Mo Brings Plenty looking to be an inspiration to other Native Americans in film industry 

Mo Brings Plenty grew up on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation where he dreamed of being an actor, but found little encouragement among his race.

Mo Brings Plenty went from being the nameless driver of Chief Rainwater on "Yellowstone" to a greater presence on the show.

Mo Brings Plenty grew up on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota watching shows like “Gunsmoke,” “The Virginian,” “The High Chaparral,” and “The Rifleman,” and dreamed about one day working in the movies.

Like many Native Americans, he was already living a cowboy life riding horses, working cattle, and stretching fences. He could ride better than most of the cowboy actors that he saw on screen.

But in a culture that oftentimes discourages its own people from taking pride in their Native American roots, Brings Plenty said he didn’t get a lot of encouragement to be an actor.

“I was told I would go nowhere in life by being true to my identity,” Brings Plenty said in a telephone interview. “My first encounter watching a Native American on film or television was Iron Eyes Cody - and he was a full-blooded Italian! But he played an Indian. There were not many Native American actors in Hollywood and most of the Native Americans on television and in the movies were the bad guys.”

Brings Plenty, who plays Chief Rainwater’s driver “Mo” on the Paramount hit series “Yellowstone,” will be one of the featured guests at the MidSouth Nostalgia Festival this week at Whispering Woods in Olive Branch. It will mark his very first time at a fan festival.

“I’ve done several events, but this is my first fan convention,” Brings Plenty said. “I am truly looking forward to it. “Yellowstone” fans are truly amazing.”

While it may be his first convention, Brings Plenty said it is not his first time in the Mid-South.

“My wife is a huge Elvis Presley fan,” he said. “We were in Memphis and we stopped by the Peabody Hotel to watch the duck march. She loves ducks and water fowl. She is going to be with me, so we are very excited about it.”

Brings Plenty started out on “Yellowstone” as the nameless driver of Chairman Rainwater but gradually became “Mo” and a regular presence in the cast. The actor was already hard to miss with his waist long braids, but thanks to the popularity of “Yellowstone,” a lot more people recognize him in public today.

“I’m kind of used to it because of the length of my hair and my braids,” Brings Plenty said. “People were looking at me before, but now they say ‘oh, he’s on “Yellowstone.” That’s really kind of put me over the top. I don’t mind it. Before Season 4 came out, I could always tell who the hard core fans of the show were because they would recognize me as the driver and the right hand man of the Chairman.”

Brings Plenty began his acting work in theater then did some stunt riding, which landed him supporting roles in television on shows like ”Hell on Wheels” and movies like “The Revenant.”

“I did some TV docudramas,” Brings Plenty said. “I played Crazy Horse. I played Quannah Parker, a Comanche warrior. So I did a lot on the History Channel and Discovery Channel, and some stunts here and there. I did the stunts for “The Revenant” and “Jurassic World.”

Fans who attend the MidSouth Nostalgia Festival will be able to watch a screening Friday evening of one  of his earliest film roles in “The Cherokee Word for Water,” an Award-winning film and true story about Wilma Mankiller and how water was brought to a community with no running water and how they came together to make it happen. The movie won Best American Indian Film made in the past 40 years by the American Indian Film Institute, and won the Bronze Wrangler Award as Best Theatrical Film at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City.

“It’s a great movie,” Brings Plenty said. “It was probably either my first or second movie. I wish I could re-do that because I’ve grown as an actor. But, you know, we are our own worst critics. I am really proud to have been a part of making it, and I think the people there at the festival will really enjoy it.”

Brings Plenty said the portrayal of Native Americans in film and on television has changed for the better since “Dances With Wolves” came out in 1993. The Kevin Costner directed movie tells the story about a Union Army Lieutenant who comes out to a remote military post on the Great Plains where he encounters a group of Lakota. The movie is credited not only with revitalizing the western film genre, but its historical accuracy in its portrayal of Native American culture.

“There was an old school mentality within the film industry that didn’t have a desire to have true Native American people in movies,” Brings Plenty said. “So writers didn’t involve them in a story and when they did, they were the villains or just changed to another race or culture. “Dances With Wolves” was the turning point. It didn’t stick though, and there was a long absence from what Kevin Costner started to now with shows like “Yellowstone.”

Brings Plenty credits “Yellowstone” co-creator and producer Taylor Sheridan with employing Native Americans in Native American roles and respectfully and accurately portraying Native American culture on the big screen. He said Native Americans are no longer just part of the background scenery anymore. They are now part of the storyline.

“Right now, thanks to Taylor Sheridan, we are turning that around,” Brings Plenty said. “What Taylor Sheridan has done is wonderful. “Yellowstone” has begun to change the mentality of a lot of folks.”

Brings Plenty said Sheridan is very conscious about the existence of Native Americans and has taken the time to actually learn about and understand the culture and the issues tribal people face. And it shows on screen. Brings Plenty has become a confidante of Sheridan and a sort of technical adviser on Native American culture.

“Taylor is very adamant,” Brings Plenty said. “He is very true to accuracy. In the vision quest scene in Season 4, he called me ahead of time and said ‘what do you think? Is this something we can do?’ It was all about the respect and the protection of the traditions. The majority of writers would just Google something. 

“But when you have a writer who has experienced it and has been a part of a lot of our cultural events, that’s the game-changer. It is a lot easier for our Native American people to trust someone like that. Taylor hits the nail on the head and I trust him. Whatever he writes, I have no worries about because he understands and knows the issues.”

Brings Plenty said being a member of the cast of “Yellowstone” has been exciting and a blessing, but it is all still new territory for him. It has given him a voice to speak out about the importance of holding Hollywood casting directors to the flame about hiring more Native Americans. 

He’s hoping that his story will inspire more Native Americans to get interested in working in the entertainment industry. Brings Plenty said Native Americans are often their worst enemy when it comes to their own culture because many have been raised that it is wrong to be an Indian and to be ashamed of their true identity.

“I never dreamt that I would ever be in the position that I am today, because that dream was never even presented to me. It wasn’t allowed,” he said. “My family, my grandparents, and my community were always about being true to our culture. But of course in the system, they always want to assimilate you too. I made the choice to be Indian. But it is a struggle. Our cultural knowledge has been fading, and the people who do have the knowledge have not been present. So first and foremost, I am always going to be an American Indian. That will never change.”

Brings Plenty said it is actually a very good time right now to be a Native American in Hollywood because there are opportunities out there.

“What better way to inspire our young people than through this industry, which a lot of our people watch,” he said. “They watch TV. They watch movies. It’s a good way to inspire them and let them know that hey, we are accepted in society. Not only that, they can get involved as well. There is a path for them. All they have to do is walk down. It’s uncharted territory that native people never thought about being in. 

“I think that is one thing Hollywood has missed the mark on. In Indian country, we have some of the greatest horse people. There are a lot of great Indian cowboys and cowgirls. So I want to show that our society still exists. We are near extinction, but we are still here and that’s why I am trying to turn it around through this industry.”

When he is not working as an actor, Brings Plenty is still very much a real life cowboy who can be found working on his ranch on the border of Missouri and Kansas with his wife, Sara Ann Haney, the former Miss Kansas Rodeo 2003. 

“We run a few head of cows and we have horses,” Brings Plenty said. ‘We rescue a lot of animals. My wife saves waterfowl. We have a lot of ducks around. So from sun up to sun down, it’s work, work, work. She was a rodeo kid growing up. She can ride horses better than me.”

Brings Plenty said he would like to continue to grow his acting career, but his loyalty will always be to Taylor Sheridan first.

“My phone is ringing a lot more because of “Yellowstone,” he said. “Being an actor is something that I want to focus on and am very interested in doing. But it has to be the right project and the right storyline and right character. At the same time, I still have a loyalty to Taylor Sheridan because of who he is and what he has done for us. And if acting doesn’t work out for me, then maybe I will get involved in politics.”

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