1923’s Teonna Rainwater actor speculates about how her character might be related to Yellowstone’s Duttons. Fans of Paramount Network’s hit show Yellowstone expected the Paramount+ prequel series 1923 to further explore the family history of the ranching Duttons.
But they may not have expected the show to also delve deeply and brutally into the experiences of indigenous people living on the plains, and being treated with shocking violence, in the same time period.
The saga of Aminah Nieves’ 1923 character Teonna, who was subjected to horrific treatment in a church-run boarding school before fleeing across the plains and being hunted down, could indeed make for its own show.
But as Teonna is a part of the story on 1923, it’s natural to assume that at some point, she will cross paths with the Duttons and become folded into their ongoing family drama. For her part, Nieves admits she hasn’t yet been let in on how Teonna connects to the Duttons, but she has her own theories, which she recently shared with Insider:
“I’m not gonna lie to you, I probably have about seven different theories about what happens as a whole. … I’m like, hmm, what if she has a love interest? But what if her love interest is a Dutton? But, no, that wouldn’t work…”
How Teonna Could Connect To The Duttons
The most obvious connection between Teonna and the larger world of Yellowstone would seem to be through the character of Thomas Rainwater, given that they share a last name. Fan speculation has indeed centered on the idea of Teonna being Thomas’ grandmother, something that seemingly would make sense, given Teonna’s age in 1923 and Thomas’ age in Yellowstone.
But another fan theory holds that there’s a more intimate familial connection between Teonna and the Duttons, through the Yellowstone character Jamie, the adopted son of John Dutton. The guess is that Teonna might be an ancestor of Jamie’s, perhaps through her having a relationship with Jack Dutton, making Jamie a Dutton by blood and not just adoption. Indeed, Nieves herself raises this possibility with her remark about Teonna getting a Dutton love interest.
Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan indeed has done a good job fostering such speculation by being deliberately vague about the Dutton family tree and how it all fits together. Given where 1923 season 1 sits currently, with Teonna still on the run and only one episode remaining, it seems a resolution about the character’s Dutton connection may have to wait until 1923 season 2. But it’s possible that some huge Dutton family revelations are in the offing as the larger saga rolls on.