KIMBERLY GUERRERO - WILMA MANKILLER

(Cherokee, Colville, Salish-Kootenai) A native Oklahoman and graduate of UCLA, Kimberly enjoys a career in entertainment as an actor, writer and director and also works with tribal communities throughout North America teaching filmmaking as a creative tool promoting personal and community development. A few of her film and television credits include Longmire, Grey’s Anatomy, Hidalgoand The Sopranos though she is most often recognized as “Winona”, Jerry’s Native American girlfriend on Seinfeld. Having originated the role of “Johnna” in Steppenwolf’s Tony Award-winning play August: Osage County, Kimberly joined the ensemble performing in Chicago, on Broadway, at The National Theatre in London and most recently at the Sydney Theatre Company in Australia. Kimberly is married to Artist/Composer Johnny Guerrero and lives in Southern California. 

MO BRINGS PLENTY - CHARLIE SOAP

  Mo Brings Plenty is of the Lakota Nation, born and raised on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. He is a gifted musician, actor, model, and devoted spokesperson, who travels the nation advocating for the rights of Indian communities, focusing heavily on the safety and protection of elders and the support and positive development of the youth. Mo takes a proactive approach in all that he does and is a true visionary about what he as a spiritual Indian man with strong traditional values can bring to the continuation and revitalization of tradition. It is through sharing and talking with people that he endeavors to maintain a sacred way of life that so many who have come before him have sacrificed to keep alive.

Mo has been employed with the Kansas City Indian Center since January 2012, as a Cultural Outreach Liaison. As a speaker and presenter locally and nationally, Mo conducts educational talks and presentations on topics that range from the traditional values and ways of life of Indian people, youth empowerment, human rights of Indian people, Indians in film and television, and much more. Additionally, Mo provides traditional teachings and peer counseling to members and clients of the Kansas City Indian Center.

As an actor, he has worked in television, film and theatre. Mo was most recently cast as “Charlie Soap” in The Cherokee Word for Water, which is a feature-length motion picture that tells the story of the work that led Wilma Mankiller to become the first modern female Chief of the Cherokee Nation, due to be released in November, 2012. In November, 2011, Mo was awarded "Best Actor" from the 14th Annual Native American Film Festival of the Southeast for his role as "Crazy Horse" in HOLY MAN: THE US vs. DOUGLAS WHITE film. HOLY MAN also took home the award for "Best Cinematography." In addition to numerous other awards, HOLY MAN: THE USA vs. DOUGLAS WHITE has recently been selected to be a featured documentary in the Academy Award-qualifying International Documentary Association's DocuWeeks showcase beginning August 10, 2012. Other film credits include the DreamWorks filmCowboys & Aliens, Rez Bomb, Hidalgo and Pirates of the Caribbean. He has played several traditional roles in The History Channel’s movieComanche Warrior where he played the role of “Quanah Parker” and also the role of “Crazy Horse” in their investigating history documentary,Who Killed Crazy Horse. On television, he was most recently seen portraying “Crazy Horse” and “Comanche Hero” in the Spike Television series Deadliest Warrior. Overseas, he participated in the BBC’s piece Custer’s Last Stand, and his national theatre accolades include performances at The Rose Performing Arts Center, Creighton University and the Nebraska Repertory Theatre.

As a musician, he is a traditional drummer, percussionist, and vocalist. He is a former member of the award-winning musical group Brule’ and has contributed his traditional musical acumen and Lakota language to several of Brule’s songs. Currently, Mo’s talent and flair can be seen with his own band and production, Brings Plenty Band.

Mo has appeared in ads for Ed Hardy and in several other commercials and print ads. Cover stories haveincluded RedSkin Magazine out of Canada andNative Legacy Magazine published out of South Dakota.

STEVE REEVES - JOHNSON SOAP

Steve Reeves, Johnson Soap, was born and raised on the Blackfeet Reservation in Browning, Montana. Son of Curley and Lila Reevis, he is the 4th of 6 siblings. He graduated from Flandreau High School and attended Haskell Indian Junior College in Lawrence, Kansas where he received a degree in arts. After junior college, he left the reservation in Montana to try to begin an acting career in Los Angeles. He lived on the beach in his car, a 1971 Ford Torino, for many months before he began to have a more steady income. He and his wife Macile, an artist and clothing designer, have three sons.

In 1996 Steve received an award from First Americans in the Arts (FAITA) for his supporting roles in both the critically acclaimed movie Fargoand in the made for television movie Crazy Horse. In 2004 he repeated this honor for his work on the ABC series Line of Fire.

DARRYL TONEMAH - CHIEF ROSS SWIMMER

Darryl Tonemah, Chief Ross Swimmer, is an American Indian health psychologist and musician, of Kiowa, Comanche and Tuscarora heritage. He was born on the Tuscarosa Reservation in New York, the son of Indian Health Service worker and a nurse. Tonemah has three bachelor's degrees, in Psychology, Sociology and Gerontology, a master's degree in Community Counseling, and a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology and Cultural Studies. He is currently the director of the Health Promotion Program at the University of Oklahoma College of Continuing Education, and works with Native groups across the United States and Canada promoting health and wellness. He provided behavioral support for National Institutes of Health research on diabetes prevention and lifestyle change among Indian populations, and was named to the American Diabetes Association's Board of Directors in January 2011. In addition to his health services work, Tonemah is an award-winning recording artist, having produced five critically acclaimed CDs since 1992. He describes his musical style as "Native Americana."

OREN R. LYONS - GRANDFATHER

Oren R. Lyons, Grandfather, is a Native American activist, a traditional Faithkeeper of the Turtle Clan, and a member of the Onondoga Nation Council of Chiefs of the Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy (the Haudenosaunee).

Lyons graduated from Syracuse University with a degree in Fine Arts and soon moved to New York City, where he worked for Norcross Greeting Cards. He started as a paste-up artist but later became an art and planning director for Norcross. His background in art has helped him become an accomplished illustrator of books and a painter.

In 1970, Lyons returned to his ancestral homeland in upstate New York to act as Faithkeeper of the Turtle Clan. In this capacity, he is entrusted with keeping alive his people's traditions, values and history.

Oren Lyons is Associate Professor at SUNY (University at Buffalo), in the Center for the Americas. He teaches courses on Native American history and studies, and advises graduate students. Prof. Lyons also appears at many conferences and meetings, speaking on American Indian topics, human rights, interfaith dialogue, and the environment.

Aside from his work at the University and the Turtle Clan, Lyons is the co-founder of the national American Indian quarterly news magazine Daybreak, of which he has been the publisher since 1987. He also edited the book Exiled In The Land Of The Free: Democracy, The Iroquois and The Constitution (1992), a major study of the Indian's impact on American democracy and the United States Constitution.

An essay from Oren Lyons, "Our Mother Earth," is included in Seeing God Everywhere: Essays on Nature and the Sacred.

ZAHN MCCLARNON - DEPUTY JACKSON

Zahn McClarnon, Deputy Jackson, is Standing Rock Sioux and Irish. He grew up in Northern Montana, Nebraska and Wyoming. He moved to Los Angeles in 1990 to further pursue his career as an actor. Zahn has appeared in many television series, including Baywatch, Chicago Hope, Dangerous Minds, Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman, Murphy Brown and NYPD Blue. Recent television work includes his second guest appearance on Walker, Texas Ranger and a guest appearance on the Fox TV Series, Freaky Links. In 1996 and 1997 Zahn was presented with The First Americans In The Arts Awards for Outstanding Guest Performance in a TV Drama Series for his work on Chicago Hope and Dangerous Minds.

Feature film work includes a co-starring role with Richard Dreyfuss in the film Silent Fall. Recent film work includes the feature film, SKINS, directed by Chris Eyre who also directed the award winning film, SMOKE SIGNALS. Zahn has performed in 2 live radio theater performances this year, for Wells Fargo Radio Theater. Mitzva on the Mesa and Roundball.

BEN LIVINGSTON - CURLY

Ben Livingston, Curly, grew up in a small South Texas town. He was raised in an artistic and theatrical family. He enjoyed problem solving and "travel" by drawing his thoughts and desires out on paper in his room while listening to Houston's progressive Pacifica radio. Inspired by culturally diverse broadcasts of song writers and poets like Kinky Friedman, Terry Allen, Charles Bukowski and many others, Livingston was unknowingly forming thoughts that would later serve him very well as an internationally known artist, critically acclaimed song writer and now actor for film and television.

“In a decade of journalism I have met no other artist with the charisma, determination, and buoyant delight in sharing knowledge and new perceptions of Ben Livingston.”

-Eve Kahn Freelance Writer for The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and New Yorker NY, NY