Many times, marginalized groups are defined by the hardships they endure and the stories that come from this. Is there a way you can center hope within these narratives?

The problem is that our hardships mold us, but they don’t define us. But for some reason, Hollywood only wants to focus on our trauma. There are so many stories of triumph, joy, resilience, and love. Yet they were only seen as poverty-stricken victims. There’s always a way to center hope in these stories. If we focus on the resilience and strength of the characters versus the trauma, No matter what the trauma will be, we need someone you can root for—someone who isn’t playing the victim. We need to see them come through the pain and trials to the growth and victory on the other side. Killers of the Flower Moon, we know the death is there, but if we can see the joy, family, and healing that take place after, that’s the hope. To see that no matter how incredible the pain and betrayal were, that we’re still here. We’re still practicing our traditions, language, and customs. No matter the pain inflicted on us, no matter how hard the residential schools tried to beat the Native Americans out of us. We are still here and have retained or are reclaiming what was taken from us. That’s hope.

Can Hollywood do a better job of looking at the good, despite the bad?

Hollywood absolutely could do a better job of looking at the good. And it starts in the writer’s room. As a Native American writer, I see our trauma as an event, not our story. Our story comes after the pain. We experience it, it shapes us, and then we move on and heal the best way we can. But movies always focus on the pain and the wrongdoing, never the healing. Having Natives at ground zero will only enrich a story. You can’t bring us in as consultants to do damage control after the script is written. I am a product of generational trauma and cultural erasure; no one can speak to our experiences in the way we can because we are the results of these things. But I promise you that it only makes me stronger; it makes me work harder and push to see us in a proper light.

Representation, as a whole, is something the industry seems to be prioritizing now. Does it feel sincere?

I’m glad representation is being prioritized. But representation isn’t making a story about us; it’s making the story with us. The group you’re wanting to represent needs to be involved in every aspect of the process. We can’t be consultants. I think that’s a scary thing for Hollywood because that means they’re going to have to give over control. We shouldn’t be a part of a trend, but a part of the fabric of Hollywood. I think some of the representation is sincere, but there’s also another aspect of Hollywood that doesn’t trust that we know how to tell our stories or that our stories will make money. They are focusing on the wrong things. Our stories aren’t a trend or a specialty market. Our stories are about family, friends, love, and loss, just like everyone else’s, but for some reason they were seen as exotic or other. As if you have to witness our story from a distance. It’s almost like a zoo. But I want to bring people into the story. I want them to experience it as a fellow human who is going through the experience with the character. To show our commonality.

How do you identify who you want to work with?

I think it’s important to know the story and the people working on it as well as how collaborative they are and how open they are to suggestions and corrections if necessary. Unfortunately, I was unable to read the script for Killers of the Flower Moon before signing my contract. But I knew I didn’t want Anna to be the stereotypical ‘drunk Indian’. I wanted her pain to be from losing her friends, family, and way of life. And that’s the mindset I had going in. No matter what was on that page, I would do my best to bring her to life and show every emotion possible in the short time I have on screen. I feel it makes her story more tragic when she’s so full of life and fire. So when she’s not there, you feel her absence.