Natasha Kanapé Fontaine (born 1991) is an

Innu The Innu / Ilnu ("man", "person") or Innut / Innuat / Ilnuatsh ("people"), formerly called Montagnais from the French colonial period ( French for "mountain people", English pronunciation: ), are the Indigenous inhabitants of territory in the ...

poet and actress. Born in

Pessamit, Quebec Pessamit (formerly Betsiamites, or Bersimis), is a First Nations reserve and Innu community in the Canadian province of Quebec, located about southwest from Baie-Comeau along the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River at the mouth of the Betsia ...

, Fontaine first became noticed in 2012 as part of the Montreal poetry scene. Her first poetry collection, ''Do Not Enter My Soul in Your Shoes'', earned her the 2013 Prize of the Society of Francophone Writers of America; her second, ''Manifeste Assi'', was released in 2014 and debuted at the Étonnants Voyageurs festival. In 2016 she was a guest of honour at the

Rimouski Rimouski ( ) is a city in Quebec, Canada. Rimouski is located in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region, at the mouth of the Rimouski River. It has a population of 48,935 (as of 2021). Rimouski is the site of Université du Québec à Rimouski (UQAR), the C ...

Book Fair, alongside Deni Ellis Béchard; the same year, the

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary f ...

announced funding for 3 projects as part of the 150th Anniversary of the founding of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, including ''#Legacies150'', a photo-essay series Fontaine is contributing to. From 2017 to 2019, Kanapé Fontaine played the role of "Eyota Standing Bear", a First Nations incarcerated criminal on the French-Canadian television drama ''

Unité 9 ''Unité 9'' (or, in English, “Unit 9”) is a Québec television series broadcast from 2012 through 2019 on Radio Canada,Josée Guimond«Téléromans: rires, larmes et hockey»("Soap operas: laughs, tears and hockey") rchive ''Le Soleil'', ...

''. In 2021 she released the album ''Nui Pimuten I'', which set some of her poetry to music. She received two

Félix Award The Félix Award (french: Trophée Félix or Prix Félix) is an award, given by the ''Association du disque, de l'industrie du spectacle québécois'' (ADISQ) on an annual basis to artists working in the music and humor industry in the Canadian p ...

nominations at the

44th Félix Awards The 43rd Félix Awards were held on November 6, 2022 to honour achievements in Quebec music. The gala was hosted by Louis-José Houde, and televised by Ici Radio-Canada Télé. The advance ceremony announcing the winners in categories not se ...

, for Revelation of the Year and Indigenous Artist of the Year.Myriam Bercier
"Les résultats du gala de l’ADISQ 2022"
''Le Canal Auditif'', November 6, 2022.

References

Innu people First Nations women writers 1991 births Living people People from Côte-Nord Writers from Quebec 21st-century Canadian poets Canadian women poets 21st-century Canadian women writers First Nations poets Actresses from Quebec 21st-century Canadian actresses First Nations actresses 21st-century First Nations writers First Nations musicians {{NorthAm-native-bio-stub