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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 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 blueberry 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.
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".
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 people 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. "Tantoo Cardinal among those getting special Canadian Screen Awards" . The Guardian, January 12, 2016. She has also won a Gemini Awards, a National Aboriginal Achievement Award (now Indspire Awards) 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 community of Kugluktuk.
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. "Tantoo Cardinal, Ryan Reynolds, Catherine O'Hara receive their Governor General's awards". CBC News. November 27, 2021. Archived from
In 2023, Cardinal was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame. "Tantoo Cardinal". Canada's Walk of Fame. Retrieved September 4, 2025.
She had her second son, Cliff Cardinal, with Beaver Richards.
From 1988 to 2000, Cardinal was married to actor John Lawlor, with whom she had a daughter.
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> the original on November 28, 2021. Her portrait, taken by mixed-media artist HAUI, is displayed at Rideau Hall.
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.
Filmography
+Key Denotes works that have not yet been released
Film
1978 Marie-Anne Tantou 1981 Death Hunt Indian Woman 1983 Running Brave Caroline 1986 Places Not Our Own Rose Loyalties Rosanne Ladouceur Nominated - Genie Award for Best Actress 1987 Candy Mountain Annie 1988 War Party Sonny's mother 1990 Divided Loyalties Molly Brant Dances With Wolves Black Shawl 1991 Black Robe Chomina's Wife 1993 Silent Tongue Silent Tongue Where the Rivers Flow North Bangor Mustard Bath Sister Amantha 1994 Sioux City Dawn Rainfeather Legends of the Fall Pet Decker 1997 Granma Silence Dolores 1998 Honey Moccasin Honey Moccasin Smoke Signals Arlene Joseph Heartwood Violet Boucher 1999 Singing Bird Heaven Fontaine 2000 Postmark Paradise Reenie Blood River Claire / Mattie Short 2002 Edge of Madness Ruth 2004 Memory Ida Short 2006 Unnatural & Accidental Aunt Shadie / Rita 2008 Older than America Auntie Apple Ancestor Eyes Verna Short Mothers & Daughters Celine 2010 Every Emotion Costs Aunt Marcy 2011 Shouting Secrets June 2012 Eden The Nurse 2013 From Above Older Venus Maïna Tekahera 2014 Down Here Stella Mitchell 2015 Hope Bridge Lana 2016 ARQ The Pope 2017 Wind River Alice Crowheart 2018 Falls Around Her Mary Birchbark The Grizzlies Janice Through Black Spruce Mary-Lou Hold the Dark Illanaq Angelique's Isle Thunderbird Woman 2019 Red Snow Ruth 2020 The Corruption of Divine Providence Juniper Fairweather 2022 Wendell & Wild Miss Hunter (voice) 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 Wildwood TBA (voice) In production
Television
1981 SCTV extra Episode 4/2-2 "Power Play" 4/2 - 2 I'm Taking My Own Head, Screwing It On Right, and no Guy's Gonna Tell Me It Ain't with The Plasmatics, Airdate: 23 October 1981 1984 Spirit Bay Annie Main role 1987 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 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 1995 500 Nations (voice) Television mini-series Turtle Mother Television film 1996 Grand Avenue Nellie Television film 1998 Big Bear Running Second Television mini-series Cold Squad Theresa Sandiman Episode: "Salty Cheever" 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 2004 Windy Acres Aunt Laura Recurring role; 7 episodes H2O 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 2008 Ursula recurring role; 4 episodes Just Breathe Heather Television film Changing Climates, Changing Times Grace Lajoie Television film 2009 Tales of an Urban Indian Dianne Television film Dear Prudence Ruth Vigil Television film 2010 Shattered Carol Guest role; 2 episodes 2012 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 2016 Frontier Kamenna Guest role; 2 episodes On the Farm Ada Taylor Television film 2017 The Great Northern Candy Drop Louisa (voice) Television film A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information. 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 2022 Three Pines Bea Mayer Series regular 2024 Echo Chula Series regular
Audiobooks
2000 Island of the Blue Dolphins Narrator 2019 The Testaments 2019 Islands of Decolonial Love: Stories and Songs by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson Narrator
Music videos
2019 "Mehcinut" by Jeremy Dutcher
See also
External links
Categories: 1950 Births, 20th-century Canadian Actresses, 20th-century First Nations People, 20th-century First Nations Women, 21st-century Canadian Actresses, 21st-century First Nations People, 21st-century First Nations Women, Actresses From Alberta, Canadian Film Actresses, Canadian Métis Women, Canadian Stage Actresses, Canadian Television Actresses, Canadian Voice Actresses, Cree Actresses, Governor General's Award Winners, Indspire Awards, Living People, Members Of The Order Of Canada, People From Fort Mcmurray
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