We are in a battle ground of ideas and we are in a war over narrative power.
— Tracy Rector (Raven’s long-time mentor)
Raven Two Feathers (Cherokee, Seneca, Cayuga, Comanche) (he/they), the second JDogg scholar, is a Two Spirit, Emmy award winning creator based in Seattle. Their company, Raven + Relatives, began in 2021 as a way “to recognize the collaborative contributions that brings the work into being.”
Also in 2021, Raven created a video for Facebook for Native American Heritage month, and two of their films screened at ImagineNATIVE. One, A Drive to Top Surgery, won the Emerging Digital + Interactive Award.
As of mid-2022, Raven finished filming on the short documentary "Strong Men Strong Community" (anticipated festival release early 2023), is attending the Flaherty Film Seminar in late June in New York State, and beginning production on their debut feature documentary "Indigenous Genders."
Raven Two Feathers graduated Magna Cum Laude from Santa Fe University of Art and Design in 2018. Since graduation, Raven has worked in the Seattle film and art scene and been involved in community building via various multimedia projects, primarily on Indigenous led and focused projects.
Valentine’s Day 2020, Raven (along with co-creator Jonny) released their comic book, Qualifications of Being, which explores their experiences of being trans and Two Spirit. Other accomplishments that year included the release of their documentary about yəhaw̓ show’s King Street exhibition, virtually teaching youth art as part of a Na’ah Illahee Fund’s programming, and their filming of United Indians of All Tribes Foundation’s Indigenous Peoples Day 2020.
In a project directly rooted in the times, Raven worked with Chief Seattle Club to create a 4-part podcast about the experiences of members and workers at CSC and their resiliency during COVID-19, centering on those most vulnerable to the actions of the privileged.
Some of Raven’s reflection on connection, place, and language (with the pandemic providing ample time) can be found in their pieces for the IndigeZINE (page 69), and the Reimagine Seattle Storytelling Project.
In 2019, Raven was part of several fellowships, including the 4th World Media Lab. These fellowships have culminated into vastly different media pieces, from VR to an audio soundscape experience. Building relationships within the Native community has led to incredible opportunities, from working with Tracy Rector as an Associate Producer on “Why We Serve” (produced for the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian), to being a recipient of Potlatch Fund’s Native Artist Grant.
Raven’s biggest takeaways from college are: keep working at what you are doing at a safe and steady pace, and of course, be up front, honest, and quickly communicative.
Film has made me the person I always wanted to be; confident, perseverant, and conscientious. It taught me how to convey my ideas, motivate people, and trust others that such a collaborative art form requires. I went from rarely putting ideas out to friends to pitching ideas to clients. Seeing myself accomplish feats that seemed only for those I thought of as betters has lifted my self-worth immensely. Even better is seeing the relief and delight in friends after we all put 110% and sleepless nights into a film because we all love bringing stories to life, and the journey that bonds us together while making the production happen.
Raven was an AD fellow on “Disclosure,” a documentary on the evolution of trans lives as depicted in popular media. There they fine-tuned the speed of producing call sheets and learned what goes into the documentary side of AD work.
Through their connections at Santa Fe University, Raven snagged a volunteer position at the Sundance Directors’ Lab during the summer of 2017 where they were assistant to the production supervisor. They worked as a juicer and grip during most of their time at the lab, with some substitute script supervising. It was a fantastic networking opportunity and familial environment they hope to experience in the rest of their career.
Raven worked to make student voices and concerns heard during the closure of SFUAD, in both activism and documentary work after seeing the frustration and fear in fellow students when the school’s possible closure was first announced. Simply documenting led to concern about lack of communication leading to the formation of a collective, becoming the middleman for students to get the latest news and sharing information with one another via a Facebook group. The activism Raven has engaged in has helped teach them about the process and the commitment that truly goes into a cause.
Raven was a 2014 graduate of Ballard High School. At Ballard, Raven was president of the Future Filmmakers Club, and producer of “Just Plane Lucky” in the 2014 NFFTY 48-hour Film-Off, which placed second overall. Raven has used their experiences of moving around the U.S. from the age of five to give them a fresh perspective of the world with the goal to tell stories that aren’t normally heard — stories about “the diversity that life has to offer.” In 2013 Raven, along with teens around the country, participated in the SuperFly Filmmaking Experience workshop where they told the story of the Suquamish Tribe in the Kitsap Peninsula. The film, “Live to Remember,” which they produced with other participants, screened at the Seattle International Film Festival and was added to the collection at Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian.
