Tantoo Cardinal CM (born July 20, 1950) is a Canadian actress. Of

Cree The Cree, or nehinaw (, ), are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people, numbering more than 350,000 in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada, First Nations. They live prim ...

and

Métis The Métis ( , , , ) are a mixed-race Indigenous people whose historical homelands include Canada's three Prairie Provinces extending into parts of Ontario, British Columbia, the Northwest Territories and the northwest United States. They ha ...

heritage, in 2009 she was made a member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

"for her contributions to the growth and development of Aboriginal performing arts in Canada, as a screen and stage actress, and as a founding member of the Saskatchewan Native Theatre Company."

Early life

Tantoo Cardinal was born the youngest of three children to Julia Cardinal, a woman of

and

descent, and a white father. Cardinal was raised in the hamlet of

Anzac The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) was originally a First World War army corps of the British Empire under the command of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. It was formed in Egypt in December 1914, and operated during the ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

. The lack of electricity inspired her to use her imagination while playing in the bush. Her grandmother nicknamed her "Tantoo" after the

insect repellent An insect repellent (also commonly called "bug spray" or "bug deterrent") is a substance applied to the skin, clothing, or other surfaces to discourage insects (and arthropods in general) from landing or climbing on that surface. Insect repellent ...

they used while picking

blueberries Blueberries are a widely distributed and widespread group of perennial flowering plants with blue or purple berries. They are classified in the section ''Cyanococcus'' with the genus ''Vaccinium''. Commercial blueberries—both wild (lowbush) ...

together. She taught Cardinal the

Cree language Cree ( ; also known as Cree–Montagnais language, Montagnais–Naskapi language, Naskapi) is a dialect continuum of Algonquian languages spoken by approximately 86,475 people across Canada in 2021, from the Northwest Territories to Alberta to ...

, the traditional ways of their culture and the difficulties she would face growing up Métis in Canada. Cardinal has said that it was walking behind her grandmother where she first learned to act.

Career

Cardinal has played roles in many notable films and television series, including '' Spirit Bay'', '' Loyalties'', '' Dances with Wolves'', '' Black Robe'', '' Legends of the Fall'', '' Smoke Signals'', '' Hold the Dark'' and '' North of 60''. She was cast in the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is the Canadian Public broadcasting, public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a Crown corporation that serves as the national public broadcaster, with its E ...

mini-series '' By Way of the Stars'' with Gordon Tootoosis as the Cree Chief and

Eric Schweig Eric Schweig (born Ray Dean Thrasher; 19 June 1967) is a Canadian Inuvialuk actor best known for his role as Chingachgook's son Uncas in ''The Last of the Mohicans'' (1992). Early life Schweig was born in Inuvik, Northwest Territories. He is ...

as Black Thunder. In 2009, she was made a member of the

"for her contributions to the growth and development of Aboriginal performing arts in Canada, as a screen and stage actress, and as a founding member of the Saskatchewan Native Theatre Company". Tantoo Cardinal HandPrint Edmonton

On August 23, 2011, Cardinal,

Margot Kidder Margaret Ruth Kidder (October 17, 1948 – May 13, 2018) was a Canadian and American actress and activist. She amassed List of Margot Kidder performances, several film and television credits in her career spanning five decades, including her bes ...

, and dozens of others were arrested while protesting the proposed extension of the

Keystone Pipeline The Keystone Pipeline System is an Pipeline transport, oil pipeline system in Canada and the United States, commissioned in 2010, formerly owned by TC Energy. It is now owned by South Bow, following TC Energy's spin off of its liquids business i ...

. In 2012, Cardinal portrayed Regan in an all-aboriginal production of

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's ''

King Lear ''The Tragedy of King Lear'', often shortened to ''King Lear'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is loosely based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his ...

'' at the

National Arts Centre The National Arts Centre (NAC) () is a Arts centre, performing arts organization in Ottawa, Ontario, along the Rideau Canal. It is based in the eponymous National Arts Centre (building), National Arts Centre building. History The NAC was one ...

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

, alongside a cast that also included August Schellenberg as Lear,

Billy Merasty Billy Merasty (born 1960) is an Aboriginal peoples in Canada, Aboriginal Canadian actor and writer of Cree descent. Early life Merasty was born in Brochet, Manitoba, Canada. He is the ninth of fourteen siblings born to Viola and Pierre Merasty, ...

as Gloucester, Jani Lauzon in a dual role as Cordelia and the Fool, and Craig Lauzon as Kent. She played Marilyn Yarlott for three seasons as a recurring cast member in the Netflix series Longmire, a Crow hunter and medicine woman who lives alone in the vast wilderness of the Crow reservation. In 2017 she was named the winner of the

Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television is a Canadian non-profit organization created in 1979 to recognize the achievements of the over 4,000 Canadian cinema of Canada, film industry and television in Canada, television industry professionals ...

Earle Grey Award The Earle Grey Award is the lifetime achievement award for television acting of the Canadian Screen Awards, and its predecessor the Gemini Awards. It can be presented to an individual or collaborative team (such as SCTV or Royal Canadian Air Fa ...

for lifetime achievement. She has also won a

Gemini Award The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's English-language television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in t ...

, a National Aboriginal Achievement Award (now Indspire Award) and was inducted into Canada’s Walk of Fame. In the 2018 film '' The Grizzlies'', she plays a high school principal who is skeptical that a first-time teacher can address social issues in the northwestern

Nunavut Nunavut is the largest and northernmost Provinces and territories of Canada#Territories, territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the ''Nunavut Act'' and the Nunavut Land Claims Agr ...

community of

Kugluktuk Kugluktuk (, ; Inuktitut syllabics: ; ), known as Coppermine until 1 January 1996, is a hamlet at the mouth of the Coppermine River in the Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut, Canada, on Coronation Gulf, southwest of Victoria Island. It is Nunavut's ...

. On November 26, 2021, Cardinal and several other laureates received the Governor General's Performing Arts Awards after a nearly two-year delay due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

."Tantoo Cardinal, Ryan Reynolds, Catherine O'Hara receive their Governor General's awards"
. ''

CBC News CBC News is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC ...

'', November 27, 2021.

Personal life

Cardinal met her first husband, Fred Martin, while boarding at his family's home during her high school years in

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

. They were married from 1968 to 1978 and had a son, Cheyenne, prior to their divorce. She had her second son, Clifford, with Beaver Richards. From 1988 to 2000, Cardinal was married to actor John Lawlor, with whom she had a daughter, Riel.

Filmography

Film

Television

Audiobooks

Music videos

References

External links

*
Canadian Film Encyclopedia
publication of the Film Reference Library/a division of the Toronto International Film Festival Group {{DEFAULTSORT:Cardinal, Tantoo 1950 births Actresses from Alberta Canadian film actresses Canadian stage actresses Canadian television actresses Cree actresses Living people Members of the Order of Canada People from Fort McMurray 20th-century Canadian actresses 21st-century Canadian actresses 20th-century First Nations people 21st-century First Nations people 20th-century First Nations women 21st-century First Nations women Indspire Awards Canadian Métis women Governor General's Award winners