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IMDbPro

Tantoo Cardinal(I)

  • Actress
  • Director
  • Producer
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Tantoo Cardinal at an event for Until the Violence Stops (2003)
Watch Bearing Witness Trailer - TEG
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Bearing Witness, Native American Voices in Hollywood (2024)
23 Videos
41 Photos
Actress Tantoo Cardinal is a Member of the Order of Canada, one of the country's highest civilian honors. The order recognizes Cardinal for her contributions to the growth and development of Aboriginal performing arts in Canada.

Arguably the most widely recognized Native Actress of her generation, Cardinal has appeared in numerous plays, television programs, and films, including Legends of the Fall, Dances With Wolves, Black Robe, Loyalties, Luna, Spirit of the Whale, Unnatural & Accidental, Marie-Anne, Sioux City, Silent Tongue, Mothers & Daughters, and Smoke Signals. Recent work includes the films Eden, Maina, Shouting Secrets and From Above.

Her stirring performance in Loyalties earned her a Genie nomination, American Indian Film Festival Best Actress Award, the People's Choice Award at the Toronto Film Festival, plus Best Actress Awards at International Film Festivals in Zimbabwe and Portugal.

Cardinal was recently honored with the 2015 ACTRA Award of Excellence; other honors include Best Actress - Elizabeth Sterling Award in Theatre for All My Relations, and First Americans in the Arts Totem Award for her portrayal of the character Katrina in Widows at the Forum Stage in Los Angeles. She won the American Indian Film Festival's Best Actress Award as well as the first Rudy Martin Award for Outstanding Achievement by a Native American in Film for Where the Rivers Flow North, a Gemini Award for North of 60, and a Leo Award for Blackstone.

Her television credits include recurring roles on the series: Blackstone, The Killing, Arctic Air, Strange Empire, The Guard, North of 60, Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman, The Lightening Field, Street Legal, The Campbell's, Gunsmoke, Tom Stone, Myth Quest, Lonesome Dove, and Renegade Press.com. MOW's include Full Flood, The Englishman's Boy, Dreamkeeper and the PBS documentary Nobody's Girls.

For her contributions to the Native Artistic community, Cardinal won the Eagle Spirit Award. She has also been honored with the MacLeans' magazine Honor Roll as Actress of the Year, the Outstanding Achievement Award from the Toronto Women in Film and Television, an International Women in Film Award for her lasting contribution to the arts, and induction to the CBC/Playback Hall of Fame.
BornJuly 20, 1950
  • More at IMDbPro
    • Contact info
    • Agent info
    • Resume
BornJuly 20, 1950
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
  • View contact info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 17 wins & 21 nominations total

    Photos41

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    Known for

    Elizabeth Olsen and Jeremy Renner in Wind River (2017)
    Wind River
    7.7
    • Alice Crowheart
    • 2017
    Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Lily Gladstone in Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)
    Killers of the Flower Moon
    7.6
    • Lizzie Q
    • 2023
    Kevin Costner in Dances with Wolves (1990)
    Dances with Wolves
    8.0
    • Black Shawl
    • 1990
    Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins, Julia Ormond, and Aidan Quinn in Legends of the Fall (1994)
    Legends of the Fall
    7.5
    • Pet
    • 1994

    Credits

    Edit
    IMDbPro

    Actress



    • Wildwood
      • Carol Grod (voice)
      • In Production
      • 2026
    • The Wind of Heaven
      • Eydie
      • Pre-production
    • Inside
      • Charlotte
      • Post-production
      • Short
    • Lily's Sacred Journey
      • Aurora
      • Pre-production



    • You're No Indian (2025)
      You're No Indian
      • Narrator
      • 2025
    • An Ode for Leviticus (2024)
      An Ode for Leviticus
      Short
      • Luna
      • 2024
    • Inkwo for When the Starving Return (2024)
      Inkwo for When the Starving Return
      7.1
      Short
      • 2024
    • Vincent D'Onofrio and Alaqua Cox in Echo (2023)
      Echo
      5.9
      TV Mini Series
      • Chula
      • 2023–2024
    • Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Lily Gladstone in Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)
      Killers of the Flower Moon
      7.6
      • Lizzie Q
      • 2023
    • The Boss Baby: Back in the Crib (2022)
      The Boss Baby: Back in the Crib
      5.9
      TV Series
      • Marie Chalifoux
      • 2023
    • Alfred Molina, Rossif Sutherland, and Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers in Three Pines (2022)
      Three Pines
      7.2
      TV Series
      • Bea Mayer
      • 2022
    • The Last Manhunt (2022)
      The Last Manhunt
      4.4
      • Ticup
      • 2022
    • Oni: Thunder God's Tale (2022)
      Oni: Thunder God's Tale
      8.1
      TV Mini Series
      • Principal (voice)
      • 2022
    • Spirit Rangers (2022)
      Spirit Rangers
      6.8
      TV Series
      • Moon
      • 2022
    • Keegan-Michael Key, Jordan Peele, and Lyric Ross in Wendell & Wild (2022)
      Wendell & Wild
      6.4
      • Ms. Hunter (voice)
      • 2022
    • Back Home Again (2021)
      Back Home Again
      6.3
      Short
      • Mrs. Grey Horns (voice)
      • 2021
    • Corner Gas Animated (2018)
      Corner Gas Animated
      7.7
      TV Series
      • Real Estate Agent (voice)
      • 2021
    • Ryan Eggold in New Amsterdam (2018)
      New Amsterdam
      7.9
      TV Series
      • Professor Jane Munsee
      • 2021
    • The Corruption of Divine Providence (2020)
      The Corruption of Divine Providence
      4.0
      • Juniper Fairweather
      • 2020

    Director



    • Stories from the Seventh Fire (1999)
      Stories from the Seventh Fire
      Short
      • Director
      • 1999

    Producer



    • Sisters Rising (2020)
      Sisters Rising
      8.5
      • executive producer
      • 2020

    • In-development projects at IMDbPro

    Videos23

    The Grizzlies
    Clip 1:21
    The Grizzlies
    Cobie Smulders Leads an Acting "A-Team" in "Stumptown"
    Interview 3:07
    Cobie Smulders Leads an Acting "A-Team" in "Stumptown"
    Cobie Smulders Leads an Acting "A-Team" in "Stumptown"
    Interview 3:07
    Cobie Smulders Leads an Acting "A-Team" in "Stumptown"
    Official Trailer
    Trailer 1:58
    Official Trailer
    Trailer
    Trailer 1:45
    Trailer
    Trailer
    Trailer 1:55
    Trailer
    Official Trailer
    Trailer 1:24
    Official Trailer

    Personal details

    Edit
    • Alternative names
      • Tantoo Martin
    • Born
      • July 20, 1950
      • Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada
    • Spouses
        John LawlorJanuary 14, 1988 - November 29, 2000 (divorced, 1 child)
    • Children
      • Riel
    • Parents
      • Julia Cardinal
    • Publicity listings
      • 1 Article

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Learned Lakota for the Academy Award-winning film, Dances with Wolves (1990).
    • Quotes
      We had no TV where I grew up in my community in northern Canada, and the only images of native people that I was exposed to were my family and my relatives; these were wonderful and strong individuals whom I looked up to. It was only when I moved to Edmonton in Alberta in 1965, that I saw a different kind of image that was prevalent in Canadian society at that time, a negative image of native peoples as having no fixed address, and of being somehow 'lesser than.' Acting for me was a way to redress this imbalance; acting allows me to present a different kind of truth, to bring some light back into the stories of our history.

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