Tantoo Cardinal

Tantoo Cardinal studied at Victoria School of Performing and Visual Arts. The recorded working language is English and Cree. Places of work recorded in the authority are Calgary. Works named in the authority record are Killers of the Flower Moon. Distinctions recorded are Member of the Order of Canada, Earle Grey Award and Governor General's Performing Arts Award.

• Honorific Suffix — CM • Name — Tantoo Cardinal • Birth Name — Tantoo Rose Marie Cardinal • Born — 20 July 1950 • Birthplace — Anzac, Alberta, Canada • Occupation — Actress • Years Active — 1975–present • Children — Three, including Cliff Cardinal

Tantoo 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.

• Illustration — 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". • Illustration — 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. 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. Her portrait, taken by mixed-media artist HAUI, is displayed at Rideau Hall. In 2023, Cardinal was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame.

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.

Key • Denotes works that have not yet been released

• Year — Title — Role — 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 — The — 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 • Tecumseh: The Last Warrior — 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 • The — 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 • H 2 O — Grand Chief Katie Blackfire — Guest role; 2 episodes • A — 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 — The — 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 — 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 • 2016 — Frontier — Kamenna — Guest role; 2 episodes • On the Farm — Ada Taylor — Television film • 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 • 2022 — Three Pines — Bea Mayer — Series regular • 2024 — Echo — Chula — Series regular • TBA — Avatar: The Last Airbender — Hama — Upcoming role

• Year — Title — Role — 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

• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 2019 — "Mehcinut" by Jeremy Dutcher

The authorities additionally record the headings Rose Marie "Tantoo" Cardinal and Rose Marie Cardinal. Her recorded languages were English and Cree. One child is recorded: Cliff Cardinal.

Tantoo Cardinal is recorded with the occupation film director. Recorded with the occupation stage actor. Recorded as a citizen of Canada.