JoAnne Peden was born and raised in Spokane, Washington. As a child, she was curious about her neighbors, the Spokane Tribe, who lived just across the river from her. That curiosity has remained throughout her life, and influenced her decision to study Cultural Anthropology at the University of Nevada, Reno.

While taking classes in Oral History, she learned how to meet and record the stories of local Nevada tribes. She began with elders of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, and there she met Paiute elder, Ms. Katie Frazier—“Grandma Katie.” They became good friends, and when Grandma Katie asked her to come and spend the summer with her, JoAnne accepted. That summer extended to four years, and it was during this time that they decided to make a documentary about Grandma Katie’s experiences while growing up when the first white people came into her area. The movie is entitled That Was Happy Life: A Paiute Woman Remembers.

JoAnne has made many more documentaries with other tribal people of the Great Basin, covering topics including the local origin stories, the tradition of the pine nut harvest, and the complicated and traumatic legacy of the Stewart Indian School, a Native American boarding school in Carson City, Nevada. Her latest film, Ghost Dancers, is the culmination of years of work and travel across the mountain West and Midwest to document the life of Wovoka.