Tantoo Cardinal (born July 20, 1950) is a Canadian actress of Cree and Métis heritage. In 2009 she was made a member of the Order of Canada "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." Cardinal was born the youngest of three children to Julia Cardinal, a woman of Cree and Métis descent, and a white father.
Cardinal was raised in the hamlet of Anzac, Alberta. The lack of electricity inspired her to use her imagination while playing in the bush. Her grandmother nicknamed her "Tantoo" after the insect repellent they used while picking blueberries together. She taught Cardinal the Cree language, 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
thumb|right|200px|Cardinal in 2001
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 mini-series By Way of the Stars with Gordon Tootoosis as the Cree Chief and Eric Schweig as Black Thunder.
In 2009, she was made a member of the Order of Canada "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".
thumb|right|200px|Cardinal's Hand print on the Aboriginal Walk of Honour in Canada
On August 23, 2011, Cardinal, Margot Kidder, and dozens of others were arrested while protesting the proposed extension of the Keystone Pipeline.
In 2012, Cardinal portrayed Regan in an all-aboriginal production of William Shakespeare's King Lear at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. The production was helmed by Order of Canada member Peter Hinton-Davis and included August Schellenberg as Lear, Billy 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's Earle Grey Award for lifetime achievement. She has also won a Gemini Award, a National Aboriginal Achievement Award (now Indspire Award) and was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame. Her portrait, taken by mixed-media artist HAUI, is displayed at Rideau Hall.
In 2023, Cardinal was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame.
Personal life
Cardinal met her first husband, Fred Martin, while boarding at his family's home during her high school years in Edmonton. They were married from 1968 to 1978 and had a son, 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.
|-
|2019
|Red Snow
|Ruth
|
|-
|2020
|data-sort-value="Corruption of Divine Providence, The" | The Corruption of Divine Providence
|Juniper Fairweather
|
|-
| rowspan="2"|2022
| Wendell & Wild
| Miss Hunter (voice)
|
|-
| data-sort-value="Last Manhunt, The" | The Last Manhunt
| Ticup
|
|-
| 2023
| Killers of the Flower Moon
| Lizzie Q
|
Nominated – Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
|-
| 2024
| Inkwo for When the Starving Return
| Auntie
|
|-
| 2026
| style="background:#FFFFCC;"| Wildwood
| Iphigenia (voice)
| In production
|}
Television
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
|1981
|SCTV
|extra
|Episode 4/2-2 "Power Play"
|-
|1984
|Spirit Bay
|Annie
|Main role
|-
|1987
|Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge
|Little Doe
|Television film
|-
|1990
|'
|Maria Brant
|Episode: "Miles to Go"
|-
|1991
|Lightning Field
|Vivian
|Television film
|-
|1992
|Street Legal
|Renee Stonehouse
|Recurring role; 4 episodes
|-
|1992–93
|By Way of the Stars
|Franois
|Television mini-series
|-
| rowspan="2" |1993
|Harts of the West
|Helen
|Episode: "Auggie's End"
|-
|Spirit Rider
|Marilyn St. Claire
|Television film
|-
|1993–95
|Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman
|Snow Bird
|Recurring role; 7 episodes
|-
|1994–97
|North of 60
|Betty Moses
|Recurring role; 7 episodes
|-
| rowspan="2" |1995
|500 Nations
|(voice)
|Television mini-series
|-
|Tecumseh: The Last Warrior
|Turtle Mother
|Television film
|-
|1996
|Grand Avenue
|Nellie
|Television film
|-
| rowspan="2" |1998
|Big Bear
|Running Second
|Television mini-series
|-
|Cold Squad
|Theresa Sandiman
|Episode: "Salty Cheever"
|-
| rowspan="2" |2000
|Navigating the Heart
|Mary
|Television film
|-
|'
|Aunt Mary
|Television film
|-
|2001
|MythQuest
|Walloha
|Episode: "Red Wolf's Daughter"
|-
|2002
|Tom Stone
|Judge Crowfoot
|Episode: "Royalty"
|-
|2003–06
|Moccasin Flats
|Betty Merasty
|Recurring role; 22 episodes
|-
| rowspan="3" |2004
|Windy Acres
|Aunt Laura
|Recurring role; 7 episodes
|-
|H<sub>2</sub>O
|Grand Chief Katie Blackfire
|Guest role; 2 episodes
|-
|'
|Irene Musket
|Television film
|-
|2006
|Indian Summer: The Oka Crisis
|Iba Beauvais
|4 episodes
|-
|2007
|Luna: Spirit of the Whale
|Gloria Maquinna
|Television film
|-
| rowspan="3" |2008
|'
|Ursula
|recurring role; 4 episodes
|-
|Just Breathe
|Heather
|Television film
|-
|Changing Climates, Changing Times
|Grace Lajoie
|Television film
|-
| rowspan="2" |2009
|Tales of an Urban Indian
|Dianne
|Television film
|-
|Dear Prudence
|Ruth Vigil
|Television film
|-
|2010
|Shattered
|Carol
|Guest role; 2 episodes
|-
|2012
|data-sort-value="Killing, The" | The Killing
|Prostitute
|Episode: "Keylela"
|-
|2012–15
|Blackstone
|Wilma Stoney
|Recurring role; 18 episodes
|-
|2013
|Arctic Air
|Aunt Mary
|Episode: "Skeletons in the Closet"
|-
|2014
|Strange Empire
|Pichette
|Episode: "Lonely Hearts"
|-
|2014–16
|Mohawk Girls
|Zoe's Mom
|Recurring role; 5 episodes
|-
|2015–17
|Longmire
|Marilyn Yarlott
|Guest role; 4 episodes
|-
| rowspan="2" |2016
|Frontier
|Kamenna
|Guest role; 2 episodes
|-
|On the Farm
|Ada Taylor
|Television film
|-
| rowspan="2" |2017
|data-sort-value="Great Northern Candy Drop, The" | The Great Northern Candy Drop
|Louisa (voice)
|Television film
|-
|Godless
|Iyovi
|Miniseries; 7 episodes
|-
|2018
|Outlander
|Adawehi
|Guest role; 2 episodes
|-
|2019
|See
|The Dreamer
|Guest role; 4 episodes
|-
|2019–20
|Stumptown
|Sue Lynn Blackbird
|Series regular
|-
|2020
|New Amsterdam
|Dr. Jane Munsee
|Episode: "Radical"
|-
|2021
|Corner Gas Animated
|Julie Rouleau (voice)
|Episode: "A Lot to be Desired"
|-
|2022–present
|Spirit Rangers
|Moon (voice)
|Recurring role
|-
|2024
|Echo
|Chula
|Series regular
|-
|TBA
|Avatar: The Last Airbender - Season 3: Fire
|Hama
|Unspecified if recurring, Role was Season 3 Episode 8 Guest Star in original.
|-
|}
Audiobooks
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
|2000
|Island of the Blue Dolphins
|Narrator
|
|-
|2019
|data-sort-value="Testaments, The" | The Testaments
|
|
|-
|2019
|Islands of Decolonial Love: Stories and Songs by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson
|Narrator
|
|}
Music videos
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
|2019
|"Mehcinut" by Jeremy Dutcher
|
|
|}
See also
- Notable Aboriginal people of Canada
References
External links
- Canadian Film Encyclopedia [A publication of the Film Reference Library/a division of the Toronto International Film Festival Group]