Angel Ellis is a citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and has lived, worked, and played within the tribes’ reservation boundaries most of her life. Growing up, her heroes had press passes rather than capes. Ellis learned to read with a newspaper at the breakfast table with her grandfather, and the fascination never faded.

Ellis became Director of Mvskoke Media in 2020, after it shifted from a tribally funded newsletter to an autonomous news-gathering agency. She had begun working there as an editorial assistant and eventually broke a front-page embezzlement story in 2011. The article earned Ellis her first award with the Native American Journalist Association and a pink slip for insubordination at the tribe. She did not stop reporting on Indigenous issues and spent the next seven years in mainstream print.

Her work help brings free press code back to the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, but she also helped advocate for the tribe’s first FOIA law. In 2020 she joined the ranks of Elias Boudinot Free Press award winners.

In 2021, Mvskoke Media worked with tribal lawmakers to iron out a citizen ballot question for tribal elections. On Sept. 18, 2021, the Muscogee (Creek) Nation became the first tribe to usher in a citizen-ratified, constitutionally protected and fully funded press. It passed with an overwhelming three-fourths support of the voters.

Ellis advocates for and educates on ethical coverage of Indigenous topics and communities. She serves as an Oklahoma Media Center board member. She was recently elected to the Native American Journalist Associations Board of Directors. She volunteered for the Native American Journalist Association’s “Red Press Initiative,” a project that collected data from Indigenous news consumers across the country. A data set that is now used to promote free press, free speech, freedom of information, and open meetings in “Indian Country.” In October 2021, Editor and Publisher Magazine highlighted her fight for a Native American Free Press. In the December Print issue, E&P had elevated its first-ever archived Native American topic to the cover and committed an Indigenous view of the industry to its archives for the first time in its history.

In November 2022, the Local Media Association (LMA) recognized Ellis during Native American Heritage Month as one of the Indigenous people “who have positively influenced and enriched the United States.” In January 2023, Ellis will attend the world premiere of “Bad Press” at Sundance. This film captures some of her advocacy work.