Faces from the Interior
Joslyn Art Museum

ephemera

Role: DP, production company, creative collaborator

"Faces from the Interior: The North American Portraits of Karl Bodmer" is Joslyn Art Museum’s first project to focus exclusively on Karl Bodmer’s portraits of Native Americans. See over sixty recently conserved watercolors featuring individuals from Omaha, Yankton, Lakota, Mandan, Hidatsa, Assiniboine, and Blackfoot tribes, among many Native communities encountered by Maximilian and Bodmer during their travels along the Missouri River.

The exhibition also premieres four short films—contemporary portraits that testify to the enduring power of Bodmer’s images. Personal stories shared in these films illuminate generations of Indigenous teachings that bridge historical and contemporary featherwork and beadwork, dancing, tribal histories, and traditional ecological knowledge. Joslyn Art Museum gratefully acknowledges the participation and generosity of exhibition contributors and film participants.

"Faces from the Interior: The North American Portraits of Karl Bodmer" is on view October 2, 2021 through May 1, 2022 at Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha, Nebraska. More information can be found at https://bit.ly/bodmerportraits

Filmed outside of Albuquerque, NM

In order of appearance
Jessa Rae Growing Thunder (Sisituwaŋ/Wahpetuwaŋ/Hohe)
Joyce Growing Thunder (Sisituwaŋ/Wahpetuwaŋ/Hohe)
Juanita Growing Thunder Fogarty (Sisituwaŋ/Wahpetuwaŋ/Hohe)
Winuna Growing Thunder (Sisituwaŋ/Wahpetuwaŋ/Hohe/Diné)
Nando Slivers (Diné)

Created in collaboration with
Jon Hustead
Annika Johnson
Jessa Rae Growing Thunder
Tessa Wedberg
Spencer Wigmore

Post-production
Nik Fackler
Amélie Raoul

Special Thanks:
We would like to thank our families for their generations of knowledge and humility. This includes the Gray Hawk family, Lenny Boxer family, Maude Buckles family, Anne Red Fox family, Helen Walker family, Joshua Wets It family, and Jim Archdale family. We also want to thank all of the Growing Thunder grandchildren because they are our reason for continuing these traditions. We pray these teachings help guide you all to a bright future.
– Growing Thunder Collective



Filmed in Omaha, NE

In order of appearance
Up Stream Singers: Israel “Izzy” Tamayo (Lakota), George Clements (Warm Springs Wasco, Burns Paiute), Marlin Suppah (Warm Springs Wasco)
Steve Tamayo, (Sicangu Lakota from Rosebud, SD)

Created in collaboration with
Jon Hustead
Annika Johnson
Christopher Marshall
Steve Tamayo
Tessa Wedberg
Spencer Wigmore

Post-production
Nik Fackler
Amélie Raoul

Special Thanks
First and foremost my Cultural Relatives who entrusted me with this cultural knowledge, Joslyn Art Museum, the Ihanktuwan Oyate, my grandson Izzy and my nephews for sharing their voice and learning these Indigenous ways. With a special shout out to Jon, Chris, and Tessa, Pilamaya
– Steve Tamayo



Directed by Justin Deegan

⁣Filmed at the Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site, MHA Nation Interpretive Center on the Fort Berthold Reservation of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation, Running Wolf Arikara Language Immersion School, Lake Sakakawea, and various locations in North Dakota

In order of appearance
Jennifer Young Bear (Mandan-Hidatsa-Arikara)
Michael I. Barthelemy, Jr., Walks With Wolves (Manda, Hidatsa, Tongva)
Gerard Baker, Yellow Wolf (Mandan/Hidatsa)

Created in collaboration with
Gerard Baker⁣
Evan Deegan⁣
Jon Hustead
Annika Johnson⁣
Tessa Wedberg⁣
Spencer Wigmore⁣ ⁣

Post Production:
Nik Fackler⁣
Amélie Raoul⁣

Special thanks
Thank you to the elders of the Mandan and Hidatsa, and the ones that I listened to as a child 
– Gerard Baker

Alisha Deegan
Amber Gwin
Earth Lodge Village
Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site
Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara Nation MHA Nation Interpretive Center
Medicine Lodge Confederacy
Running Wolf Arikara Language Immersion School