The Native Arts and Cultures Foundation (NACF) is pleased to announce the first cohort of the LIFT – Early Career Support for Native Artists program awardees. Meet one of the awardees – Henu Josephine Tarrant (Rappahannock, Kuna & Ho-Chunck).
Henu Josephine Tarrant is a multi-talented actress, playwright, filmmaker, singer, songwriter, and comedienne. She is currently serving as the Managing Director of Safe Harbors NYC’s Reflections of Native Voices Festival, a theater organization focused on producing & creating Indigenous theater in New York City. Her most recent work includes a horror short she directed, Native Theatre: Where Are We Now?, for Howlround Theatre Commons; and her one-woman show Red Moon Blues, both written and performed by Tarrant in contemporary song and dance.
Tarrant is a third-generation New Yorker from a renowned family of theater artists, which has had a huge influence on her very urban experience as a Native woman in the performing arts. Through her lived experiences and professional development, she has acquired skills that have honed her personal aesthetic and perceptions of film and performance. Her work is often an examination of Native women who are exhausted by tokenism, hyper-sexualization, and exploitation. She raises the questions, “What is Native feminism and my role as a Native Woman performer? What does feminism mean to Native women in urban areas?”