- On this edition of "ARTEFFECTS," the Heartbeat of The Mankillers, - The mission of The Mankillers is to provide cultural awareness and leadership and empowerment for the wellbeing of our Native American communities.

When you see and hear us, you will know and understand who we are.

(The Mankillers vocalizing) (drum thumping rhythmically) - [Beth] A stop motion animation studio.

- It's such an iterative process that includes so many different mediums, from crafting to modeling, to filmmaking, to photography, to set building, and I love all that stuff.

- [Beth] And a Florida Keys Landmark makes an impact on the arts.

(lively music) - It's just exciting to be able to help other artists the way that they helped me in the beginning.

And that's really what I'm looking forward to, is expanding, helping local artists.

- It's all ahead on this edition of "ARTEFFECTS."

(lively intro music) - [Announcer] Funding for "ARTEFFECTS" is made possible by Sandy Raffealli with Bill Pearce Motors, Heidemarie Rochlin, in memory of Sue McDowell, The Carol Franc Buck Foundation, and by the annual contributions of PBS Reno Members.

- Hello, I'm Beth Macmillan, and welcome to "ARTEFFECTS."

In our featured segment, we meet the women behind The Mankillers, a Native American drumming and singing group that formed in 1991.

The members lived throughout Nevada and California in cities, including Reno, Fresno, Riverside, and Yreka.

When The Mankillers come together, they celebrate friendship, identity, and culture through powerful performance.

(birds chirping) (lively music) - The Reno-Sparks Indian Colony is a federally-recognized sovereign nation located here, right in the middle of Reno and Sparks, Nevada.

We have about 1300 plus tribal members and we represent our membership and descendancy of Washoe, Paiute, and Shoshone people.

We have 28 acres downtown.

We are located between Mill Street and Second Street, that's the 28 acres.

We also have 15,000 acres in Hungry Valley.

My name is Michon Eben.

I manage the Cultural Resource Program and Tribal Historic Preservation Office for the Reno and Sparks Indian Colony.

And I'm also the co-founder of the All-Native women drum group, The Mankillers.

The Mankillers began and were established at Humboldt State University in Northern California.

We were all college students, and we just came together as friends.

We did sing with the co-ed drum group, so other male singers.

We were called the Humboldt State University Drum Group and the Humboldt State University Student Drum Group.

We would just get together and sing on campus for different Indigenous events.

- There was a gathering at Captain Jack's Stronghold and the Humboldt State Student Drum was there, and several of the women were singing together and all of a sudden, looked at each other and said, "Hey, you know, we sound really good."

- We were singing.

And from that gathering it was like, "Oh, the women have such different tones that it would be nice to get the women to sing together."

- We decided to become a support group and begin meeting on the weekends and start drumming on a big drum.

We just began to practice more and more.

And then we were asked to sing on campus for an Indigenous conference.

We decided, "Well, let's do this little song for this Indigenous conference, but we need a name."

(drum thumping rhythmically) (The Mankillers member vocalizing) Somebody had yelled out, "What about The Mankillers?"

Well, that name is a strong name in the Cherokee Nation.

That name is from Wilma Mankiller.

And Wilma Mankiller is a great role model.

She was the principal chief of her Cherokee Nation in the '80s and '90s.

She was an activist, an educator, brought a lot of good economic development to the Cherokee Nation, and we decided to go with, "Okay, let's be The Mankillers."

And we knew that we needed to ask permission.

We just couldn't come out and use the name.

So, we sent a letter to Wilma Mankiller, let her know who we all were.

And after her leaving this world, her nephew approached us and told us how they approved that name.

So, our understanding is that she took our letter to all the head men of the Cherokee Nation and they passed our letter around, and they gave us permission.

So, hence, The Mankillers.

(The Mankillers vocalizing) (drums thumping) The Mankillers encompass many tribal nations throughout the United States.

- I am from the Village of Tuata, or Taos Pueblo, and Raramuri, the Running People.

- I am Yaqui and Chicana, so my tribe is from the Arizona area, Tucson.

- I am Cherokee and Muskogee Creek, and Tunica Choctaw Biloxi.

- My father's people are Pyramid Lake Paiute, the Qui-ui-pa, and my mother's people are Tampisha Nua, so that's Death Valley Shoshone.

(drum thumping rhythmically) When you see and hear us, you will know and understand who we are.

(drum thumping rhythmically) (The Mankillers vocalizing) (drum thumping rhythmically) After we started our first conference and did our first performance in public, we decided, "Let's start learning songs and let's start going to powwows."

(The Mankillers vocalizing) (drum thumping rhythmically) - One of our songs is called "The Gathering Song," and it was given to us by Germaine Tremmel.

(drum thumping rhythmically) Usually, songs came to us by other drum groups that supported us.

- Or we would ask permission in the right way, ask with an offering for mother drum groups, and they would give us permission.

And then we started learning our own songs or catching our own songs.

The Mankiller women would come up with songs or would hear songs.

Would hear songs in nature or would hear songs in dreams.

- We started songwriting and dreaming and, you know, again, like Carrie said, catching songs.

And that's a beautiful process.

You know, you're just living your life and all of a sudden- (Carrie speaks faintly) - A beautiful melody comes- - Yeah.

(laughs) - To you and you just try to catch it as you would like a poet or a writer.

(The Mankillers vocalizing) (drum thumping rhythmically) (relaxing guitar music) - We have a sisterhood with the drum group, so it makes us stronger as women for ourselves, 'cause we need that healing.

As women, as moms, as aunties, as grandmas, as cousins.

You know, that women's spirituality is really important, and that connects us.

- You know, I lost my sister a long time ago and the drum helped me heal.

So I can say that it helped me find sisters.

- And I don't have any sisters, but I do here.

And that's a wonderful, beautiful, fulfilling thing for me, just that feminine energy, that bond of other women.

- Yeah.

- And, you know, I didn't have that growing up, som it was a beautiful thing to get as a gift when I was 18, and it's just never left me.

And I think the drum refills us.

- Yes.

- And... - Sustenance, mm-hmm.

(Kristy breathes deeply) - Nurtures.

And again, loves and protects, and, you know, just like the story of that drum is the heartbeat of The Mother.

We come back to Mother when we come back to sing.

(The Mankillers vocalizing) (drum thumping rhythmically) - It's exciting for me to be able to sing with the women because of the voices that we have, the different tones.

There was one comment one time that a male drum group member had said, "Oh, you know, you almost sound as good as the men drum groups."

And it's like, "Well, that's not what we're trying to do.

We have our own voice, we have our own tones."

And we're not here to compete with the man, we have our own way of singing, and it's just a beautiful thing.

(The Mankillers vocalizing) (drum thumping rhythmically) - When we first started out- - It was a big deal.

- It was a big deal.

- Very big deal.

- It was very controversial, because men can only sit at the drum and that's specifically to certain tribal traditions.

And then after a while, people became accustomed to us as a group.

- We have a lot of stories where people, at first, came to be upset with us, and then they changed their tune.

(The Mankillers vocalizing) (drum thumping rhythmically) - For 35 years, what we've gone through, there's been really great, good, and some obstacles that we had to go through to become who we are.

But I think once people understood who we were as individuals, as women in our jobs, women in our communities, and the type of work we've done, I think that that has changed and we're more accepted.

And I'm really proud of Nevada and my relatives at Nevada for being so supportive and embracing The Mankillers.

(The Mankillers vocalizing) (drum thumping rhythmically) - To learn more about The Mankillers, search Mankillers Drum on Facebook.

Now it's time for this week's art quiz.

In which year did artist Steve Nighthawk, who carries his ancestral heritage of Washoe, Paiute, and Shoshone, create a poster for Artown and featured right here on "ARTEFFECTS"?

Is the Answer, A, 2021, B, 2022, C, 2023, or D, 2024?

Stay tuned for the answer.

Mason Drumm loves stop motion animation.

So much so that he turned it into a career and founded a studio dedicated to handcrafted content.

We visit Edmond, Oklahoma to find out more.

(whimsical music) (choir chanting) (whimsical music continues) - There's some challenges with being an animation studio in the Midwest.

The impetus for a lot of animators and filmmakers, if they wanna go and be part of the industry, quote-unquote, the industry, is to move to the coast, 'cause that's where the industry is at.

And I found myself feeling really discouraged.

Like, "Hey, I wanna do all these things.

But I also don't wanna leave Oklahoma 'cause I love Oklahoma and my family's here.

I want my daughter to grow up here."

My name is Mason Drumm.

I'm the creative director at Loud Cloud Animation Studio, and we specialize in telling stories through stop motion animation.

Stop motion is a very old-school medium of storytelling.

You say you have an object, you take a photo of the object, move the object, take a photo.

Move the object again, take a photo.

When you play back, it's a series of photos.

The object is animated or it's brought to life.

Everything we do is done by hand.

So, whenever you are watching a stop-motion film, you're seeing real objects and you're seeing, like, real things come to life.

So, I think that's just, you know, from an aesthetics point of view, it's just very interesting.

It's such an iterative process that includes so many different mediums, from crafting to modeling, to filmmaking, to photography, to set building.

And I love all that stuff.

So, we are in downtown Edmond.

I'm really honored and thankful that I have an actual, like, brick and mortar space to do the work that we do.

(paint brush rustling) - [Ross] He's a nice boss.

He offers a nice amount of direction, but still allows a lot of room to kind of explore whatever it is you're doing on your own.

- Right now, I have a handful of people that started as interns.

One of those people is Ross.

He is been somebody that I rely on for as many projects as I can, 'cause he's an incredibly talented person.

And we have Marlyse.

She comes in, she's gotten to animate on projects as well.

And just depending on, you know, from project to project, we'll hire out for various needs, whether that's concept artist or even other animators.

There's an incredible animator here in Oklahoma City.

Her name's Nicole Emmons.

We'll try to bring her in if we can.

Chili Pepper is our studio dog.

She is a miniature dachshund, and she's perfect.

And she just lays around all day.

From 2015 to 2019, I was a videographer and photographer at the University of Oklahoma in the marketing department.

And every once in a while, they would be like, "Hey, Mason, you know, it's National Donut Day.

Can we animate some donuts?"

And you know, I grew up with animating flip books, like drawing on little yellow sticky notepads and bringing, like, little stick figures to life.

So I was like, "I'll do that, but with a camera."

And so, we're basically no equipment, just, like, a tripod and a camera.

I remember doing, like, this donut video and bringing to life, and people liked it and did well on social people.

You know, as far as engagement goes, stop motion performs really well.

From there, I was like, "Man, that was fun.

I got to do photography.

I got to set up the exposure.

I got to frame things, new composition, but I also got to like work with my hands and animate."

And there was something, like, very tangible about stop motion that I'm drawn to.

(dinosaur growls) (person whimpers) (dinosaur thuds) (dinosaur hisses) (dinosaur roars) (dinosaur roars) (door crashes) (figure thuds) (wood clattering) (dinosaur growls) (dinosaur roars) The first animation that I put on YouTube that was called "INDOMNATION."

It was like a "Jurassic Park" fan film.

(dinosaur roars) You know, I worked on it for, like, seven months in my garage.

Sweat away.

I built all the sets myself.

I had some friends that helped me, like, paint some of the set, help paint some of the figures that I animated it with.

But it was fun.

And it was through that project really that I fell in love with stop motion.

Put that on YouTube, and it has, like, 6 million views now.

It's crazy.

So that encouraged me to do more.

Initially, I was asking, I'd go to restaurants, I'd ask local, like, small businesses, "Hey, can I make some content for your social media?"

And so, I kinda built up my portfolio and experience until finally, I think my first big project was a commercial gig for the SYFY channel.

Produced it entirely in my garage.

Eventually, I got to the point where I could quit my full-time job to pursue Loud Cloud Animation Studios.

(tool clicks) If there's one person that I can point towards to say thank you for any of the success that we've had, it's Brandt Smith at the University of Oklahoma's Fabrication Lab.

And he was the one that hired me to be a photographer and videographer.

So he's always kind of served in this, like, mentorship position.

And Brandt always opens his doors to Loud Cloud to say, "Hey, come.

If you wanna tell stories, we want you to do it here."

- The high level purpose of the Fabrication Lab here at the University of Oklahoma is to support entrepreneurship.

We think that if we can increase entrepreneurship here within the region, that only benefits OU students.

They've got skill sets that add value to entrepreneurs.

So, the Fabrication Lab is one of those efforts where if somebody's got an idea for a thing that you can touch, they could come here and make it.

We've got all manner of equipment, 3D printers, laser cutters, all the way into wood manufacturing and some metal manufacturing as well.

So, when Mason takes on a project, he can turn to the Fab lab and say, "Here's the equipment that I'm gonna use."

And what I think is really special was, he got connected to OU students who have a skill set that he does not so that he can employ them in the use of equipment.

- Here, we have...

I first met Mason when he came into the lab one day, probably a year or so ago.

And I kind of expressed to him, "Hey, I've got a skillset of I can use laser cutters, I can use the 3D printers, I can use Adobe Illustrator.

So, hey, if you need any help, let me know."

A couple months went by, I get a message from Mason, "Hey, I need some help with this new project we've got."

I mean, working for someone like Mason, having opportunities here in Oklahoma, I thought when I got into college that I was gonna have to move out to LA or I was gonna have to move out to Atlanta to do the kinda stuff that I'm doing now.

And I don't.

I live, I don't know, 20 miles from where I grew up.

(cicadas chirping) - What I found just through failed relationships, through failed jobs, and this, that, and the other is that I need something that pushes me and challenges me.

And whether it's something like race that does that, like physically or the stop motion medium, like, you cannot exhaust the needs of any project with stop motion.

And I think I'm really drawn to the fact that it enables me to push as hard as I want to on certain things to grow myself, to meet potential, and to always just keep growing.

Yeah, I'm doing this because this is the best medium for me to, I guess, whether it's express myself or just stay busy.

I don't know.

It just seems like the most fitting thing for me to do, and I love it.

And I feel honored and thankful that it's had any level of success, and I am humbled by any of the artists that we get to work with.

I get to meet so many cool people and work with so many incredibly talented people.

So I feel like I'm a better person because of it.

So, yeah, and I feel nothing but thankfulness to...

I feel like to have arrived to where I am right now to see potential in the future, but to try to, like, you know, not get too big for my britches or anything, you know?

- Discover more at loudcloudanimation.com.

Now let's review this week's art quiz.

In which year did artist Steve Nighthawk, who carries his ancestral heritage of Washoe, Paiute, and Shoshone, create a poster for Artown and featured right here on "ARTEFFECTS"?

Is the answer, A, 2021, B, 2022, C, 2023, or D, 2024?

And the answer is D, 2024.

The Shady Palm Art Gallery is a staple in the Florida Keys.

The gallery hosts a variety of art classes and events, and features the work of more than 50 local artists!

(relaxing music) - Every day is a new palette outside and in our environment.

The colors change every single day.

The water is a different color every single day.

The colors are just spectacular.

Our sunrises and our sunsets are amazing.

Colors underneath the waters of our fish, our birds, our skies.

And it shows in all of our artists' work.

And that's where they get their inspiration from.

Janice Nagel, and I am an artist and the owner of Shady Palm Art Gallery and Livin' in a Local Color Art gallery.

They're both located in the same building.

(lively music) So, Shady Palm has been around for quite a while.

And I had my artwork here at Shady Palm Art Gallery.

And when the owner decided to retire, she came to me and said, "Janice, do you wanna buy Shady Palm Art Gallery?"

So, here I am.

And it is a dream come true.

It's just exciting to be able to help other artists the way that they helped me in the beginning.

And that's really what I'm looking forward to, is expanding, helping local artists.

This was actually the first piece that I've ever painted.

It was out of boredom after Hurricane Irma.

This was a photograph that I took of my husband's charter boat, and I found a tin with my grandmother's paints and the photo on the floor of my garage after cleaning up a little bit.

And my grandma spoke to me and said, "Paint."

So I did.

So that was originally the first painting that I started and ultimately finished after a while, and this is where all of this began.

All the local artists just said, "Don't stop painting, keep going."

And I did.

I tried different mediums.

I started with acrylic, then I went to watercolors and batik, and I just kept going.

And it's really been a lot of fun for me and fun watching myself grow.

And that's what I wanna instill on other artists here, is watching them grow and giving them the opportunity too, to just become wonderful artists.

And that's why I'm here.

(upbeat music) We have 57 local Florida Keys artists.

Everybody is here in the Key, so everything has originated here.

We have a wide variety of artists.

We have metal artists, we have multimedia recycling artists, we have acrylics, we have wood artists.

Some of our artists work with oils and acrylics.

And it's just a large display of art that we have here.

And everyone is just a little bit different.

(upbeat music continues) Our visitors spend a lot of time here.

We have our classroom, we repainted the outside.

We've added about 1000 square feet to the art section of the gallery.

We've moved our custom frame shop and we added my art gallery, Livin' in a Local Color, here as well.

So we're really two beautiful galleries for our visitors and locals to explore.

We're trying to bring more attention to marathon for the art community.

We wanna expand on those art classes.

And we're inviting, you know, artists from the Keys, not just our art gallery, to come and do classes for us as well.

We wanna do some events and also let everybody know that our artists are here and to support the local art, because it's really important.

They're one of the smallest businesses and they do so much from their heart that they deserve that attention.

(upbeat music ending) - To learn more, visit shady palmartgallery.com.

And that wraps it up for this edition of "ARTEFFECTS."

If you want to watch new "ARTEFFECTS" segments early, make sure you subscribe to the PBS Reno YouTube channel.

And don't forget to keep visiting pbsreno.org to watch complete episodes of "ARTEFFECTS."

Until next week, I'm Beth McMillan.

Thanks for watching.

- [Announcer] Funding for "ARTEFFECTS" is made possible by Sandy Raffealli with Bill Pearce Motors, Heidemarie Rochlin, in memory of Sue McDowell, The Carol Franc Buck Foundation, and by the annual contributions of PBS Reno Members.

(lively outro music) (lively outro music ends)