Tantoo Cardinal is one of the most renowned Aboriginal actresses in the world. Raised in Anzac, a rural town in northern Alberta, Ms. Cardinal had to move to Edmonton to finish her high school education.(2)
Raised among the Cree, she turned her political activism into an acting career that has included roles as the knowing wife of the Medicine Man in “Dances With Wolves” (1990), the poignant childless companion of Rip Torn in “Where the Rivers Flow North” (1993) and the mother of Brad Pitt’s wife in “Legends of the Fall” (1994).
Cardinal was a leader of a youth group petitioning to get the Canadian government to build more schools on Indian reservations in the province of Alberta when she was cast in a small role in a 1971 Canadian docudrama on the life of Albert Lacombe, a 19th century Roman Catholic missionary. Though uncomfortable with having to portray Lacombe as a savior, Cardinal made the most of her part and, bitten with the acting bug, began performing in films, TV, on stage, and even in industrial films. By 1986, when she moved to the US to pursue a career in Hollywood, she was nationally known in Canada. Strong parts in feature films followed. Having auditioned for Kevin Costner by translating the dialogue into her native Cree, she landed the role of Black Shawl, the knowing wife of medicine man Kicking Bird in “Dances With Wolves”. In 1991, she was cast by director Bruce Beresford in “Black Robe”, which earned her critical acclaim for her death scene, complete with an arrow in her neck.
Cardinal has also worked extensively on TV, often in PBS dramas or films on historical First American figures and stories. She broke into network TV with “Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge” (CBS, 1987), and followed with the PBS “Wonderworks” special “Places Not Our Own” (billed as Tantoo Martin-Cardinal). Cardinal also appeared in “Tecumseh: The Last Warrior” (TNT, 1995). She made the first of her recurring appearances on the CBS drama series “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman” in 1993, cast as Snow Bird, the stalwart Cheyenne friend of frontier physician Jane Seymour. (1)
Probably best known for her role as Blackshawl in Dances With Wolves, Ms. Cardinal has amassed a long list of awards for her work in theatre, television and film. She received best actress awards from the American Indian Film Festival, the Alberta Motion Picture Industry, and from international film festivals in Portugal and Zimbabwe for her role as Roseanne, in Anne Wheeler’s feature film Loyalties. Since then, Ms. Cardinal has received numerous awards for her work in film and theatre. She was also listed on the Maclean’s Magazine Honour Role in 1991, and received an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from the University of Rochester in 1993.
She infuses her characters with warmth and honesty, and has had directors re-write roles if she felt they were a dishonest portrayal of Aboriginal people. Her strength stems from her upbringing in her Métis culture.. Her ability to overcome racist taunts and other hardships in the unfamiliar city became the basis of the confidence and charm that she now exudes on stage and screen. (2)
(1) http://www.worldwisdom.com/public/authors/Tantoo-Cardinal.aspx
