Rebekka Schlichting

An enrolled member of the Ioway Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska, Rebekka Schlichting is a filmmaker and owner of Native Storytelling Nation, LLC. In 2023, she directed, produced and wrote the documentary Seed Warriors, which is part of Firelight Media’s Homegrown series. Seed Warriors was funded by Vision Maker Media, Firelight Media, Center for Asian American and PBS. The world premiere was held at the world Indigenous Maoriland Film Festival in New Zealand, and it played at various festivals in the U.S.

Schlichting is an assistant professor of the practice at the University of Kansas William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications where she teaches writing, ethics, and a variety of video classes. She’s an adjunct for Nebraska Indian Community College where she teaches multimedia journalism. She co-directs the KU School of Journalism summer Native Storytelling Workshop for Native American high school students. She serves on the Lawrence Arts and Culture Commission, the Ioway Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska Culture Committee and heads the Ioway Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska Annual Powwow.

Schlichting served as the assistant director and interim director at Vision Maker Media where she managed, wrote and reviewed BIPOC film and multimedia grants, promoted Indigenous films and led filmmaker workshops and events. While at VMM, she was named “40 under 40” by the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development.

Before her professional documentary work, she was an adjunct professor and graduate teaching assistant at the University of Nebraska's College of Journalism and Mass Communications. As an adjunct at UNL, Schlichting co-taught ‘Wounds of Whiteclay’ and is a recipient of the 2017 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award. In 2019, she was inducted into the Hall of Fame Induction by the University of Nebraska Jackie Gaughan Multicultural Center. In graduate school, Schlichting directed the Sovereign Native Youth Leadership Academy at the Nebraska Commission on Indian Affairs. During her undergraduate career at KU, Schlichting debuted two short documentaries at the Vision Maker Media Film Festival and won First and Second Place for “Best Feature Story” in TV/Online by NAJA in 2014.