Tsanavi Spoonhunter is a nonfiction storyteller based in the Reno- Lake Tahoe Area Area who specializes in directing, producing and writing. She was born and raised in Payahuunadü, "the land of flowing water," the homeland of her Paiute people located in Central California. Spoonhunter is also a proud citizen of the Northern Arapaho Tribe of the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming and a descendant of the Lakota Nation.  Her ancestry and upbringing in Indian Country have strongly informed her storytelling and artistic vision. Some of her published works have included federal government funding for tribes, jurisdictional issues between governing agencies and economic development on tribal lands. 

Spoonhunter's educational background is rooted in journalism. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from the Reynolds School of Journalism at the University of Nevada, Reno; and a Master of Journalism degree from the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California, Berkeley with a documentary film concentration. Her master’s thesis film, Crow Country: Our Right to Food Sovereignty (2020), has screened at festivals and selected venues across the country and has won numerous awards. In all, her films have screened on Alaska Airlines, at the National Museum of the American Indian, The Redford Center, art museums and PBS affiliates.

She serves as director and producer on her first feature-length documentary titled, Holder of the Sky (2026). The film is a story of colonization’s continuum in modern-day America that focuses on three tribes in the state of Wisconsin. It has received support from ITVS, SFFILM FilmHouse, the International Documentary Association (IDA), Sundance Institute, the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), Berkeley Film Foundation and Firelight Media— to name a few. It is currently in production.

Spoonhunter is an alum of several prestigious organizations such as NDN Collective,  Sundance Institute and the European Film Market’s Toolbox Programme. Currently, she is a fellow at Open Society Foundations, and a Chicken & Egg Pictures (Egg)celerator Lab and ITVS Open Call grantee. She is the founder and CEO of Mahebe Media, an independent multimedia production company. As a Northern Arapaho citizen, Northern Paiute and Lakota descendent, she understands the impact that the media industry can have on individuals and communities. With that in mind, her goal is to pursue the highest levels of accuracy and ethical standards when crafting stories that contribute to solution-based coverage.