Lost Nation: The Ioway

Bones of 41 American Indians removed from Effigy Mounds returned to their tribes for reburial

“As Indian tribes, we are used to hundreds of years of injustice,
so it’s always a surprise when anything good happens.  
We’ve been destroyed, annihilated…our existence dismissed.
Even our history is wiped away…
People aren’t taught about our native history at all.
A lot of times, we have so many generations of destruction,
when something like this happens we expect it to be that way.
When justice does happen, it’s just a miracle”
--Lance Foster, THPO, Iowa Tribe of Kansas & Nebraska

The Standard - Allamakee County
by Lissa Blake

What’s happened at Effigy Mounds over the past 28 years might sound more like the plot of a detective novel than the everyday operations of a National Monument. But after almost 30 years, guardians of the sacred place are in the process of righting a serious wrong.

According to David Barland-Liles, special agent for the National Park Service (NPS) and lead ranger at Effigy Mounds, the skeletal remains of 41 indigenous people, which were missing for 21 years, are being returned to their respective tribes for repatriation.

THE MISSING BONES

The story of the missing bones and how they were recovered involves many individuals who have worked at Effigy Mounds over the past three decades. Barland-Liles said he was working as a special agent for the NPS in St. Louis, MO in 2011 when the matter first came to his attention.

“Some tribal members have told me ‘the old ones’ chose me to find these people,” said Barland-Liles. “What happened here was the penultimate act of racism,” he said.

Click HERE to read the rest of the story.

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To purchase Fourth Wall Films' award-winning Lost Nation: The Ioway DVD series, click HERE!

Iowa monument continues to recover stolen human remains

Effigy Mounds, Harpers Ferry, Iowa. (Photo Effigy Mounds National Monument)

By Bennet Goldstein
Telegraph-Herald

David Barland-Liles wishes his place of employment was known only for its magic, rather than also for the crime he helped solve.

But if the story of the park superintendent who stole human remains sparks public interest in Effigy Mounds National Monument, so much the better, he thinks.

“This place has endured,” said Barland-Liles, the park’s lead ranger. “It’s magic. It will always be magic.”

Located in Allamakee and Clayton counties, the national monument contains the largest concentration of effigy mounds in the world.

Within its borders are more than 200 earth mounds, between 700 and 2,500 years old. Some are in the shapes of animals, while others are conical and were used for burials.

The Telegraph Herald reports that 20 federally recognized Native American tribes are affiliated with the site, and many consider it sacred ground.

Ioway Lance Foster is the Tribal Historic Preservation Officer at the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska. (Photo courtesy Fourth Wall Films)

“Our oldest stories have us up in that area from the time before we were human beings, even — when we were the different clans, the different animals who became human beings,” said Lance Foster, tribal historic preservation officer of the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska.

The effigy mounds reflect the different shapes of the clans and ancestors who were there, he said.

“Some of the mounds, of course, have sleepers in them — people who were buried there who still live on, in a sense, in those places as guardians,” Foster said.

But the sleepers’ rest was interrupted. And the efforts to return the remains to tribes for reburial continue.

Read the rest of the article at http://www.timesrepublican.com/news/todays-news/2018/09/iowa-monument-continues-to-recover-stolen-human-remains/.

“Good Earth” Official Selection at 2018 Arkhaios Film Festival in South Carolina

Good Earth: Awakening the Silent City, produced by Kelly and Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films of the Quad Cities, is an Official Selection at the 2018 Arkhaios Film Festival and will be among twenty films showcased October 12-14 in Columbia, South Carolina.

Jean F Guilleux, Arkhaios Film Festival founder and director announced that “the twenty members of the committee were challenged to choose the best films from around the globe offering the audience a rich tapestry of world cultures.”

"For those who have attended over the last several years, a standard of excellence is expected. It is a huge responsibility to make this selection, but I think our committee has done an outstanding job,” said Dr. Kimberly Cavanagh, assistant professor of anthropology at the University of South Carolina Beaufort, and chairwoman of the Selection Committee.

Good Earth: Awakening the Silent City, a 20-minute documentary produced for Good Earth State Park in Sioux Falls, South Dakota presents the story of the Good Earth/Blood Run historical and cultural site as told by a fictional Native American grandfather to his grandchildren. The Good Earth city was an important Native-American trading center for pipestone, bison hides, and culture. It was home to 6,000-10,000 Omaha, Ponca, Ioway and Otoe people at its peak in 1650--the largest city in what is now the United States.

Filming for the documentary took place on Good Earth/Blood Run sites in Sioux Falls and Lyon County, Iowa; and other sites in Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma. Representatives from the Omaha Tribe of Nebraska, the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska, the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska, the Otoe-Missouria Tribe, and the Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma consulted on and participated in the film project. Approximately twenty Native Americans from across the country took part in front of and behind the camera for the documentary.

The documentary project also drew talent from the Quad Cities area including Kimberly Kurtenbach (assistant director/casting), Lora Adams (assistant directing/assistant wardrobe), Chris Ryder (cinematography/assistant editor), Michael Kopriva (production assistant), Sara Wegener (hair/make-up) and local cast Louis Hare, Regina Tsosie, David Casas, Veronica Tremaine. Additional Iowa-based talent included Kevin Railsback (nature/wildlife director of photography), Melinda Carriker (wardrobe supervisor/set and props), Jon Van Allen (gaffer), and computer animation by Grasshorse Studios, and Reuben Ironhorse-Kent (pottery art/music) of White Cloud, KS, Angelique Verver (hair/make-up), Delshay Webster, Jr. (production assistant), Mike He Crow (cultural props) of South Dakota.

Good Earth: Awakening the Silent City recently received a Mid-America Emmy nomination, and received seven awards at the Archaeology Channel International Film Festival in Eugene, Oregon.

The official film festival schedule will be available at www.arkhaiosfilmfestival.org.  The selected films will screen at the Richland Library Main Theater, 1431 Assembly Street in Columbia, SC October 12-14, 2018.

The Arkhaios Cultural Heritage and Archaeology Events Corporation is a non-profit organization producing the Arkhaios Film Festival in South Carolina, and the Conference and Film Festival in Pittsburgh, PA. The multi-day Arkhaios Cultural Heritage and Archaeology Film Festival is an annual juried competition, part of the annual South Carolina Archaeology Month. It is free, open to the public, and is an educational event showcasing the discovery of past cultures gained from archaeological research and illustrated by documentary films. The Arkhaios Film Festival is sponsored by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources Heritage Trust, the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology (SCIAA), the Department of Anthropology, University of South Carolina, the Greater Piedmont Chapter of The Explorers Club, and the Richmond Library Main in Columbia, SC.

Fourth Wall Films is an Emmy® nominated and award-winning independent film and video production company formerly located in Los Angeles, and now based in Moline, Illinois.  Fourth Wall Films focuses on telling Midwestern stories through historical documentary films that reach viewers via PBS broadcasts, theaters, film festivals, national DVD release and online streaming.

Sept 14-16 marks the Iowa Tribe of Kansas & Nebraska's Annual Pow Wow

The Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska's annual pow wow is September 14-16, 2018 in White Cloud, Kansas.  The event draws people from all over the country to celebrate dance, culture and heritage.

Friday evening, September 14th is Camp Night.

Registration for dancers opens at 10:00 A.M. on Saturday, September 15.  Gourd Dancing begins at 11:00 A.M. Grand Entry will take place at 1:00 P.M. and 7:00 P.M. that day. 

On Sunday the Jr./Princess contest is at 10:00 A.M., registration for dancers is at 11:00 A.M. (closes at noon), Grand Entry at 1:00 P.M.

Vendors are welcome ($50/craft; $100/food; $150/both). First six drums to be paid. For more information contact Rebekka Schlichting at becca.shlichting@gmail.com.  For directions to the pow wow grounds, call 785-595-6632.

Note: No pets are allowed in the dance area. Not responsible for lost or stolen items.

The Master of Ceremonies is Dawson Davenport

Arena Director is Wahpi Hale

Head Man is Daniel Scholfield

Head Woman is Candice Schaffer

Head Gourd is Kendrick Stabler, Omaha

Host Drum is Buffalo Eagle 

Head Northern Drum is Young Buffalo Horse

Head Southern Drum is Ottertail

For more information about the Ioway, visit https://www.iowatribeofkansasandnebraska.com/.

"Good Earth" Receives Emmy Nomination and will screen at Iowa Independent Film Festival Aug. 24-25

The award-winning documentary Good Earth: Awakening the Silent City, produced by Kelly and Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films, has received a Mid-America Emmy® nomination. This is the Rundles' fourth Regional Emmy® nomination.  The film is an official selection at the 11th Annual Iowa Independent Film Festival and will screen August 24-25 in Clear Lake and Mason City, Iowa.  For festival details/tickets visit https://www.iifilmfestival.org/.

The Moline, Illinois-based independent production company successfully competed with 42 proposals by 36 other media production companies nationwide to win a contract to produce "Good Earth" for the visitors center at South Dakota's newest State Park, Good Earth at Blood Run.  The film can be seen at the Visitors Center daily during operational hours.

Good Earth: Awakening the Silent City tells the fascinating and forgotten story of the Blood Run National Historic Landmark as told by a Native American grandfather to his grandchildren. Produced in 4K, the documentary combines vivid present-day views of the park's scenic vistas and wildlife with dramatic historical reenactments portraying daily life in the year 1650. 

The Good Earth site in Iowa and South Dakota was occupied between 1500 and 1725 by ancestors of the present-day Omaha, Ponca, Ioway and Otoe-Missouria tribes, making it one of the oldest long-term habitation sites in the United States.  At its peak around 1650, the site was home to 6,000-10,000 residents--more than Boston (2,000) and New York (New Amsterdam-1,000) in that same year--making It the largest city in what is now the United States.

Good Earth was an important Native trading center for pipestone, bison hides and culture.  The once-vibrant city featured hundreds of lodges, earthen mounds, and a serpent-shaped effigy mound an eighth of a mile long.

Good Earth: Awakening the Silent City will screen at the Iowa Independent Film Festival on:

*Friday, August 24th at 4:03PM at the Clear Lake Arts Center, 17 S. 4th Street, Clear Lake, IA

*Friday, August 24 at 4PM at the Mason City Community Theatre, 215 S. Delaware Ave., Mason City

*Saturday, and August 25 at 6PM at the Main Event, 112 2nd Street SE, Mason City.

The documentary project drew on talent from the the Quad Cities including Kimberly Kurtenbach (assistant director/casting), Lora Adams (assistant directing/assistant wardrobe), Chris Ryder (cinematography/assistant editor), Michael Kopriva (production assistant), Sara Wegener (hair/make-up) and local cast Louis Hare, Regina Tsosie, David Casas, Veronica Tremaine. Additional Iowa-based talent included Kevin Railsback (nature/wildlife director of photography), Melinda Carriker (wardrobe supervisor/set and props), Jon Van Allen (gaffer), and computer animation by Grasshorse Studios. South Dakota talent included Angelique Verver (hair/make-up artist) and Mike He Crow (flint-knapper/cultural props).  Artist Reuben Ironhorse-Kent from White Cloud, Kansas created pottery for the film, consulted actors on the craft and also appears in the film.

Tribal Historic Preservation Officers, Tribal representatives and consultants from five Native American Nations to part in the project, including:
Lance Foster (Iowa Tribe of Kansas & Nebraska), Randy Teboe and Shannon Wright (Ponca Tribe of Nebraska), Marisa Miakonda Cummings and Thomas Parker (Omaha Tribe of Nebraska),
Elsie Whitehorn (Otoe-Missouria Tribe), Eagle McClellan (Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma).

The Rundles are the producers of the award-winning Lost Nation: The Ioway series, The Barn Raisers,Movie Star: The Secret Lives of Jean Seberg (with McMarr, Ltd.), Villisca: Living with a Mystery; the Emmy® nominated Country School: One Room - One Nation, River to River: Iowa's Forgotten Highway 6, and Letters Home to Hero Street (with WQPT); and the soon-to-be released docudrama Sons & Daughters of Thunder.

View the teaser!

Ioway Tribe Elders Reflect on Family Separations at Nebraska Boarding School

 

"The Boarding School" - An Excerpt from "Lost Nation: The Ioway 2"

IowayMovie.com

 

Government policies that forcibly separate children from families are not new, as noted in this article by Deann Gayman of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln:

Near the end of the 19th century, the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs decided that the indigenous American people should be assimilated into Euro-American culture.

The best way to do so, they reasoned, was by educating Native American youths in boarding schools, where the students had to use English, were taught Christianity and were called European names. School administrators often tried to force the youths to abandon their culture.

By 1900, more than 150 of these schools had opened with more than 21,000 students enrolled — sometimes through force or coercion.

One of the schools was built in Nebraska. The Genoa Indian Industrial School opened in 1884 and enrolled students from more than 40 Native tribal nations. When the school closed in 1934 — much like the other American Indian boarding schools — little care was taken to keep records and materials together.

Now, through funding from the Council on Library and Information Resources, Margaret Jacobs, professor of history and director of women and gender studies, and Elizabeth Lorang, associate professor of University Libraries, have launched a project to compile, digitize and make accessible records and other materials from the Genoa school. They are working closely with Nancy Carlson and the Genoa U.S. Indian School Foundation in Genoa. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln Center for Digital Research in the Humanities will host the Genoa Indian School Digital Reconciliation Project.

“Genoa was one of the largest American Indian boarding schools,” Jacobs said. “The records are dispersed all over the United States and are very difficult even for a trained historian and archivist to find. We want to recover that history.

"Finding materials that help us to understand and learn from what happened to children in the boarding school and the long-term implications of those experiences, is the first step in a truth and reconciliation project."

The project presents unique research questions for Jacobs and Lorang.

“Some of the records are of a very sensitive nature,” Jacobs said. “The student files might talk about disease and death or describe the student without the needed context.”

Deann Gayman's story continues HERE.

Three members of the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska visit Genoa U.S. Indian School Museum.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the one remaining building serves as an interpretive museum operated by a foundation as the Genoa U.S. Indian School Museum. It is located at 209 East Webster, Genoa, Nebraska.  It is open Thursday through Monday 1pm-5pm, Memorial Day through Labor Day. Click HERE for more information.

A segment of Lost Nation: The Ioway 2 features Ioway Tribe members Lyle Kirlin, Annie Assefa, and Sarah James visiting Genoa Indian School. They discuss the life-changing and lingering effects of a U.S. government policy that separated children from their families--Assefa and James' mother was forcibly removed from her family and home to attend the boarding school.

 

VIMEO.COM

 

 #familiesbelongtogether

 

To purchase Fourth Wall Films' award-winning Lost Nation: The Ioway DVD series, click HERE!

Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma Powwow is set for June 15-17

The 33rd Annual Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma Powwow gets underway June 15-17, 2018 in Perkins, Oklahoma with Gourd Dancing beginning at 6:00 p.m. on Friday, June 15th and the Grand Entry at 7:30 p.m.

The weekend is devoted to dance, honoring veterans, and celebrating American Indian culture and heritage.  The powwow ends late Sunday evening, June 17.

For a detailed schedule and powwow information, click HERE!

For registration and information contact Powwow Chairman Linda Big Soldier at 405.614.5547.  Visit the Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma's website for more details: http://bahkhoje.com/.

To purchase Fourth Wall Films' award-winning Lost Nation: The Ioway DVD series, click HERE!

"Good Earth: Awakening the Silent City" & "The Barn Raisers" Win Telly Awards

Quad Cities—Kelly and Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films are pleased to announce that their historical documentary film The Barn Raisers, and the museum film they produced for South Dakota, Good Earth: Awakening the Silent City, have won Bronze Telly® Awards in the 39th annual competition.

The Barn Raisers tells the story of Midwestern barns by examining them through the lens of architecture.  The film explores what building methods, barn styles, and materials tell us about the people who built them, the life they lived, and the role these “country cathedrals” played in the settling and building of the Nation.

Good Earth: Awakening the Silent City presents the fascinating and forgotten story of the Blood Run National Historic Landmark. The documentary combines vivid present-day views of the park's scenic vistas and wildlife with dramatic historical reenactments portraying daily life in the year 1650. The Good Earth site in Iowa and South Dakota was occupied between 1500 and 1725 by ancestors of the present-day Omaha, Ponca, Ioway and Otoe tribes. At its peak, the site was home to 6,000-10,000 residents--the largest city in what is now the United States.

“It is exciting to see how perfectly this year’s winners capture the innovation and energy of the rapidly changing video and television industry,” said Telly's managing director Sabrina Dridje.

"The Barn Raisers" and "Good Earth" were selected from among over 12,000 entries from all fifty states and five continents. Other 2018 Bronze Telly® Award winners include PBS (Ken Burns and Lynn Novick), CBS, NBC, HBO and numerous local PBS stations.

The Rundles have received Telly® Awards previously for Lost Nation: The Ioway and Country School: One Room - One Nation.

The Telly® Awards honor excellence in video and television across all screens. Entrants are judged by The Telly® Awards Judging Council—an industry body of over 200 leading experts including advertising agencies, production companies, and major television networks.

Fourth Wall Films is an independent media production and distribution company based in Moline, Illinois.

“Lost Nation: The Ioway 2” will screen at Iowa Lakeside Lab June 26

Ioway Annie Assefa (Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska) and her sister Sarah James at the U.S. Indian School in Genoa, Nebraska where their mother was forced to attend when a young girl.

Kelly and Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films, producers of the award-winning Lost Nation: The Ioway 1, will showcase the second in their three-part documentary series Lost Nation: The Ioway 2 at Iowa Lakeside Laboratory, Tuesday, June 26, 2018 at 7:00 p.m.  The free event is sponsored by Friends of Lakeside Laboratory and is partially funded by Humanities Iowa.  John Doershuk, Director of the Office of the State Archaeologist - University of Iowa will introduce the program.  Q&A with the Emmy® nominated filmmakers will follow the one-hour documentary.

When the Ioway were forcibly removed from their ancestral homeland of Iowa in 1837 to a reservation on the border of Nebraska and Northeast Kansas, Ioway leader White Cloud (The Younger) believed his people must relocate to survive.  But intermarriage, broken treaties and the end of communal living led to a split in 1878 and the establishment of a second Ioway tribe in Oklahoma.  Both tribes endured hardship and challenges to their traditions and culture to achieve successful land claims and self-determination in the1970s.  Lost Nation: The Ioway 2 & 3 brings the dramatic Ioway story full circle.

Ioway Tribal elder Joyce BigSoldier-Miller (Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma) and her granddaughter.

“I believe all the tribes had their trail of tears, said Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma Tribal Elder Joyce Big Soldier-Miller.  “They all suffered--all those Indians who made those treks away from their former homelands.”

“It’s always good to look at the past and remember that it does affect the future,” said Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska tribal member and Reuben Ironhorse-Kent. “The ancestors did the best they could with what they had.”

Ioway Elders and tribal members join other Native scholars, historians, archaeologists and anthropologists to tell the dramatic and true story of the small tribe that once claimed the territory between the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers from Pipestone, Minnesota to St. Louis.  The state of Iowa takes its name from the Ioway Tribe.

Iowa Lakeside Laboratory is located at 1838 Highway 86, Milford, Iowa.  Lost Nation: The Ioway 2 will screen free at 7:00 p.m.  The filmmakers will take part in Q&A following the documentary.  Lost Nation: The Ioway 3 will show at a later date. The films contain mature themes and historical images that may be disturbing to young children.

The award-winning Lost Nation: The Ioway 1, 2 & 3 film series continues to screen throughout the U.S. and received numerous film festival awards.  The full-featured DVDs were released nationally and include an alternative soundtrack in the nearly extinct Ioway language.  For more information about the Lost Nation: The Ioway film series and to schedule screenings, visit www.IowayMovie.com.

Lost Nation: The Ioway 1, 2 & 3 were partially funded by grants from Humanities Iowa, and Silos and Smokestacks National Heritage Area, as well as humanities councils in Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Wisconsin, and South Dakota, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Fourth Wall Films is an Emmy® nominated and award-winning independent film and video production company formerly located in Los Angeles, and now based in Moline, Illinois.  Fourth Wall Films focuses on telling Midwestern stories through historical documentary films that reach viewers via PBS broadcasts, theaters, film festivals, national DVD release and online streaming.

Lakeside Lab is owned by the state of Iowa and operated through the Board of Regents. Its mission is to provide science classes and research opportunities for university students, and to offer Outreach Programs and provide services through the state universities. Lakeside's 147-acre campus is located on scenic West Okoboji Lake, on Little Miller's Bay. The bay and adjacent natural areas are used as outdoor classrooms for Lakeside's university courses and Outreach Programs. The campus is open year round, and visitors are welcome to visit during daylight hours.

Humanities Iowa is the only non-profit organization in Iowa committed to bringing the humanities to life and to the public through interactive programming, publications, and events.  The views and opinions expressed by this program do not necessarily reflect those of Humanities Iowa or the National Endowment for the Humanities.

To purchase Fourth Wall Films' award-winning Lost Nation: The Ioway DVD series, click HERE!

Good Earth State Park Visitors Center Film wins Seven Awards at International Film Festival

Actors Larry Yazzie and Delshay Webster Jr. re-enact flintknapping for a scene shot at Good Earth at Blood Run State Park in Sioux Falls, SD.

The Good Earth State Park at Blood Run Visitors Center film “Good Earth: Awakening the Silent City", produced by Emmy® nominated filmmakers Kelly and Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films, won seven awards at the 2018 Archaeology Channel International Film Festival (TACFF) held in Eugene, Oregon May 3-6.

"Good Earth: Awakening the Silent City" presents the story of the Good Earth/Blood Run historical and cultural site as told by a fictional Native American grandfather to his grandchildren. The Good Earth city was an important Native-American trading center for pipestone, bison hides, and culture. It was home to 6,000-10,000 Omaha, Ponca, Ioway and Otoe people at its peak in 1650--the largest city in what is now the United States.

“Out of the 800 submissions, the festival accepted 176 films from 45 countries, and in the end selected just 30 films for the competition,” said Rick Pettigrew, executive director of the Archaeological Legacy Institute, based in Eugene, Oregon. “This year’s crop of films is the best group we have ever assembled, and possibly the finest lineup of cultural heritage films ever put together anywhere.”

"Good Earth" -- a 20-minute documentary produced for Good Earth State Park at Blood Run in Sioux Falls -- was chosen "because it's a super film," Mr. Pettigrew said. "It had to be in order to compete with the huge array of competing films. We've had films from Fourth Wall before; they're a quality shop. It's quite an honor for them to come out in the top 30 films."

Omaha actor George McCauley records narration for "Good Earth" while Kelly Rundle directs.

“Good Earth: Awakening the Silent City” received seven awards during the film festival’s gala awards ceremony: Best Narration (by Omaha Tribe of Nebraska member George McCauly); Honorable Mention by Jury in Best Film Competition; Honorable Mention (1^st runner-up) by Jury for Inspiration; Honorable Mention (1^st runner-up) by Jury for Script; Honorable Mention (1^st runner-up) by Jury for Public Education Value; Honorable Mention by Jury for Animation & Effects; Honorable Mention by Jury for Music.

Ioway Lance Foster, Tribal Historic Preservation Officer during his interview for "Good Earth".

The film project received consulation from tribal representatives of the Ioway tribes (Lance Foster, Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska THPO/artist/writer; Eagle McClellan, Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma THPO), Omaha (Thomas Parker, Omaha Tribe of Nebraska THPO, and Marisa Miakonda Cummings), Ponca (Shannon Wright and Randy Teboe, Ponca Tribe of Nebraska THPO) and Otoe (Elsie Whitehorn, Otoe-Missouria Tribe THPO), and archaeologist, Des Moines-based Dale Henning, who says the area is the most important and interesting site he's ever worked on.

Ioway artist Reuben Ironhorse-Kent shapes pipestone during a scene in "Good Earth".

Reuben Ironhorse-Kent, a tribal member of the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska, portrayed an Ioway artist in the film, and created pottery in the Oneota style for the project.  He also consulted actors on pottery-making and contributed music and did an on-camera interview for the film.  

Ioway elder Pete Fee portrays an Ioway trader and actor Zack Morris is an Arikara trader in "Good Earth".

Ioway tribal elder Pete Fee, Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska, portrayed an Ioway trader in the film, and provided an on-camera interview.

Native American actors, and other actors, from Iowa, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Kansas, Illinois, Minnesota and South Dakota were cast in the film.

Director/Writer Kelly Rundle and Producer/Writer Tammy Rundle are the producers of "Good Earth: Awakening the Silent City" and the "Lost Nation: The Ioway" series.

Fourth Wall Films was chosen by the state to produce the film for a state-of-the-art theater in South Dakota's newest state park. Filming for the documentary took place on Good Earth/Blood Run sites in Sioux Falls and Lyon County, Iowa; and other sites in Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma. "Good Earth" premiered at the Visitors Center in May 2017 during the park’s grand opening.

The award-winning team of "Good Earth" includes: Kevin Railsback (Filmmaking Naturally) was the nature director of photography; Chris Ryder, re-enactment director of photography/visual effects; Melinda Carriker, period wardrobe/props and set designer, and Irma White assisted with period wardrobe; Kimberly Kurtenbach was the casting director and served as assistant director; Lora Adams served as contemporary wardrobe supervisor and assistant director; Jon Van Allen was the film's gaffer; Angelique Verver was the South Dakota hair and make-up artist and Sara Wegener was the Iowa/Illinois hair/make-up artist; Michael Kopriva was production assistant and sound; Delshay Webster, Jr. was production assistant intern. Computer animation was created by the award-winning team at Grasshorse Studios under the direction of Kathy Buxton and Steve Jennings.

The Archaeology Channel is a streaming media website brought to you by Archaeological Legacy Institute. ALI is a nonprofit organization devoted to nurturing and bringing attention to the human cultural heritage, by using media in the most efficient and effective ways possible.

TACFF attracts filmmakers and archaeologists from around the globe to participate in one of only two juried competitions in this hemisphere, and one of the leading events of its kind in the world.

Fourth Wall Films is an Emmy® nominated and award-winning independent film and video production company formerly located in Los Angeles, and now based in Moline, Illinois.  Fourth Wall Films focuses on telling Midwestern stories through historical documentary films that reach viewers via PBS broadcasts, theaters, film festivals, national DVD release and online streaming.

To purchase Fourth Wall Films' award-winning Lost Nation: The Ioway DVD series, click HERE!