Melaw Nakehk'o is an actress, artist, traditional moose hide tanner, and co-founder of the

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: **First Natio ...

organization Dene Nahjo. She is primarily known for her role as the kidnapped

Arikara Arikara (), also known as Sahnish,
''Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation.'' (Retrieved Sep 29, 2011)

woman Powaqa in the 2015 film '' The Revenant''.

Early life

Nakehko is Dehcho and Denesuline

Dene The Dene people () are an Aboriginal peoples in Canada, indigenous group of First Nations in Canada, First Nations who inhabit the northern Boreal forest of Canada, boreal and Arctic regions of Canada. The Dene speak Northern Athabaskan languag ...

, and was born in

Fort Simpson Fort Simpson (Slavey language: ''Łı́ı́dlı̨ı̨ Kų́ę́'' "place where rivers come together") is a village, the only one in the entire territory, in the Dehcho Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada. The community is located on an ...

in the

Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...

, Canada.

Acting career

''The Revenant'' was Nakehk'o's first film role. She was at the grocery store with her two young sons one Saturday morning when there was an open casting call in

Yellowknife Yellowknife (; Dogrib: ) is the capital, largest community, and only city in the Northwest Territories, Canada. It is on the northern shore of Great Slave Lake, about south of the Arctic Circle, on the west side of Yellowknife Bay near the ...

, Northwest Territories. "People kept texting me and telling me I should go do this thing," she said. When the grocery store clerk also told her to try out for the role, she went to the casting call, arriving an hour before it was over. For her audition, Melaw had to improvise a scene with other actors about trading furs for a horse. "I didn’t have to read anything; it was all just presence and just being badass," she said. In a radio interview, Nakehk'o said she was impressed with film director Alejandro G. Iñárritu's ability to bring out her acting ability in the role of Powaqa, an Arikara woman who is kidnapped by French

fur trappers The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the mos ...

, as well as with his accurate portrayal of

indigenous people Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

. She has also said that the brutality with which her character is treated in the movie reflects violence against indigenous women that is still going on today. For the red carpet premiere of the movie in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

, she received media attention when she wore a dress that was a collaboration between

Metis Metis or Métis may refer to: Ethnic groups * Métis, recognized Indigenous communities in Canada and America whose distinct culture and language emerged after early intermarriage between First Nations peoples and early European settlers, primar ...

artist

Christi Belcourt Christi Marlene Belcourt (born September 24, 1966) is a Métis visual artist and author living and working in Canada. She is best known for her acrylic paintings which depict floral patterns inspired by Métis and First Nations historical beadwo ...

and

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

-based house of Valentino. "It was really important to be able to represent Indigenous designers at such a high level of fashion, because today there’s a lot of

cultural appropriation Cultural appropriation is the inappropriate or unacknowledged adoption of an element or elements of one culture or identity by members of another culture or identity. This can be controversial when members of a dominant culture appropriate from ...

with a lot of the huge fashion houses and people just being disrespectful wearing headdresses and Native American-inspired stuff," Nakehk'o stated.

Cultural activities

Nakehk'o is a visual artist who paints, sews and beads, as well as a traditional moose hide tanner based out of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. She has taught moosehide tanning at the Dechinta Bush University Center for Research and Learning. In 2012, she received a Minister's Cultural Award for "sharing the knowledge of her elders and for bringing a renewed interest to the art of moose hide tanning." She is a co-founder of Dene Nahjo, an organization that promotes leadership and social and

environmental justice Environmental justice is a social movement to address the unfair exposure of poor and marginalized communities to harms from hazardous waste, resource extraction, and other land uses.Schlosberg, David. (2007) ''Defining Environmental Justic ...

for indigenous people of the northern territories.Dene Nahjo’s Melaw Nakehk’o makes Hollywood red carpet debut
. www.denenahjo.com

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nakehko, Melaw Living people Canadian film actresses Canadian women painters First Nations actresses First Nations artists Canadian textile artists Artists from the Northwest Territories Indigenous fashion designers of the Americas Year of birth missing (living people) Women textile artists Canadian fashion designers 21st-century Canadian women artists Dene people Canadian women fashion designers