Sandra Hale Schulman
Special to ICT
The action-packed, century spanning “Yellowstone” universe just added another planet.
After five seasons of “Yellowstone,” the Kevin Costner-starring, Paramount Network vehicle created by Taylor Sheridan about the Dutton ranch in Montana, there have been several back story prequel series – including “1883” and “1923” with an upcoming one set in “1943.” More in the works are “The Madison” (a modern-day “Yellowstone” sequel) and “6666,” the brand of a neighboring ranch.
More future stories are being set in motion with “Y: Marshals,” starring Luke Grimes, who played one of the Dutton sons, and just-announced cast members and top Native actors Gil Birmingham, Comanche, and Mo Brings Plenty, Oglala Lakota, reprising their “Yellowstone” characters as Chief Thomas Rainwater and his assistant, Mo, as well as a new addition, Tatanka Means, Oglala Lakota (son of late AIM activist and actor Russell Means). “Y: Marshalls” is scheduled to be released in spring 2026.
In “Y: Marshals,” with the Yellowstone Ranch behind him, Kayce Dutton (Grimes) joins an elite unit of U.S. Marshals, combining his skills as a ranch cowboy and Navy SEAL to bring range justice to Montana. Dutton’s new career trajectory follows the finale of “Yellowstone” in which he saved Yellowstone Ranch by selling the land to the Broken Rock Reservation in a deal with Rainwater, who paid $1.25 an acre – the price Kayce’s ancestors paid when they settled there in a prequel. For that low price, Rainwater agreed to Dutton’s two conditions: to keep his family on the East Camp house and for the ranch never to be developed or sold.
An award-winning film and television actor, Birmingham will next appear in the upcoming sequel “Wind River: The Next Chapter.” In addition to acting, Gil is an accomplished guitar player and singer who performs in various venues with his blues/rock style.
Birmingham’s recent credits include the “Twilight” saga, “X-Men ’97,” “Hell or High Water,” “Wind River,” “NCIS: Los Angeles,” “Poker Face,” “House of Cards” and “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.”
Tatanka Means will play “Miles,” a member of the U.S. Marshals along with Grimes. He has been seen in “Killers of the Flower Moon,” “Reservation Dogs,” “Echo,” “Saints & Strangers,” “Horizon: An American Saga,” “Wind River: Rising,” “Opus,” “Ark: The Animated Series,” and “The Son and Ransom Canyon.”
Means is an award-winning actor and stand-up comedian from Chinle, Arizona, on the Navajo Nation. He represents the Dinè, Oglala Lakota, Yankton Dakota and Omaha nations. Means was in the Oscar-nominated Martin Scorsese Western crime drama, “Killers of the Flower Moon,” alongside Leonardo DiCaprio, Lily Gladstone, and Robert De Niro. Aside from acting, Means performs stand-up comedy throughout Indian Country using the good medicines of laughter and motivation. He was recently a featured comedian on the PBS special, “Roots of Comedy,” with Jesus Trejo. Tatanka was named “Entertainer of The Year” by the National Indian Gaming Association in 2023.
This marks Mo Brings Plenty’s third Taylor Sheridan series following “Yellowstone” and “Lawmen: Bass Reeves.” Brings Plenty is an actor, horseman and Native cultural consultant with a powerful presence that has made him a standout figure in film and television. With his long braids and stern face, he brings a deep-rooted connection to Lakota tradition and heritage to each performance and project.
He spends his spare time on his ranch in Kansas with his wife Sara Ann, nephew, in-laws, 35 rescue animals and 11 horses. His ranch life includes riding horses, managing cattle, kayaking and volunteering for Operation Wildlife’s injured bird division.
“What I like about the Native characters on ‘Yellowstone’ is sometimes they are the bad guys. Sometimes the good guys,” Brings Plenty told ICT. “It’s complicated, like life. We could be viewed as either way, either side, and it’s interesting. Taylor’s an amazing rider. Much respect for his talent and his gifts. He’s also an amazing director and an actor, too. He’s been in a couple of scenes. What Indian Country needs is those strong advocates. He is a strong advocate and a strong ally for Indian Country.”
Brings Plenty was told as a kid he would go nowhere by being an Indian.
“Oh, it was horrible,” he recalls. “But I’m thankful for that because I don’t know what it is with me, I’m just wired differently. If someone says I can’t do something, trust me, I’m going to give it 110 percent. All it did for me was make me want to do all that I can to represent the past with hopes that I influence young people. We have so much talent throughout Indian Country. I go to the grassroots people. I go to the people who honestly lived and persevered. All the trials and tribulations of when being Indian was not cool at all.
“I grew up on a reservation, born and raised, and I am dang proud of that. I talk to kids, who say we’re poor. No, we’re not poor. We are so wealthy. You just don’t see or recognize that. You don’t understand that wealth, and that wealth is your cultural identity. I grew up with no running water and electricity and those were the best days of my life. I braid my hair every morning, and I want not just society to know that we still exist, but I want our young people to feel prideful and maintain humility.
“I’m no Hollywood Indian. I’ll guarantee that. I will never be a Hollywood Indian. I work in that industry, but I’m not a Hollywood Indian. I’m a reservation kid all the way.”