During the past five years, there has been a welcome surge of insight into contemporary Indigenous culture through TV and film. That crucial storytelling happens not just through honest dialogue and scripts helmed by Indigenous writers, but also in how we see characters living onscreen. It’s in what their homes look like and the cultural pieces that emphasize their values. All of it matters, and all of it is intentional.
If you have watched the Emmy-nominated TV show “Reservation Dogs” and the Lily Gladstone–led film “Fancy Dance,” you’re already familiar with Tafv Sampson’s work. The Muscogee set designer is known for creating authentic, lived-in scenery that feels like home for the Indigenous actors on set and welcomes viewers into the featured tribal communities. The characters she develops tend to become one with their surroundings, and that’s by design.
“With ‘Rez Dogs,’ we were making something in a real community, which is pretty rare in TV and film,” says Sampson, who even took an acting turn on the show. “Working with all these people in the community and bringing their special objects into the set made me think about why these things are so important to us. We hold onto these relics that are passed down generation after generation so we can share them and tell stories about them.” For her, the oral tradition so integral to Native cultures is fueled by these pieces.
Sampson’s visual storytelling is also at times bolstered by personal belongings contributed by the production’s cast and crew members. Memorable instances include the “Rez Dogs” Season 2 episode “Mabel,” which follows a grieving teen processing the loss of her grandmother and features blankets, photographs, and other family heirlooms to reflect a life well-lived and an elder well-loved. These seemingly simple objects infuse scenes with energy and meaning.
Those artfully incorporated details delight even directors, who often aren’t interacting with Sampson all that much beyond brainstorming sessions. “One of my favorite moments working with Tafv on ‘Fancy Dance’ was entering this home where an older person lived and discovering a Big Gulp cup sitting on the table with this piece of chewed gum on top,” says Seneca–Cayuga writer and director Erica Tremblay, who was named to HuffPost’s 2023 Culture Shifters list.
“She thinks about even the tiniest minutiae of what a space should be and fills it with these thoughtful details,” Tremblay adds. “So even though the camera may never actually see that level of detail, it creates this environment for your actors to inhabit, take signals from, and communicate with — it really affects their understanding of their own characters.”
That level of intentionality has earned Sampson accolades as well as abundant admiration from Native creatives and audiences alike. Throughout it all, her goal has been to enhance representation while upholding a family tradition in film. Sampson’s grandfather, the trailblazing Muscogee actor Will Sampson, and her late father, actor and activist Tim Sampson, both brought authenticity to their careers, subtly informing non-Natives about Indigenous culture through their craft.
Working on these shows set and shot in Oklahoma, where the Muscogee people settled after being forcibly removed from their ancestral homelands and enduring the Trail of Tears, has given Sampson a deeper connection to her community and her culture (she grew up in Portland and Los Angeles). Although she never met her grandpa — he died two years before she was born — his legacy looms large in the Sooner State.
“Because I didn’t grow up in [the Muscogee] community, I didn’t hear much about him other than family stories,” Sampson says. “But since I’ve started spending more time in Oklahoma, everyone comes up to me to talk about him. It makes me so proud — and also gives me a lot to live up to.”
She recently wrapped a six-month stint in Oklahoma working on “The Lowdown,” a new crime noir show from “Rez Dogs” showrunner Sterlin Harjo (Muscogee/Seminole) set to debut in September. Like Tremblay, Harjo entrusted Sampson with the ability to create these worlds.
“We don’t even have to talk too much about things — she just understands it,” Harjo says. “There’s a spirituality and an energy to her design work that permeates the story and the characters. It gives the story something firm to stand on. Everyone feels it, and the actors and crew tell the story better and work harder because of the care and specificity that Tafv brings to her work.”
In addition to set decorating, she’s also finishing a screenplay that her father started, based on his time at the Sequoyah Indian boarding school. Sampson is also in the process of launching a company to highlight Native artisans through limited-edition collaborations.
In her own way, Sampson is creating family heirlooms to be preserved onscreen and passed down to the next generation, much like her ancestors did before her. “I’m just bringing my dad and my grandpa along with me for this ride that I know they’d be very excited to be on,” she says. “At the end of the day, it’s really about making them proud.”