1923’s Aminah Nieves Looks to Honor Indigenous Communities Through Her Character

In the Yellowstone prequel, Nieves stars as Teonna Rainwater, a youth living through the horrors of Native American Boarding Schools.

1923, the most recent installment in Taylor Sheridan’s expanding Yellowstone universe, takes a look at significant historical events, including pandemics, the end of Prohibition, and the Great Depression, and how they affect the Dutton family. On Yellowstone, the Duttons are led by family patriarch John, portrayed by Kevin Costner. 1923 relies on two big Hollywood names as heads of the family with Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren starring as Jacob and Cara Dutton. But 1923 doesn’t just introduce audiences to more of the Dutton lineage. In fact, one of the series most impactful storylines revolves around Teonna Rainwater, an ancestor of Broken Rock Indian Reservation’s Chief Thomas Rainwater (played by Gil Birmingham on Yellowstone).

In 1923, Aminah Nieves portrays Teonna, a youth facing the horrors of Boarding Schools for Native American children. The historically accurate portrayal of the government-funded schools created in the 1800s to “civilize” indigenous children has been a difficult watch for viewers; many of whom may not have been familiar with the institutions prior to 1923. In conversation with Deadline, the actress, who is American Indian, shared that she was aware of the schools as she had been educated by her family, but that she did more research on the topic by speaking to members of different indigenous communities.

She also discussed her initial hesitation to take on the role:

“I read it [the script] and was emailing my manager like, ‘I don’t know man. I don’t know if I should do this. It’s just heavy and triggering.’ My manager was so supportive and said, ‘you know what? I support anything you do so whatever decision you make is a good one.’ And then my mom is my reader for everything. We talked about it a lot. I did the audition the day it was due because I waited so long. I was scared. My mom was like, ‘Aminah, you have to do this, not just for you, it’s for us. It’s for our communities and for all indigenous peoples across the world,'” she told Deadline.

The actress shared that the audition consisted of multiple “heavy” scenes from the first three episodes. She recalled:

“It was really hard to move through, because you feel everything. I knew it wasn’t just going to be me feeling it. I knew that there were gonna be ancestors flowing through me. That’s exactly what happened when I got to set. I felt like sometimes, I wasn’t even in control of my body, you know? It felt like, ‘Aminah, someone else is here. Let them take over for a second.’ I was scared a lot. I wanted to make sure I was honoring every single human, every single family member, my grandparents, my aunties, my mom, my dad and then all of the communities. I’m so happy that I’m here and doing it and being a voice.”

Related: 1923’s Michelle Randolph Discusses Working With Helen Mirren, Elizabeth’s Backstory and Season 1 Ending

Taylor Sheridan Explores the Displacement of Native Americans

While Sheridan’s Yellowstone universe (which includes the original series, prequels 1883 and 1923, and the upcoming 6666) has often been dubbed as “red” and “conservative,” the series creator has rejected that idea. In a previous interview he said that Yellowstone was “about the displacement of Native Americans and the way Native American women were treated and about corporate greed and the gentrification of the West.” Perhaps the themes had been previously overlooked on Yellowstone, but Sheridan has made that an impossibility on 1923 with its focus on American Indian Boarding Schools.

1923 concludes February 26 and has already been renewed for a second season. Nieves shares that she has “faith” that her character will return for the upcoming season, but that Sheridan “hasn’t written anything yet.”