‘1923’ Teonna actor talks on filming Indigenous Trauma Scenes: ‘you feel everything’

1923 actor Aminah Nieves recently talked about filming the brutal indigenous trauma scenes of her character Teonna Rainwater in the Yellowstone prequel series.

In her recent interaction with Deadline, Nieves dished on details about filming brutal scenes at the American Indian boarding schools.

Answering about a question regarding having any fears before taking part in the scenes, the 1923 actor revealed ‘We did five scenes for the audition from the first three episodes. They were heavy, heavy scenes. It was really hard to move through, because you feel everything. I knew it wasn’t just going to be me feeling it.”

She further continued, “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” she added.

1923 is a prequel spinoff to Taylor Sheridan's Yellowstone show. In the beginning of the series, Teonna was enrolled at an American Indian boarding school where Catholic nuns pressured her to rid herself of her indigenous culture.

This constant pressure provokes her rebellious side and she starts pushing back against the cruel system, the school's faculty repeatedly beat Teonna into submission. 

After reaching a breaking point Teonna kills two of the most vicious nuns and escapes into the night.