Sheila Tousey

Sheila May Tousey, born June 4, 1959, in Keshena, Wisconsin, is a Native American stage and film actress of Menominee and Stockbridge-Munsee descent. She was raised on both the Menominee and Stockbridge-Munsee reservations and began dancing at a young age.

Tousey did not pursue stage performance until she enrolled at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. She initially entered the university's law program with a focus on federal contracts and Native American law before changing her major to English, during which time she began taking theater arts courses. Following her undergraduate studies, she went on to complete a graduate acting program at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. In 1994, she directed her first play, An Evening at the Warbonnet, at the University of New Mexico.

Her screen career began in 1992 with a role in Thunderheart, and she also appeared in Medicine River that same year. Tousey has since taken on a wide range of characters across film and television, including appearances on Law & Order. Starting in 2002, she appeared in four film adaptations of Tony Hillerman mystery novels, which center on Native American characters of the American Southwest.

On Broadway, Tousey appeared in In the Summer House in 1993. Her stage work earned her a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play in 2024.