1923 star Aminah Nieves on Teonna's journey and telling Indigenous stories: 'We're still here'

Warning: This story contains spoilers for "Nothing Left to Lose," the season finale of 1923.

The year 1923 — and the first season of Yellowstone prequel 1923 — were not kind to Teonna Rainwater (Aminah Nieves). Snatched from her family and forcibly enrolled in a prison-like Catholic boarding school run by the cruel and exacting Father Renaud (Sebastian Roché), Teonna endured physical beatings, sexual assault, and other forms of dehumanizing abuse. The priests and nuns who ran the school were determined to "assimilate" Teonna into white American culture.

They failed.

After killing her merciless tormentor, Sister Mary (Jennifer Ehle), Teonna escaped on foot in episode 4. She spent the second half of the season trying to make her way back to her family with the help of Hank (Michael Greyeyes), a Crow shepherd she encounters on her journey, and his son, Pete (Cole Brings Plenty). Though Teonna was eventually reunited with her father, Runs His Horse (Michael Spears), Hank was murdered by priests sent to track Teonna down. In Sunday's season finale, "Nothing Left to Lose," Teonna was still on the run — with Pete and her dad by her side — about to enter Wyoming on their way to find sanctuary with a Comanche tribe to the south.

Teonna's journey on 1923 comes as the U.S. government is undergoing a real-life reckoning about the country's systematic abuse of Native and Indigenous children through the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative. An investigative report issued last May concluded that the United States "operated or supported 408 boarding schools across 37 states" between the years 1819 and 1969, and that the schools subjected students to harsh punishments including "solitary confinement; flogging; withholding food; whipping; slapping; and cuffing."

Nieves says she's "thankful" to be telling Teonna's story in a year when American leaders are taking accountability for the country's abusive schools. "These stories need to be shared with millions of people," she says. "People kind of like to ignore it, but they can't ignore it anymore."

EW spoke to Nieves and Yellowstone star Mo Brings Plenty — who serves as the American Indian Affairs Coordinator for his show and 1923 — about how it felt to depict such an ugly part of our nation's history, Teonna's budding romance with Pete (who's played by Mo's nephew!), and what may be on the horizon for her in season 2.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Aminah, what was your first reaction when you read the script for the finale and saw where Teonna's story concluded for the season?

AMINAH NIEVES: You want my honest first reaction? My first reaction was [squeals], "She kisses a boy!" [Laughs] But I was in tears, not only for Teonna's story but for everyone's story, too. The entire finale episode is incredible. I can't wait to watch it.

I loved the budding romance between Teonna and Pete. What was it like to play that bit of happiness for her after she went through so much pain this season?

NIEVES: It was silly. It was difficult, but Cole and I have such a great relationship. Honestly, I feel like he's my little brother in real life. I feel like we were both like, "Yeah!" Just like giddy children on set that night. And Michael Spears, too — he was so giddy and enthusiastic as well. We were all kind of on a high that night. It made it easy because we're all family. It felt good because these are Teonna's human moments, these are her childlike moments poking through. And to play that for her was, it was great.

We need a shipper name for Pete and Teonna. Maybe Petonna?

NIEVES: I'd put the "T" before the "P." [Laughs]

Fair enough. Mo, what's it like to watch your nephew, Cole Brings Plenty, play a key part in Teonna's story?

MO BRINGS PLENTY: It was amazing to see him get involved and be part of a very, very strong storyline in the life of Teonna Rainwater. I was ecstatic, I was happy as heck for him. When I found out about it, I got all giddy, too. And to know that they were going to be working with Michael Spears — because Michael Spears is such an inspiration to a lot of our young people, so I knew that with him being there as well, they would be able to feed off each other. It was just a great, positive energy between the three of them — it was a trifecta of greatness.

Mo, you're the American Indian Affairs Coordinator for Yellowstone and 1923. Can you tell us a little bit about what your responsibilities are in that role?

BRINGS PLENTY: In that role what it means is we have to make sure that we're accurate as far as the time period that we're in, and on a cultural level what we can show and yet still keep the protection over the original ceremonies. And when it comes to language, to make sure that we have the proper fluent speakers of the language. I just try to gain support from the tribes that we're representing and try to always keep in mind that Indian country has a voice as well.

Aminah, what type of research did you do to supplement what you already knew about the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative?

NIEVES: You can always learn more. I asked a lot of different elders from different tribes around Turtle Island, and not just my family or one specific [tribe]. It's hard to ask those questions sometimes, because in those moments you are also bringing up the trauma for them. I would sit with them, and then it would be one of my elders [who would ask], "She's telling this story — do you have anything you want to share with her?" And Mo, he's a storyteller and he shared so much with me. And [1923's Crow language translator] Birdie Real Bird shared so much with me, and Leenah Robinson [who plays Teonna's cousin Baapuxti] and her parents. It was all of us coming together as a collective and continuing to share.

Was there one thing you learned that stuck out to you the most?

NIEVES: Every single piece is gut-wrenching. On a more positive note, you walk on set each day and you're surrounded by a bunch of Indigenous youth, and I'm surrounded by incredible Indigenous actors playing all these roles. Seeing that, seeing our faces be represented on such a grand scale, and seeing our voices be heard, I think that hit me the most. All the extras were mostly from reservations around [Montana] and seeing them smile and be so full of glee every day when they showed up on set for weeks at a time. Seeing them so excited to share these stories and knowing that it's possible, and to know that we're still here — that's what stuck out to me.

Mo, what was the message you thought was most important about telling the story of these boarding schools through the character of Teonna?

BRINGS PLENTY: What was most important to me was to support the storyline that [1923 creator] Taylor [Sheridan] had written. Taylor is so gifted, and he has the ability to share things that some people won't even think about. So for me, it was just to get the message out in a good way and with accuracy.

We see Teonna suffer physical, sexual, and psychological abuse, all of which were common at these boarding schools. And 1923 does not hold back in its depiction of that violence and degradation — why was it so important to show the brutality so vividly?

NIEVES: I think it's important because it's very rare to see our truths being told, and as raw as this is, on a big platform. For me, that was something that drew me to [the show], and something that made me a little nervous about it. It was like, okay, this is on Paramount — this is the Yellowstone universe. This means a lot.

Teonna speaks Crow in every episode. Aminah, were you familiar with the language or did you have to learn it?

NIEVES: I didn't know the language before coming into it, so I learned it. We had an incredible Crow elder, Birdie Real Bird, on set with us. She and Mo were introduced to us about a week before we got to Montana for cowboy camp. Leenah, myself, and Michael — we all had to learn it. She was an incredible, articulate teacher, and she strives for perfection.

Michael Spears told me on set that Crow nation has the highest population of native speakers, which is about 85 percent. That's so incredible because during these assimilation processes, they wipe out your language, your food, your culture — and language is so vital and so important to connect you back to who you are as a human being. To be able to share our dialogue, 90 percent of our dialogue, in Crow in this show — it's so special. I wasn't expecting it. To be able to share Crow with the world, and to have these beautiful babies witness it and watch it and see their language being spoken on TV, it was incredible.

Given everything Teonna went through this season, what was the most challenging scene for you to film?

NIEVES: I think it's a tie between the scene when she kills Sister Mary, and the scene when Hank gets shot. Both of those scenes, they were very difficult ones to be with. With Sister Mary, just the feeling of doing that to someone, and knowing that Teonna never wanted to do that out of disgust or even out of anger — she did it out of survival. That was really difficult to sit with and to do.

And on the other side with Hank, feeling that and seeing that happen in real time destroyed me. And also, she's doing it again, Teonna's killing someone else. In that moment when she kind of buries her head on the priest's body, I think that was a flashback to Sister Mary, and also a moment of, "How could you do this to Hank?" It was kind of a lot for her to move through all of those emotions at once. She's exhausted.

And that anguished scream she lets out when Hank is killed — it sounded like it came from the depths of her soul.

NIEVES: That was real. [Laughs] If you're there for any of the filming, you witness everything real time, and everything is so real because everyone cares so much. Every storyline, not just ours, but the Dutton storyline, too. I went on set every chance I could when I wasn't working, and I witnessed Helen Mirren, and Harrison Ford, and Timothy Dalton. I would witness them just be on, you know?

In 2022, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland directed the Department of the Interior to do an investigation into the lasting consequences of the Federal Indian Boarding School system. And she's currently halfway through her year-long "Road to Healing" listening tour. What does it feel like to have the U.S. government finally take accountability for these systemic abuses of Indigenous people?

BRINGS PLENTY: It is very enlightening to know that we are finally gaining some traction and support. We have to be able to find a way to allow people to heal so that way we can begin to figure out our [current] situations and our circumstances — and most importantly, find a space to be able to work together. We are all in this together. We need to have a place to allow our children to flourish, side by side.

There's a huge movement now encouraging diversity, but that [discussion about] diversity is only [focusing on] the skin color. It needs to be about a cultural diversity. Not every American Indian or Native or Indigenous child is experiencing the same negative issues — they're similar, but they're expressed differently. With cultural diversity, we're able to begin this whole mending and healing process. In 1923, you have the story of Teonna — for me, I've experienced that as a kid. I've experienced rulers, eating soap, getting my hair cut, all of those things, but I utilized that differently than some of my peers did. I utilized it to become exactly what our ancestors were told they could no longer be.

Mo, did you attend a government-run boarding school?

BRINGS PLENTY: I was in a school that had the boarding school mentality. I had a nun — oh my gosh, I will never forget her. I had that treatment in many aspects.

What does it mean to both of you to tell Teonna's story in a year when this real-life "Road to Healing" tour is happening?

NIEVES: It's an honor to just tell her story. When I was in Wyoming [meeting with] Taylor, I think that day is when the Pope finally apologized [for the Catholic Church's involvement in abusive boarding schools]. That was a surreal experience. You're feeling so many emotions run through your veins. I'm thankful because these stories need to be shared with millions of people. People kind of like to ignore it, but they can't ignore it anymore.

BRINGS PLENTY: It is inspiring. It's healing, just for the fact that we know that we have people who are courageous enough to stand by us.

For now, Teonna is making her way to freedom with Pete and her father — but, of course, Father Renaud and Marshall Kent [Jamie McShane] are hot on their trail. Aminah, what do you want to see happen for her in season 2?

NIEVES: You get to see her as a child for one of the first times in episode 8, and that could take me through to season 2. I would love for her to have more childlike, honest moments, for her just to be. But in reality, it's not over. We're still in the 1900s — it's not over. There are so many things I wish for her. Most of all, I just wish for a little bit of ease.

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