers Daughter".

Angeline sits down with Angela at the Charles M. Russell Center to talk about her writing method (it's complicated), her life before writing (also complicated), and what she sees for the future of Indigenous storytelling (Native stories by Natives).

We got us a Cliff Curtis Appreciation Post this week, along with a little Oscar talk for ya. Happy Third Birthday to us and thanks for tuning in!

We are thrilled to welcome brothers Seth and Pete Scriver to the pod this week to discuss their animated documentary "Endless Cookie," a feature-length film full of Pete's stories about his kids, dogs, and community of Shamattawa.

The film debuted at Sundance, to the great surprise of the family, and they brought the kids (not the dogs) down to Utah for their first viewing in a movie theater.

Sunrise, Jason, Matt and David wrap up Sundance with a look at Free Leonard Peltier and more.