First Nation and indigenous people's Actors/Actresses
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Actor, author, and musician Chief Dan George was born in present-day North Vancouver as Geswanouth Slahoot (later anglicized as 'Dan Slaholt'), the son of a tribal chief on Burrard Indian Reserve Nº. 3. He is the only Aboriginal actor in Canadian history to date with the right to use the title "Chief", serving as leader of the Squamish First Nation of Burrard Inlet from 1951-63, and retained the honorary title after his term ended. His last name was changed to George when at age 5 he entered a mission boarding school where the use of his native language was discouraged, if not forbidden.
Until 1959, he had worked as a longshoreman, logger, bus driver, and itinerant musician. After spending much of his early life as a longshoreman, a construction worker, and a school-bus driver, Chief Dan George auditioned for the role of Ol' Antoine on Cariboo Country (1960), a CBC series, and won the part. He made his screen debut at age 65. On the strength of his performance in the series, and after playing the same part in Smith! (1969), a Disney adaptation of one of the show's episodes based on "Breaking Smith's Quarterhorse", a novella by Paul St. Pierre, and starring Glenn Ford, he was asked to play "Old Lodge Skins" in Little Big Man (1970). This role led to an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor in 1970. He continued to appear in films and became an accomplished stage actor. He died in 1981 on the same Indian reserve where he was born in North Vancouver at age 82.- A Native American actor of the Creek Nation, Sampson's "big break" came from his memorable role in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) opposite Jack Nicholson. He was also starred opposite Clint Eastwood in the western The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976). He had supporting roles in Orca (1977), The White Buffalo (1977) and Fish Hawk (1979). In 1986, he co-starred in Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986) as a Native American shaman. He died of complications from kidney failure and malnutrition during heart and lung replacement surgery in 1987 and was buried on the reservation where he grew up.
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Graham Greene was born on 22 June 1952 in Six Nations Reserve, Ontario, Canada. He is an actor and writer, known for The Green Mile (1999), Wind River (2017) and Dances with Wolves (1990). He has been married to Hilary Blackmore since 20 December 1990. They have two children.- Actor
- Producer
Native American actor, Rodney Arnold Grant was born the 9th of March, 1959. After his biological parents abandoned him, his grandparents raised him from 6 months of age, up until 1982. Rodney has five adult children: three daughters from his ex-wife, all of which were raised by their mother, and two sons from previous relationships. He is now married to Lee-Anne. Over time, Rodney initially has performed in major motion pictures, as well as television appearances. One in particular CBS's Stolen Women, Captured Hearts (1997), opposite Janine Turner and Michael Greyeyes. On the big screen, Rodney is extensively known for his portrayal of "Wind in His Hair" in Dances with Wolves (1990). Inasmuch as Rodney has proven to be eclectic in his acting ability, he can "play the part" in other genus as well.
Rodney has other multitudinous ways in which he contributes to those in "need" -- especially the Native American Youth. For example, The Boys and Girls Club of Cheyenne country, South Dakota, where he is on the Board of Directors. At the present time, Rodney has taken an interim from acting to bestow his time to family, charities, and independent film making.- Actor
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Floyd 'Red Crow' Westerman was born on 17 August 1936 in Lake Traverse Indian Reservation, Roberts County, South Dakota, USA. He was an actor and director, known for Dances with Wolves (1990), Hidalgo (2004) and Dharma & Greg (1997). He was married to Rosie. He died on 13 December 2007 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actress
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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.- Jimmy Herman was born on 25 October 1940 in Cold Lake Reserve, Alberta, Canada. He was an actor, known for Dances with Wolves (1990), North of 60 (1992) and Reindeer Games (2000). He died on 13 September 2013 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
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- Costume and Wardrobe Department
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Born in Chamberlain, South Dakota and residing in Montana, Spears has five brothers, one sister, and is Lakota Sioux Tribe. His first role was in the film "Dances With Wolves" as Otter. Michael went on to appear in "Skins", "Into The West", "Yellow Rock", Cyril Morin's "The Activist", and had a guest role on "Longmire". He has an American Photographic Artists (APA) Award for best subject matter in a film. He co-hosted the American Indian Film Institute Awards in 2013.- Actor
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Steve was born and raised on the Blackfeet Reservation in Browning, Montana. Son of Curley and Lila Reevis, he is the 4th of 6 siblings. He graduated from Flandreau High School and attended Haskell Indian Junior College in Lawrence, Kansas where he received a degree in arts. After junior college, he left the reservation in Montana to try to begin an acting career in Los Angeles. He lived on the beach in his car, a 1971 Ford Torino, for many months before he began to have a more steady income. He and his wife Macile, an artist and clothing designer, have three children.
In 1996 Steve received an award from First Americans in the Arts (FAITA) for his supporting roles in both the critically acclaimed movie Fargo and in the made for television movie Crazy Horse. In 2004 he repeated this honor for his work on the ABC series Line of Fire.- Actor
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From small-town Oklahoma native to internationally acclaimed actor and musician, Wes Studi credits his passion and multi-faceted background for his powerful character portrayals that forever changed a Hollywood stereotype. Within a few years of his arrival in Hollywood, Studi caught the attention of the public in Dances with Wolves (1990). In 1992, his powerful performance as "Magua" in The Last of the Mohicans (1992) established him as one of the most compelling actors in the business.
Studi has since appeared in more than 80 film and television productions, including Geronimo: An American Legend (1993), Being Flynn (2012), Avatar (2009), Comanche Moon (2008), Streets of Laredo (1995), Mystery Men (1999), Kings (TV Series), The New World (2005), Hell on Wheels (2011), Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (2007) and Seraphim Falls (2006). He also brought Tony Hillerman's "Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn" to life in a series of PBS specials produced by Robert Redford: Skinwalkers (2002), Coyote Waits (2003), and A Thief of Time (2003).
Studi was born in Nofire Hollow, Oklahoma, the son of Maggie (Nofire), a housekeeper, and Andy Studie, a ranch hand. Studi exclusively spoke his native Cherokee language until beginning school at the age of five. A professional horse trainer, Studi began acting at The American Indian Theatre Company in Tulsa in the mid-80s.
Studi and his wife, Maura Dhu Studi, live in Santa Fe, New Mexico. They have a son, Kholan. Studi has a daughter, Leah, and a son, Daniel, from a previous marriage.- Buffalo Child is a full-blooded Plains Cree Native American. In addition to television, he has also acted on stage. Both of his parents were raised having traditional lives. Buffalo resided with his maternal grandmother who was a well known medicine woman. His father was an American and his mother was Canadian which means Buffalo holds dual citizenship. He has been working as a professional script consultant for both films and television.
- Chaske Spencer is an award-nominated actor who currently stars in Marvel Studios' new series ECHO as 'Henry "Black Crow" Lopez, Maya's (Alaqua Cox) well-intended uncle with ties to Fisk's (Vincent D'Onofrio) criminal underworld. His recent co-lead opposite Emily Blunt in Hugo Blick's limited series THE ENGLISH Amazon/BBC) garnered him critical acclaim including: BAFTA Awards and Royal Television Society (RTS) Programme Awards with a 2023 Leading Actor nomination and Outstanding Performance in a New Series nomination at the 2023 Gotham Awards. On the feature side, he starred in WILD INDIAN which premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival for which Chaske was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for the 2022 Independent Spirit Awards.
Up next, Chaske stars in WIND RIVER: THE NEXT CHAPTER with Jason Clarke as well as the Peacock horror thriller TEACUP (executive produced by lan McCulloch, Atomic Monster's Wan, Michael Clear and Rob Hackett) alongside Yvonne Strahovski and Scott Speedman, inspired by Robert McCammon's novel Stinger.
When Chaske was young, he dreamt of becoming a photographer, but before long, he also found himself in front of the camera. Chaske moved to New York City and in between bartending and waiting tables, he was cast in his first off off-Broadway play, DRACULA, as the title role. He went on to perform at The Public Theater in NYC and The Roundabout, and soon was discovered by casting director Rene Haynes.
Chaske is well known for his portrayal of 'Sam Uley' in the Twilght Saga: New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn I and II. He starred in the Susanna White directed feature, WOMAN WALKS AHEAD, opposite Jessica Chastain and Sam Rockwell, which made its World Premiere at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival. His most notable television credits include: NatGeo's BARKSKINS, NBC's BLINDSPOT, Netflix's JESSICA JONES, the Emmy award-winning Cinemax series BANSHEE, A&E's LONGMIRE, and the Amazon series SNEAKY PETE with Bryan Cranston.
Chaske Spencer was born of the Lakota Sioux tribe, and raised on Indian Reservations in Montana and Idaho. - Kindall is an Nlaka'pamux First Nation Originating from Merritt B.C. He hitch hiked to Vancouver and lived in the Covenant House (Youth Shelter) to pursue his dream of being an actor. Kindall first started his off as a background performer and has been gaining experience since 2009. He has played multiple leads and supporting roles in film such as Sammy on Amir Aghelnegiad's A Safe Place (2016), and First Indian in Thomas Arlsan's German western feature film "Gold" premiered in the Berlinale film festival 2013. More recently 2016, Kindall just came back from filming in Budapest for Carnival Productions. The road to success has it hardships, but his journey pursuing his dreams is a greatest joy anyone can find! Kindall resides in Vancouver B.C, where he completed a two-year degree in film and television at New Image College of Fine Arts in 2013.
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Rulan Tangen is an internationally accomplished dance artist and choreographer. She is the Founding Artistic Director and Choreographer of Dancing Earth, noted in Dance Magazine as "One of the Top 25 To Watch", and winner of the National Dance Project Production and Touring Grant, as well as the National Museum of American Indian's Expressive Arts award. Rulan has been awarded the 2016 A Blade of Grass Fellowship for Socially Engaged Art , 2016-17 Santa Fe Art Institute's Water themed artists residency, 2016 Catalyst Initiative from Center for Performance and Social Practice , 2015 Arts & Social Change Award from Arts and Healing network, Costo Medal for Education, Research and Service by UC Riverside's Chair of Native Affairs, the first Dance Fellowship for Artistic Innovation by the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation , New Mexico School for the Arts Community Leadership Award and was honored as a top ten finalist across all disciplines for Nathan Cummings Fellowship for Social Change .
Rulan's work values movement as an expression of indigenous worldview, including the honoring of matriarchal leadership, dance as functional ritual for transformation and healing, the process of decolonizing the body, and the animistic energetic connection with all forms of life on earth. She has recruited and nurtured a new generation of Indigenous contemporary dancers and holds the belief that "to dance is to live, to live is to dance". She believes in this form of dance as continuing the link of culture - from ancient to futuristic - and culminates in her vision for Dancing Earth -Indigenous Contemporary Dance Creations.
Devoted towards developing the innovative field of Indigenous contemporary dance, Rulan has taught extensively in Native communities throughout the hemisphere, including youth and community projects under the auspices of the Native Wellness Institute and the National Dance Institute. In Fall 2009, Rulan's choreography was appointed as Visiting Distinguished Scholar at Washington University. In 2010, she was invited by Stanford University's Institute of Diversity in the Arts to lead a semester project titled "Race And Environment."
Rulan has also been featured in lead roles with most of the major Native productions including Raoul Trujillo's 'Tribe', Daystar Dance/Dance, Minigoowezewin at the Banff Centre for the Arts Aboriginal Dance Program, C.A.M.A. Awards, Aboriginal Achievement Awards, Robert Mirabal's "Music from a Painted Cave" PBS television special and subsequent 80 city tour, and assistant to the Directors of 'Bones: Aboriginal Dance Opera'. She also has been featured as an actress in the PBS series " We Shall Remain", "The New World", and "Ancestor Eyes" for which she was nominated for Best Actress by the Action On Film Awards.
Rulan's three decades of performance credits include ballet and modern dance companies in New York (Michael Mao Dance and Peridance), Vancouver (Karen Jamieson Dance), Santa Fe (Moving People, Dancing One Soul) and California (Marin Ballet and Redwood Empire Ballet), and appearances with the One Railroad Circus, as well as extensive yoga training, and powwow trail experiences as a Northern Plains Traditional Women's dancer. Her choreography has been commissioned by venues including the Heard Museum AZ, Society for Dance Historians conferences in Canada and USA, Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics NY, Teatro Nunes in Brasil, Centro Cultural de Recoleto of Buenos Aires Argentino, in New Mexico for Santa Fe Art Institute, Native Roots and Rhythms Festival, Santa Fe Dance Festival, Native Cinema Showcase at the Center for Contemporary Arts, in California for the Idyllwild Arts Program, Festival, Aqua Caliente Cultural Museum CA; in Canada for the International Aboriginal Choreographers Workshop, McMichaels Gallery, Peterborough Art Gallery, Living Rituals World Indigenous Dance Festival, Toronto Harbourfront's Roots Remix, and Planet IndigenUs Festival; and including films Apocalypto (director Mel Gibson) and The New World (director Terrence Malick).- Actor
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Michael Greyeyes is an actor, director, scholar and founding artistic director of Signal Theatre. He is Nêhiyaw (Plains Cree) from Muskeg Lake Cree Nation in Saskatchewan, Canada. His film work includes the role of Traylor in "Blood Quantum," (Elevation Pictures/ Shudder Original), written and directed by Jeff Barnaby, Sitting Bull in "Woman Walks Ahead," (A24/ DirecTV) co-starring Jessica Chastain and directed by Susanna White. He also appeared in HBO's "True Detective" (Season 3) in the role of Brett Woodard and AMC Television's third season of "Fear the Walking Dead," playing Qaletaqa Walker. He has appeared in numerous feature films, including "The New World," directed by Terence Malick, "Skipped Parts," "Sunshine State," directed by John Sayles, "Passchendaele" directed by Paul Gross and "Dance Me Outside," a cult-classic directed by Bruce McDonald.
Most recently, he can be seen as Ralph Drinkwater in HBO's acclaimed mini-series "I Know This Much is True," written and directed by Derek Cianfrance and starring Mark Ruffalo, Apple TV+ "Home Before Dark," Disney+ "Togo," and "V-Wars" for Netflix. He has appeared in a wide range of roles, including "Law and Order: Criminal Intent," to the title role in "Crazy Horse" (TNT), and Tecumseh in "Tecumseh's Vision" (PBS) to mini-series such as "Klondike" (Discovery), "Saints and Strangers" (National Geographic), and "Dreamkeeper" (ABC). As a director, he has created numerous theatre works including "Bearing," a searing dance opera that premiered at the 2017 Luminato Festival in Toronto, "A Soldier's Tale" (National Arts Centre), "from thine eyes" (Harbourfront Centre), and wrote "Nôhkom" (directed by Yvette Nolan). He was nominated for a Dora award for his direction (with Cole Alvis) for "Two Odysseys: Pimooteewin / Gállábártnit," a full-length evening of Indigenous opera featuring 2 librettos in Cree and Sami.
He is represented by long-time manager Alan Mills (Mills Kaplan Entertainment) and talent agents MaryJane MacCallum (ARC) and Harry Gold (Talent Works).- Actor
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David Midthunder is an enrolled tribal member at the Fort Peck Indian reservation in Montana. Midthunder graduated from Stewart Indian School in Nevada and went on to pursue a degree in Cultural Anthropology at the University of Utah. He is best known for playing the leading role of "Famous Shoes" in Larry McMurtry's Comanche Moon, and for playing "David Ridges", Longmire's nemesis on seasons 2 and 3 of Longmire. Outside of acting, Midthunder is known for his love of solo sports such as surfing, skateboarding, dirt biking, and horse riding.- Actress
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DezBaa' is an actor and filmmaker. A citizen of the Navajo (Diné) Nation, she was born in and is based out of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Born for the Tó'aheedlíinii (Water Flows Together clan), DezBaa' was raised in the culturally rich area of Española, in Northern New Mexico. She is of Basque, Spanish, and Mexican descent.
She secured her first feature film role in the summer of 2016 for Scott Cooper's period Western, "Hostiles" as a heavily featured character. Her first speaking role came a few months later with Susanna White's "Woman Walks Ahead."
DezBaa' has played Erica in the 2018 theater production of "The Sweetest Swing in Baseball" by Rebecca Gilman and performed alongside Wes Studi, DeLanna Studi, Kholan Studi, Robert Mesa, and Kenneth Ruthardt in a staged reading of Mary Kathryn Nagle's stage play, Sovereignty, at Santa Fe's historic Lensic theatre in 2019.
Playfully, DezBaa' insists her first and most fond memory of acting was accurately portraying a cycad in a Montessori production of Dinosaur Valley in Kindergarten.
She is a former Division of Natural Resources Navajo Nation employee, and holds a Bachelor's degree in geology from Amherst College. She studied filmmaking at Northern New Mexico College and holds two MFAs from the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, NM-one for Screenwriting and one for Creative Nonfiction.
Her favorite dinosaur is the ankylosaurus - "the living tank of the late Cretaceous."
Also known as Sharon Anne Henderson, as an artist she goes by DezBaa'. This, according to the translation of the late Dr. Fred Begay, family friend and the first Navajo physicist, who gave her this name as a child, (aptly) means, "She's Going on a Raid."- Actor
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- Music Department
Robert Mirabal has been described as a Native American "Renaissance man". It is a fitting description for this musician, composer, painter, master craftsman, poet, actor, screenwriter, author, horseman, and farmer. But in Mirabal's case, the whole is much greater than the sum of its parts.
An accomplished, renowned Native Ameri- can flute player and maker from Taos Pueblo in New Mexico, Robert's flutes have been displayed at the Smithsonian Institute's Museum of the American Indian. An award-winning musician, Mirabal performs worldwide, sharing flute songs, tribal rock, dance, and storytelling. Mirabal has twice been named the Native American Music Award's Artist of the Year, and has received the Songwriter of the Year award three times. He is also a two-time Grammy Award winner. His breakthrough PBS musical production, "Music From a Painted Cave", remains a benchmark of Native American traditional/rock fusion and storytelling.
Robert Mirabal came of age in a traditional family that was broken apart by government relocation policies. "I grew up with my grandparents and mom, an all woman family mostly. That was the classic thing in the '70s, a lot of relocation, children being taken from their homes by government and economics, marriages breaking up. I didn't have much connection with my father."
Growing up, Mirabal spoke the Tiwa language at home and to this day participates in the traditional ways and rituals of his people.
Mirabal remained in Taos to help care for his aging grandparents and went to the Indian school at the pueblo, where he picked up on an array of instruments: "I learned clarinet, sax, piano, drums, anything I could get my hands on." he recalls. "But it wasn't until I started playing flute at 18 that music took me over."
But Robert Mirabal is also a citizen of the world. He has performed around the planet with his band Rare Tribal Mob and a solo artist. He has collaborated with a diverse array of artists across a myriad of disciplines.
Mirabal has composed music for Japanese avant-garde modern dancers Eiko and Koma, garnering New York's Dance and Performance Bessie Award for the score. He has had an ongoing relation with progressive string quartet ETHEL including collaborative tours, performances at BAM's Next Wave Festival and most recently the CD "The River", a cross-cultural and cross-genre tour de force that "All About Jazz" called "tantalizing dialog... a fine creative music borne out of diverse cultural influences, artistic experimentation and mutual respect". Along with fellow Grammy-winning artist and Mohican nation singer-songwriter Bill Miller, he created the innovative work "Native Suite: Chants, Dances and the Remembered Earth". The project was both experimental and traditional, featuring flute and percussion as well as pow-wow singing. His groundbreaking band Mirabal featured rock bassist Mark Andes (Spirit, Heart), traditional percussion master Reynaldo Lujan, guitarist Andy York (John Mellencamp, John Fogerty) and acclaimed drummer Kenny Arnoff. Most recently, he has collaborated with Festival Ballet Albuquerque and their artistic director Patricia Dickinson along with legendary New York City Ballet dancer Jock Soto and, at Carnegie Hall, with German born multimedia environmental artist Sibylle Szaggars Redford in her ongoing work "Way Of The Rain".
Robert's television credits include "Yellowstone" with Kevin Costner, "Walker, Texas Ranger" and feature films "Woman Walks Ahead" with Jessica Chastain, "Georgia O'Keeffe" with Joan Allen and Jeremy Irons. Robert will next be seen starring opposite Whip Hubley in the film "Road To Everywhere" (2024).
Robert's music and compositions can be heard in a number of television and motion picture productions, most recently the films Prey where he added soundscapes, vocal chant, flutes and percussionist and George RR Martin's short film adaption of the sci-fi classic "Night of The Cooters". He scored the soundtrack for the 4-part Hulu series tentatively titled "Ring of Fire: The Life of Annie Mae Aquash" (2024).- Actor
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Kalani Queypo is an actor, musician, director, writer and producer. He was born and raised in Hawaii and is best known for his acting roles in The New World, Jamestown and Trickster. He has received the RIIFF's Directorial Discovery Award for his short film "Ancestor Eyes", and is a founding member of SAG-AFTRA's National Native American Committee and serves on the Advisory Council for Native Voices Theater at the Autry. His latest writing projects in development include a stage play, Stored and Safe, and his television series, When You Miss Aloha.- Actress
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At fourteen years old, Q'orianka Kilcher emerged into the front ranks of young actresses with her portrayal of Pocahontas opposite Colin Farrell and Christian Bale in Terrence Malick's 'The New World', an epic about the encounter between English and North American societies in the early 1600s. Her performance won her the National Board of Reviews best breakthrough performance of 2006 and the 2006 Alma Award for best Latin American actress in a feature film, as well as numerous nominations and rave reviews.
Kilcher was born in Schweigmatt, Baden-Württemberg, Germany to a Peruvian indigenous father of Quechua-Huachipaeri background and an Alaskan-born mother of Swiss-German origin. She was raised in Kapa'a, Hawaii. Having started her performing arts career at six years old, she is not only an award-winning actress with critical acclaim, but an amazing singer, lyricist, and expert dancer. Kilcher is also a committed human rights and environmental activist, as well as a fearless, powerful, young force who uses her voice as tool to bring the need for universal dignity, compassion, environmental justice, and basic Human Rights to the attention of the international community.
Traveling frequently to speak at youth events, colleges, and universities, Kilcher has been invited as a featured keynote speaker and workshop facilitator at many international conferences and events for organizations such as Amnesty International, the I.F.G. (International Forum on Globalization), and Amazon Watch I.F.I.P. (International Funders for Indigenous Peoples). She was a panelist on the "Indigenous Peoples: Human Rights, Dignity and Development with Identity in collaboration with the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples" United Nations panel. She also lends her energy as spokeswoman, collaborator, and supporter to several international and national NGOs.
In her free time, Kilcher is an accomplished singer/song-writer, and recently launched her own youth driven human rights and environmental organization on Q Initiative, heading campaigns to connect young Hollywood with youth-activist leaders and projects from around the world.
Through her production company, IQ-Films, Kilcher is also producing several cause-driven documentaries and youth-programming projects.- Alexandria Rice is biologically a Mohawk Aboriginal Canadian through her parents. She continues to be an active and proud member of the Kahnawake First Nation throughout her career. Though Rice was born in Quebec, she spend the majority of her childhood in Brooklyn, New York among a community of Mohawk iron workers, where she trained to become a professional dancer. Little did she know that her life would change forever when she landed a part in an educational video produced at her grammar school. She discovered her true passion-acting. Since then, Rice has successfully worked in the world of entertainment where she is best known for the role of Janet Pete. In addition to mainstream television credits for guest-starring-roles, Alex has also starred in several critically acclaimed independent features. Special honors and awards include the Motion Pictures Award presented by the American Indian Film Institute for Best Actress (2003) for her reprisal of Janet Pete in Coyote Waits and the First American Award (2005) for her work in A Thief In Time, presented by the First Americans in the Arts Committee.
- August Schellenberg was born on 25 July 1936 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He was an actor, known for Black Robe (1991), The New World (2005) and DreamKeeper (2003). He was married to Joan Karasevich. He died on 15 August 2013 in Dallas, Texas, USA.
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- Sound Department
Myrton Running Wolf received his Ph.D. in Theater and Performance Studies from Stanford University, his M.F.A. in film production from the University of Southern California, and his M.A. in Performance Studies from NYU-Tisch School of the Arts. Professionally, he worked behind-the-scenes in Production Management for Walt Disney Studio's ABC Television Group on prime time series "LOST", "Grey's Anatomy", "Private Practice", "Brothers and Sisters", and "Criminal Minds" as well as a Creative Producer for The CW and NBC network television affiliates. He is also a multi-award winning writer, director, and producer with film and theater productions playing across the nation. As a performer, Myrton held numerous lead roles in stage productions in New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay Area as well as supporting roles in feature films like Academy Award winners "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" and "The New World" as well as Steven Spielberg's "Into the West" along with several other network television roles.
As a "Race and Media" practice-based scholar, his current work at The University of Nevada, Reno's Reynolds School of Journalism focuses on increasing the inclusion and participation of racial minorities and other marginalized groups in mainstream media production. Using his award-winning teaching style, Myrton taught courses at Stanford University, lectured at Vassar College and Santa Clara University, and led workshops at numerous tribal and junior colleges where his work specializes in cultural diversity, cross-cultural and interdisciplinary collaboration (using Stanford's signature "Design Thinking" methodology), the economics and politics of corporate mainstream media, identity politics, and mainstream film/television/theater production.- Actor
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Born and raised in San Antonio, Texas, Borrego studied theatre and dance at The University of Incarnate Word; he studied acting at The California Institute of the Arts. In the 1980s he attended an open audition for the TV Series "Fame" where he won the role of "Jesse Velasquez", a role he would have for three years. Borrego, however, would return to the stage appearing in productions at the noted Joseph Papp Theatre in New York City and The Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. In addition to standout performances on stage and in films such as "Blood In, Blood Out" and "Follow Me Home", he began Lupita Productions in 1990. Lupita has produced theatrical productions and concerts; additionally, Lupita has produced two 16mm short films: "El Suendo de Simon" (1993) by James Borrego and "Flattime" (1995) by Jimmy Santiago Baca. At home in front of the camera, on stage, or in the producer's seat, Borrego continues to be one of the most versatile and resilient talents of our time.- Actor
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Actor, Director, Producer, Fight/Stunt Coordinator - Award winning Director of his first feature film Bury My Heart With Tonawanda. Born in 1969, is a descendant of the Seneca Nation, and lives with his family in Western New York. Started acting in 2004, and has been in such films as Terrence Malick's The New World (New Line Cinema), America's First Nations (Discovery Channel), The Cherry Hill Massacre and The War that Made America (PBS).- Actress
- Composer
Nive Nielsen launched her career as the frontwoman of the Greenlandic group Nive and The Deer Children. While touring across the world, her namesake band was bestowed numerous awards including the Danish Crown Prince Couple's Stardust Award, Independent Music Award, and even a nomination for the Nordic Music Prize. Nive isn't just another indie rock sensation, though; she has also followed her passion to a career in film and TV.
Her adventurous soul led Nive to pursue education far from her beloved Greenland, spending a year abroad in Spain before attending Red Cross Nordic United World College in Norway to participate in its international baccalaureate program. Nive eventually obtained her Bachelor of Arts in Politics from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, and then went on to attain her Master of Arts in Visual Anthropology from Goldsmiths College in the UK.
While studying in Ottawa, Nive's friend and future bandmate Jan de Vroede encouraged her to assuage her boredom by playing the ukulele and writing some songs. Despite never having written or sung before, Nive took it as challenge and came back to Jan after a few weeks to play the song "Room," which later became one of the first songs produced by Nive and The Deer Children. Fronted by Nive, the group debuted with its self-released album Nive Sings! in 2009. The album was a huge success and would go on to achieve gold status in Greenland - where one in 10 people there own it.
The band then toured extensively around the world, beginning with two incredible performances for dignitaries in the Selvstyre, Greenland's self-government, followed by another for the Queen of Denmark. They would then go on to become the first Greenlandic band to participate at the South By Southwest festival, Iceland Airwaves, Eurosonic, and Green Man. Due to the overwhelming success of Nive Sings!, the band landed a deal with Glitterhouse Records for a European release in 2012. Nive and The Deer Children soon returned with its second album, Feet First, originally released in 2016 and followed by extensive tours throughout Europe, North America, Japan, and South Korea. After completing her studies abroad, Nive returned home to work for Greenland National TV and radio as a researcher, segment producer, and, eventually, host. This experience led to roles on several locally produced shows and documentaries, as well as a small part in 2004's The New World starring Colin Farrell. Her music has since been included in several films, most notably Nuummioq, which was featured at Sundance International Film Festival.
Nive's adventurous nature stemmed from her earliest childhood experiences growing up in Greenland. She spent most of her youth in her tiny, snowy hometown of Nuuk. Solace was to be found in old music and worn-out books, being drawn into diaries about arctic exploration, contemporary art, and fishing. She would lose herself in the pages of Reif Larson, Calvin & Hobbs, Jim Harrison, and novels about infinite universes, time, space, and everything in between. Her passion for music was self-nurtured, built off a foundation of whatever records were in her reach. Having consumed music as diverse as her reading, Nive devoured albums by Michael Hurley, Jonathan Richman, Giant Sand, Bill Callahan, and Betty Lavette.
Nive will soon return to the studio with the band to begin work on the follow-up album to Feet First.- Actress
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Raoul Max Trujillo, aka Raoul Maximiano Trujillo de Chauvelon, was born in Northern New Mexico. He is a mixed blood descendant of Tlaxcalan (Nahuatl), Ute, Apache, Comanche, Pueblo., French, Sephardic Jew and Andalusian Moor. After high school, he spent three years serving in the military in Germany. After his discharge, he worked as an alpine ski instructor in Taos, New Mexico. Ski Flash Magazine out of France wrote about him and his unique style of teaching skiing. He left the world of professional skiing after traveling extensively through Mexico, Central and South America on his way to teach in San Carlos de Bariloche in Argentina. It was a wake up call to exploring native America and beginning his journey in creating art based on his cultural roots.. He started work in the theatre as a scenic painter and landed his first job in 1977 as an actor/dancer in a production of Equus, in Santa Fe, N.M. It was his first paid professional work as well as his debut in the theatre with no training at all albeit high school drama. He now had the bug to study formally. He began dancing in Los Angeles in 1978 at USC and saw his first modern dance and ballet productions; Pilobolus, Martha Graham and Rudolph Nureyev. He was hooked.
The next two years, he trained extensively with the Toronto Dance Theatre and Nikolais/Louis Dance Lab in New York City on scholarships. He was asked to join Nikolais Dance Theatre under the direction of the master Alwin Nikolais, who became his mentor and he began touring the world performing in the grandest of opera houses and old Roman theaters in northern Africa to bamboo fields in China. He also learned scenic, costume and lighting design during this time from 1980 to 1987. After leaving the company, he began his solo work as dancer and choreographer and commenced his journey into shamanic ceremonials and incorporating native myths and legends in his work. After the first decade of performing as a dancer, he became the choreographer and co-director for the American Indian dance Theatre, the first professional native dance company incorporating traditional dance with contemporary retelling of myths and legends. He choreographed, "The Shaman's Journey", for the Asia Society in New York City and later was adapted into a short film for PBS on Alive From Off Center. He went on to join creative partners Alejandro Roncerria and Rene Highway in Toronto. This work resulted in creating successful theatre pieces for Native Earth Theatre Company. He directed, "The Son Of Ayash" and "The Jaguar Project". For Buffalo State College and the Repertory Dance Theatre of Utah, he directed,"The Maid of the Mist and the Thunder Beings", and for the Ordway Music Theatre, "Tribe".
His work with Alejandro continued and he helped establish the Aboriginal Dance Project at the Banff Center for the Arts to further train Indigenous dancers from all over the world. For New Line Cinema, he choreographed the dances, ceremonies and rituals for Terrence Malick's film, "The New World". Raoul began work as an actor in film and television in 1988 and continues to work up to the present. See resume for those projects. Finally, he created his present company Tzacol productions, Inc. in 1992. It is the umbrella company for Tzacol Tantric Theatre and Tzacol Tribal Theatre made up of dancer, actor and aerial artists, producing original work in the realm of tartaric and tribal spectacle. "Forbidden Goddesses", is the first realized work. Work on "Journey", a multi-media piece for Roots and Rhythms Festival in Santa Fe resulted in the full evening work, "Homo Erectus". These last works are multi-media and inter-disciplinary theatre and film projects. "The Dreamer" is his first completed screenplay. In 2002, he received the CANCOM Ross Charles award in Canada to attend the Banff Center's screenwriters workshop for aboriginal storytellers. The last branch of the company, Tzacol Tantric Arts produces painting and sculptural art. His work now spans more than three decades as an artist in varied disciplines and media. He has gone from dancer to choreographer, actor to director and screenwriter during this time.- Actress
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Nôses Kisik-Papimohtew (Mother Walks-in-the-Sky), also known as Roseanne Supernault, is a classically trained Actress who was raised on East Prairie Métis Settlement, and also hails from the Whitefish Lake Atikameg First Nation in the Treaty 8 territory of Canada. Born in the Treaty 8 territory to a Politician Father and Artist Mother, her eclectic upbringing included classical training in art, theatre, and dance; practicing and sustaining her cultural hunting & land rights as a Cree Metis; and being exposed to the politics and social justice movements of Indigenous Peoples in Canada. Her life took a sharp turn into arts when she was discovered by a Los Angeles Casting Director at 13 and thereafter signed to a Talent Agency - she has worked steadily as a performer and has seen her profile rise steadily since.
Recognizable from the APTN hit series, "Blackstone," where her haunting performance has garnered her several accolades; the historical, pre contact epic, "Maina," where she plays the title character, for which she received the Best Actress Award at American Indian Film Festival; and the groundbreaking Feature, "Rhymes For Young Ghouls," by Jeff Barnaby, that premiered at Toronto International Film Festival and was named TIFF Top 10.
She can be seen in several book-to-film adaptations, such as "Neither Wolf Nor Dog," where she plays twins across Dave Bald Eagle, Christopher Sweeney, and Tatanka Means; and "Juliana and the Medicine Fish," across from Adam Beach, and Emma Tremblay. She appears in Sky1's "Jamestown" among a star studded English & Native American cast, produced by the makers of "Downton Abbey." She attended Cannes International Film Festival with sci-fi, "The Northlander," - for which she was also nominated for the Best Actress Award at the American Indian Film Festival.
Recently, she plays the lead role of Jo in CTV Comedy's #1 hit series "Acting Good," which also streams on Crave; she plays across stand up comedian Paul Rabliauskas. She also appeared in the Canadian hit film "Guitar Lessons," which had an immensely successful theatrical run. And she is in production with her feature film directorial debut, "Dusk & Dawn," a dark comedy ensemble piece which she also wrote and produced.
She has been nominated for and received multiple acting awards, namely Best Actress for her performances in "Maina," "Blackstone," "Every Emotion Costs," and Best Supporting Actress for "Rhymes For Young Ghouls." She was recently nominated for an A.M.P.I.A Best Actress/non-Binary award for her performance in Berkley Brady's directorial debut "Dark Nature," where she plays a soldier with PTSD who suffers against a dark entity while on a healing retreat in the Rocky Mountains.
Her stage performance in "Dreary and Izzy," where she played a First Nations woman with FASD, has garnered her rave reviews from various critics. She continues on her storytelling journey as a producer and filmmaker, through her film production companies Flying Up Moon, and Magnate.
Supernault is trained in Theatre, Film, and Television. She graduated from 4 years at Victoria School of the Arts an institution focused on not only the history of the arts, but the execution and constant immersion in the field; this is where she discovered her passion.- Lawrence Bayne is an actor of Scottish and Cree descent known for his roles in film, music videos, television series and as a voiceover actor for animation and video games. As an announcer and narrator, he has presented awards, commentated sporting events and documentaries for CBC Radio, the National Hockey League, National Geographic and others. Bayne is also a singer, poet and musician, and his band is named "Simple Damned Device".
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A Canadian actor of Cree and Stoney descent, Gordon Tootosis made his film debut in the western film Alien Thunder (1974) with Donald Sutherland and Chief Dan George. Tootoosis provided memorable performances in television and movies, including the role of 'One Stab' in Legends of the Fall (1994), the role of 'Growling Bear' in the Steven Spielberg produced miniseries Into the West (2005) and the role of 'Chief Red Cloud' in the HBO film Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (2007). His television credits include guest appearances on Friday the 13th: The Series (1987), MacGyver (1985), Northern Exposure (1990), The X-Files (1993), The Magnificent Seven (1998) and Smallville (2001). Tootoosis provided the voice of 'Kekata' in Disney's animated feature Pocahontas (1995) and Sheriff Gordy in Open Season (2006).- Director
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Adam Beach was born in Ashern, Manitoba, the son of Sally and Dennis Beach, and was raised on the Dog Creek First Nations Reserve, with his two brothers. A troubled childhood saw his mother killed by a drunk driver, and his alcoholic father drowned only weeks afterward. The three brothers went to live with their grandmother and then with their uncle and aunt in Winnipeg, where Adam joined drama classes and began acting in local theatre productions.
Since then he has appeared in over 60 films and television programs. His performance in the Academy Award-nominated Clint Eastwood-directed Flags of Our Fathers (2006) was phenomenal. He played Ira Hayes, a Pima Native American who was one of the six US Marines to raise the American flag on Iwo Jima and who found the resulting fame hard to handle, subsequently giving way to alcoholism. This alone would have been an emotional role for Adam to play; however, during filming, both his grandmother and best friend passed away. His role as Hayes is both realistic and heartbreaking, earning him two Best Supporting Actor Award Nominations. He stands out well above the rest of the cast.
Adam has been further nominated for three Awards for his role in Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (2007) including a Golden Globe. He has put in terrific performances in the comedy film Joe Dirt (2001) and the John Woo World War II war epic Windtalkers (2002) in which he co-starred with Nicolas Cage.
He headlined the cast in the Walt Disney production Squanto: A Warrior's Tale (1994), featured in John Singleton's Four Brothers (2005) and starred with Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig in the science fiction-western smash hit Cowboys & Aliens (2011). He had a starring recurring role in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999) and Big Love (2006).
In 2016, he played Christopher Weiss / Slipknot in the supervillain film Suicide Squad (2016).
Adam hopes to be appointed leader of his Lake Manitoba First Nation.- Actor
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Tatanka Means was born on 19 February 1985 in Rapid City, South Dakota, USA. He is an actor, known for Killers of the Flower Moon (2023), Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015) and The Host (2013).- Actor
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Anthony Parker is an enrolled member of the Omaha tribe of Nebraska. He attended high school in Macy Nebraska and upon graduating he attended trade school in Albuquerque New Mexico in 1986. After graduating he traveled around the the country using his newly attained offset printing knowledge earning a living as a printer. He discovered acting in a 2001 talent show in Denver Colorado, where he and his wife were living at the time. Anthony made the semi finals and traveled to New York where he auditioned on stage for NBC, HBO, and ABC Executives. He didn't win the finals but he knew he wanted to be an actor. Anthony has appeared in over 20 different TV shows and movies since then. He resides in Albuquerque New Mexico with his wife and daughter. He continues to strive to work in front of the camera as he auditions for both TV and films. He has been a SAG member since 2006. Anthony will continue to work at his dream to be a working actor and bring characters to life on both the small and big screen.- Eddie Spears was born on 29 November 1982 in Chamberlain, South Dakota, USA. He is an actor, known for DreamKeeper (2003), Hell on Wheels (2011) and Bone Tomahawk (2015).
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Alan Tafoya is known for MacGruber (2010), The Apprehension of the Apache Kid and Browncoat Rebels and Unspeakable (2002).- Actress
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Geraldine Keams was born in Arizona, USA. She is an actress, known for Reservation Dogs (2021), Rutherford Falls (2021) and Dark Winds (2022).- Actor
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Brave Rock is best known for his hard hitting roles in AMC's Dark Winds as Frank Nakai and The Stranger in The Dirty Black Bag role. Previously appearing in a standout role in Wonder Woman as "The Chief" in Wonder Woman (2017) starring Gal Gadot in the title role. He was born and raised at the foothills of Rocky Mountains of southern Alberta, Canada on the Kainai (Blood) Reserve. A talented actor and stunt person, Stunt Skills acquired as a performer in "Buffalo Bills Wild West Show" at Euro-Disney in Paris France led to other opportunities in film and television including setting up boot camp for Native American Stunt performers featured in the Oscar award winning film "The Revenant".- Actor
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Jonathan Brewer was born in Cardston, Alberta, Canada. He grew up on his home land of the Blackfeet people on the Kainai nation in Southern Alberta, Canada on a farm/ ranch with his family. After he graduated in 1995, he took an interest in acting as a means of work which became a great interest.
Jonathan is best known for his portrayal of Blunted in Mel Gibson's Apocalypto. Brewer has also worked on films Hyde Park on Hudson (2012), Western Confidential (2011) and TV Movies Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008), Bury My Heart at Wound Knee (2007), and Dreamkeeper (2003).- Actor
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Tokala Black Elk was born in 1984 in Pine Ridge, South Dakota, USA. He is an actor, known for 1883 (2021), Yellowstone (2018) and Grey's Anatomy (2005).- Actress
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Michelle Thrush is a Canadian actress and First Nations activist for Aboriginal Canadians and the other Indigenous peoples of the Americas.
Thrush, who is Cree, was born and raised in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, by parents she admits were chronic alcoholics. She recalls being called "Squaw" at Bowness High School and bullied because of her parents' illness. In grade nine she changed schools and attended Calgary's Plains Indian Cultural Survival School. There she felt accepted for the first time. She learned about herself, her language, culture, singing and drumming. She remembers: "They filled in a lot of the voids that my soul was just begging for." Her childhood hardships affected her profoundly. Though she acted in her first film at 17 with a role of Sally Littlefeathers in Isaac Littlefeathers (1984), it did not occur to her it could be a career. She planned to become a social worker and help children. She met Gordon Tootoosis, a First Nations actor, who told her: "If [acting] is what your heart wants, you need to follow it and be true." At this point her parents were sober. With no other ties to Calgary, at age 20 she moved to Vancouver and found an agent.
Thrush has said it's been only the last 20 years that Indigenous people have been able to tell their truth through their own stories, though she credits such luminaries as Tantoo Cardinal and Graham Greene for kicking down the doors for Indigenous people in the industry.
Thrush has had a prolific career since its beginning in the 1980s. She began her acting career in film while attending high school. She got her first theatre job when she moved to Vancouver at age 20. She had a small part in the play The Ecstasy of Rita Joe. She portrayed numerous recurring and guest roles in the television series Madison (1993), Northern Exposure (1990), North of 60 (1992), Highlander (1992), Forever Knight (1992), Nothing Too Good for a Cowboy (1998), Moccasin Flats (2003) and Mixed Blessings (2007).
She has starred in many notable films throughout her career, particularly in films that deal with issues about Indigenous peoples of the Americas, ranging from Canadian Aboriginals to Native Americans/American Indians (U.S.). These include Isaac Littlefeathers (1984), Unnatural & Accidental (2006), Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (2007), Skins (2002), Dead Man (1995), DreamKeeper (2003) and Jimmy P: Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian (2013).
Thrush has also won numerous awards and special recognition, including multiple Awards for her role of Gail Stoney on the dramatic series Blackstone, such as Best Performance by an Alberta Actress 2015 Rosie Awards for the role in Deeper & Deeper (2014), Best performance by an Alberta Actress at the 2014 AMPIA Awards for the role in Never Gonna Stop (2013), and Best Performance by an Actress in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role in 2011 CSA (Gemini) Awards for the role in Suffer the Children (2011) and Best Guest Performance by a Female in a Dramatic Series at the 2011 Leo Awards in Vancouver for the role in Arctic Air (2012).
In 2011, Thrush wrote the one-woman play Find Your Own Inner Elder. She has performed the show, most often under the title Inner Elder, across Canada. It premiered at One Yellow Rabbit's High Performance Rodeo in Calgary in 2018 and has since been performed with Nightwood Theatre and Native Earth Performing Arts in Toronto (2019). Inner Elder is a structured monologue which recounts Thrush's personal life and experiences.
Despite the credits and the awards, her desire to help children has never faded. In fact, she says acting has opened the door to helping in a way that social work could not. For the past 10 years, Thrush has traveled to aboriginal communities and shelters across Canada to perform as Majica, a therapeutic healing clown. Majica performs for young kids and teenagers, and also has a show for parents. "Beyond film, my passion in life is working with our families and helping to defragment the damage that was done through residential schools to our families," she says. "You cannot disconnect the child from the parent without huge damage being done. When it happens generation after generation, it destroys the family system."- Nakotah LaRance was born on 23 August 1989 in Barrow, Alaska, USA (now Utqiagvik, Alaska, USA). He was an actor, known for Into the West (2005), Expiration Date (2006) and Longmire (2012). He died on 12 July 2020 in near Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo, New Mexico, USA.
- Eric Schweig was born on 19 June 1967 in Inuvik, Northwest Territories, Canada. He is an actor, known for The Last of the Mohicans (1992), Big Eden (2000) and Skins (2002). He was previously married to Leah ?.
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Sean Wei Mah is a full-blood Cree Native American/First Nations Actor/Artist from Canada. Sean is an accomplished Native American artist and entrepreneur with a successful art business. Sean currently resides in the USA living his dream as an artist and sharing his culture and spirituality. Sean began his journey into an acting career during his youth; inspired by early Native American pioneers in the acting industry.- Actor
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Russell Means was born an Oglala/Lakota Sioux Indian. He was the first national director of the American Indian Movement (AIM) in which role he became prominent during the 1973 standoff with the U.S. government at Wounded Knee. In 1987, he joined the U.S. Libertarian Party and announced his candidacy for the party's presidential nomination. (He lost the nomination to Congressman Ron Paul). Since 1992, Means has appeared in The Last of the Mohicans (1992), Natural Born Killers (1994) and other movies. He has championed the rights of indigenous peoples in other countries as well as the U.S. In a televised speech to the 2000 Libertarian Party National Convention, Means said that he prefers the label "Indian" to the more politically-correct "Native American". "Everyone who is born in America is a native American", he said.- Actor
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Wayne Baker, member of the Squamish Nation, raven clan. Grew up on the north shore, in West Vancouver BC , and now resides in Akwesasne Quebec, along the Canada and US. border. Besides being an actor on both the big screen and tv. Wayne also hosted his own show "Closer to Home" which ran on APTN for 3 Seasons., Wayne is life time Lacrosse player, with many championships under his belt including 4 Presidents cup Rings. Married to Marlana Thompson Baker, Mohawk Nation and father to 7 children.- Actor
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When millions of people see actor Duane Howard play 'Elk Dog', the lead native warrior in 20th Century Fox's mammoth film The Revenant, chances are that they will marvel at how such a riveting actor came out of nowhere. But Duane did not come out of nowhere; he came from the streets.
Duane Howard is a First Nation born in the Nuu-chah-nulth (meaning "along the mountains and sea") territory located on the west coast of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. The Howard family left the territory when Duane was only 3 to live in the nearby town Port Alberni. By the time he moved to Vancouver with his older sister at the age of 14 following his parents' separation, Duane had already been using drugs and alcohol for four years.
Duane lived on the streets from the age of 14 to 18 years old and had many close calls. Many times during this unimaginable period Duane considered not going on.
After 13 years at the age of 23 Duane realized that he did not want his son to follow in his footsteps and so he simply got up and walked away from his dark life. Duane not only accomplished the enormous feat of becoming clean and sober, he went on to get his grade twelve education and in 1988 he received his diploma in Substance Abuse Counseling. Duane used his experience and his new education to work the rougher parts of Vancouver and towns across Canada making a difference in the lives of troubled youth and their families.
In the early 1990s Duane realized that he wanted to make another change in his life when he discovered a passion for acting. Duane began as a background performer and then worked his way up to acquiring a stunt credit on the feature film The Scarlett Letter. Duane's credits grew from stunts to stunt acting to acting roles on shows such as the TV movies Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee and Goodnight for Justice: Queen of Hearts along with the popular TV series Arctic Air and more. Duane recently completed a starring role in a film titled The Sun at Midnight wherein, ironically, he fights to survive a bear attack.
That Duane ended up with the lead native role on The Revenant is nearly as miraculous as his survival on the streets. The actor had decided to take a break from the business a year before the audition call for the part of 'Elk Dog' came out, and it was upon hearing of the role from his former agent, that Duane returned to acting after initially accepting a stunt position on the film. Upon hearing of the film's frustration over finding the right actor for the integral role, the stunt coordinator who had hired Duane suggested that they take a look at him, as he knew what a strong actor Duane was. Unbeknownst to him, Duane's agent was working with Canadian casting director Michelle Allen to get him seen. Duane received a call the next day which was a Sunday, went in to read on the Monday and on Wednesday flew to Calgary and auditioned in private for the three time Oscar winner, Alejandro González Iñárritu. The director immediately took Duane down to the production facility and had him repeat his audition in front of the entire crew. After months of searching all of North America they'd found their Elk Dog and Duane had landed the biggest role of his life in the span of 4 days.
Duane is very matter-of-fact that it took all of this, the childhood addictions, his near deaths on the street, his recovery, education and training, all of it to perform the role of 'Elk Dog' in The Revenant.
Today Duane is at peace and very grateful for all that he has including his three children.
Duane wishes to include a special mention of his immense gratitude for the Canadian Casting Director on The Revenant, Michelle Allen and his lifelong agent and friend Linda Carter for their unparalleled support of him.- Actor
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Chevez Ezaneh was born on 12 August 1992 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. He is an actor, known for Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (2007), Into the West (2005) and American Experience (1987). He is married to Destiny Ezaneh. They have one child.- Actor
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Roger Willie was born in 1964 in New Mexico, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for Windtalkers (2002), Adaptation. (2002) and Lost Stallions: The Journey Home (2008).- Vincent Whipple is known for Windtalkers (2002) and Unseen Evil (2001).
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Irene Bedard (born July 22, 1967) is an Alaska Native actress enrolled in the Native Village of Koyuk who has played many American Indian characters in a variety of television shows and films. She is best known for her voice role as the title character in the Disney animated film "Pocahontas," and the cult-classic "Smoke Signals" as Suzy Song. She is known for bringing a powerful emotional presence to her characters.
Bedard was born in Anchorage, Alaska, raised primarily in Alaska, but also spent a few years as a child in Washington state. Her father was Bruce Bedard, and mother was Carol Bedard, and she is their oldest of four - Leslie Bedard, Joseph Bedard, and David Bedard are her younger siblings. She is Inupiaq and Yup'ik on her mother's side, and Cree on her father's side. She graduated from Anchorage's Dimond High School in 1985, and then earned a Musical Theatre degree from The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Bedard's son Quinn Wilson was born in 2003.
Her first role was as Mary Crow Dog in the television production, "Lakota Woman: Siege at Wounded Knee," which depicted the 1970s standoff between police and Native Americans, many of the Pine Ridge Reservation, at Wounded Knee, South Dakota. She received a Golden Globe nomination for the role. Besides the first Disney Pocahontas movie, she also voiced direct-to-video sequel "Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World." Bedard was the physical model for the character. She appeared in a different take of the Pocahontas story in Terence Malick's 2005 film "The New World," as Pocahontas's mother, Nonoma Winanuske Matatiske. In 2005, she was cast in the television mini-series Into the West, portraying the half-Lakota, half-white adult Margaret "Light Shines" Wheeler. In 2011 Bedard portrayed the Messenger in the Academy Award-nominated film, "Tree of Life." In 2018, Bedard reprised her voiced role of Pocahontas for Disney's "Ralph Breaks the Internet."
Her television roles span from 1995, including Stephen Spielberg's "Into the West," "The Spectacular Spider-Man," "Longmire," "Westworld," and "FBI: Most Wanted." She has performed in two Stephen King series, 2017's "The Mist" as Kimi Lucero, and 2020's "The Stand" as Ray Rentner. In the 2017 she portrayed the future Co-President of the United States for the Jay-Z music video "Family Feud," directed by Ava Duverney.
Bedard's decades of creative work includes singing, theatre, spoken word, producing television and movies, speaking, and teaching. She fosters a passion of many creative disciplines, and is a great lover, and adopter, of animals. Bedard was chosen in 1995 as one of People magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People." She's served on the American Indian Enterprise and Business Council to the United Nations, and is involved in frequent activist work around the environmental and Indigenous issues.- Actor
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Gil Birmingham is an American actor of Comanche ancestry, best known for his portrayal of Billy Black in the The Twilight Saga film series. Birmingham was born in San Antonio, Texas. His family moved frequently during his childhood, due to his father's career in the military. He learned to play the guitar at an early age and considers music his "first love". After obtaining a Bachelor of Science from the University of Southern California, he worked as a petrochemical engineer before becoming an actor. In the early 1980s, a talent scout spotted Birmingham at a local gym, where he had been bodybuilding and entering bodybuilding contests. This led to his first acting experience, in a music video for Diana Ross, for her 1982 hit song "Muscles". After appearing in Ross' music video, Birmingham began to pursue acting as his primary career. He studied acting with Larry Moss and Charles Conrad. In 1986, Birmingham made his television debut on an episode of the series Riptide. By 2002, he had a recurring role as the character Oz in the medical drama Body & Soul, starring Peter Strauss. In 2005, he was cast as the older Dogstar in the Steven Spielberg six-part miniseries Into the West. He recently played a Texas ranger a ranger, in Hell or High Water, opposite Jeff Bridges.- Actress
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Tonantzin Carmelo is a multifaceted American actress playing lead and supporting roles in movies, television series, documentaries, video games, and theater. Her break-out performance in Steven Spielberg's, Into the West, earned her several awards and nominations, including a Screen Actors Guild nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Female in a Television Movie or Miniseries. Recently, she filmed prime roles in Spain and Australia for the television series The English (BBC) and La Brea (NBC). Throughout her career Tonantzin has received praise for her performances. She played the leading role of Shayla Stonefeather in the critically acclaimed, independent thriller, Imprint. She won the American Indian Film Festival award for Best Actress and was nominated for the Best Actress award at the Hoboken International Film Festival for this role. She was named "An Indie Darling to Crave" at the Sundance film festival 2015 for her role as Teresa, opposite John C. Riley in the film Entertainment. Tonantzin has also appeared in several video games, including Dead Space, The Crew, Lego Marvel's Avengers, and Cyberpunk 2077. Her memorable motion-capture and voice performance portrayal of the villainous character Kendra Daniels for Dead Space led Maxim Magazine to add Kendra to their Hottest Video Game Babes of the Year list. Today, the character continues to attract legions of loyal fans. Additionally, Tonantzin is a talented choreographer. Her work was featured in the Amazon TV series, Undone, and in the opera, Sweetland, for which she was described as a "crucial choreographer" by the LA Times. She has a penchant for languages and enjoys learning new dialects. As a teenager, Tonantzin taught herself to speak Spanish. She also is a member of the Tongva Language Committee for revitalization. To prepare for some of her roles, she has worked with language specialists and has learned dialects for Wampanoag, Lakota, Nahuatl, Diné, Cheyenne, and Shoshone. Tonantzin's diverse talents can be traced back to her multicultural roots. She is a Southern California girl from suburban Orange County of Indigenous and Latina descent. In her youth, she forged a performing path through Native dances and music touring with cultural groups throughout North America. While touring, she also became a technically trained dancer and performed with the modern dance company Daystar. She discovered her love for acting while studying at UC Irvine, where she earned a bachelor's degree in Environmental Studies and a minor in Dance. While in college, she began acting in theater productions and independent films. She has also performed as a singer with the band Trio del Alma and has recorded on three albums for Canyon Records. Her first professional acting venture was an educational musical theater show produced by the Bilingual Foundation of the Arts. The production toured the Los Angeles area and allowed her to make the leap from dancer/musician to a professional actress. She has had an ongoing relationship with Native Voices at the Autry Museum in Los Angeles where she has performed on stage and has served on the advisory board. She resides in Los Angeles with her husband and is a California native plant, wildlife and outdoor enthusiast. In her free time, she enjoys restoring her yard as a native wildlife habitat, observing birds and occasionally rescuing opossums as she continues to perform as a musical entertainer, cultural educator and stage actress.- Actor
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George Leach was born in Lillooet, British Columbia, Canada. He is known for Into the West (2005), DreamKeeper (2003) and Distant Drumming: A North of 60 Mystery (2005).- Actor
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Simon R Baker virtually grew up in front of the camera with his first starring role at the age of 9 in the feature "Once in a Blue Moon"; he followed that with 3 seasons of the hit TV series, "North of Sixty". Some career highlights include a leading role in the Stephen Spielberg produced mini series, "Into the West", the lead in the Disney Channel feature "Buffalo Dreams", working 4 months opposite Tommy Lee Jones and Cate Blanchett in Ron Howard's "The Missing", the lead in the Independent Film "Buckaroo" and his compelling role of Randy in the award winning festival hit "On the Corner" which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Other projects include the MOW's "Journey to the Center of the Earth", "Dreamkeeper", the two North of Sixty MOW's "Dream Storm" and "Distant Drumming" plus the mini series "Big Bear".
His work in feature films includes Chris Eyre's "Smoke Signals" which earned Simon a First Americans in the Arts nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He also appeared in the Academy award nominated "The Sweet Hereafter" with Director Atom Egoyan
Other features include, "Now and Forever", "Shanghai Noon", "I Robot", "Spooky House", "Tribe of Joseph" and "Back to Turtle Island". His series work includes "Strange Empire", "The Crow", "Nothing to Good for a Cowboy", "Two" and "Hawkeye".
Simon graduated from the prestigious Canadian Film Centre's new Actors Conservatory. Only 8 were chosen to participate from across the country and instructors included Norman Jewison, Keifer Sutherland, Sarah Polley, Colm Feore, Martha Henry, Clement Virgo, Patricia Rozema, Lynne Stopkewich, Donald Petrie, to name just a few.
Simon was the host of CTV's "First Story"; a show that featured Arts, Culture and happenings in the Native community across Canada. Simon lives in Vancouver, his father is of the Squamish and Haida nations and his Mother is Cree. Simon is an avid Lacrosse player. He is also accomplished in martial arts and has a background in Pow Wow and Haida dancing.
Simon is touring the world as the Host of the show "Native Planet", a series that travels to Indigenous cultures around the world and highlights their land, culture and the universal story of all indigenous people on the planet. Currently wrapping his third three season of the show.- Actor
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Dave Bald Eagle was born on 8 April 1919 in Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Reservation, South Dakota, USA. He was an actor, known for Imprint (2007), Neither Wolf Nor Dog (2016) and River of Fundament (2014). He was married to Josee Kesteman and Penny Rathburn. He died on 22 July 2016 in Cheyenne River Indian Reservation, South Dakota, USA.- Brandon A. Oakes is an US/ Canadian actor. Kanienkehaka (Mohawk) from Akwesasne which straddles the U.S. / Canadian border. He started his career as a dancer. He has performed and toured extensively throughout North America with several Indigenous and Non indigenous dance Companies. Oakes is most noted for his role in the film Through Black Spruce, for which he received a Canadian Screen Award (CSA) nomination for Best Actor in a drama. Also nominated for a CSA for Best supporting actor in a dramatic series for Diggstown in 2020.
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Gerald Auger is a First Nations actor, producer, writer, entrepreneur and motivational speaker from Wabasca, Alberta. He is of Woodland Cree descent. He graduated from Grande Prairie Regional College in 1995 with a Marketing Management diploma and a Small Business Management certificate. In 1996 and 1997 Auger was awarded the National Native Role Model by the Governor General of Canada and spent the next two years visiting more than thirteen communities across Canada, inspiring his aboriginal peers, relating stories about his experiences and bonding with locals through cultural events and ceremonies.- Actor
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Jon Proudstar was born on 3 January 1967 in Tucson, Arizona, USA. Jon is an actor and producer, known for So Close to Perfect (2009), Young Guns II (1990) and Wastelander (2018).- Avu is an Inupiaq Eskimo from Fairbanks, Alaska, USA. She and her youngest son, moved to New Mexico, USA so she could attend the Institute of American Indian Arts college in Santa Fe. This was where she began her studies in theatre and performing arts. She transferred to the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque to continue studies in theatre and graduated in 2011.
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Mo Brings Plenty is an enrolled Lakota who hails from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. His traditional name -- given to him as a young boy -- is Ta Sunke Wospapi ("catches his horse"); it befits a man who spends more time on his horses than anywhere else. As a Makes Room on his mother's side and a Brings Plenty on his father's, he is the stock of his grandfathers who fought at the Battle at Little Big Horn. Those familiar with the battle will know the strengths of those names and understand why Mo sees the world through the lens of the forces and sacrifices his family and ancestors made so that he could be here today. His relatives long passed are an intrinsic part of everything he does: every decision he makes and everywhere he goes.
As an actor, Mo is best known in his self-titled role as "Mo Brings Plenty," Chief Thomas Rainwater's enforcer on the Taylor Sheridan/ViacomCBS record-breaking juggernaut series Yellowstone. Moviegoers can now catch him playing "Shep Wauneka" in the newly released Jurassic World Dominion (2022) and as "Ottawa Jones" in Showtime's Peabody award-winning limited series The Good Lord Bird (2021). He has played "Crazy Horse," "Sitting Bull," and many other historical Indian notables who have solidified their place in this Country's history. And he has spent a fair amount of time in the biopic world twice portraying Charlie Soap -- the husband of the first woman elected Chief of the Cherokee Nation, the late Wilma Mankiller-- in The Cherokee Word for Water and Gloria Steinem's The Glorias, respectively.
Mo Brings Plenty is an actor, horse stunt rider, rancher, and American Indian storyline consultant. But above all, he is a man who wholeheartedly believes in human kindness, and he trusts the good in humanity still exists and feels it just needs to be dusted off a bit. Out of respect and honor for those who have come before us, Mo knows we have a profound obligation to leave a livable planet for those who will follow after we are gone, and he starts and ends every day, with thoughts of how he and we can make the world a better place while we are here.
When Mo isn't working as an actor, he can be found ranching or seeking ways to give back to his Lakota communities and Indian Country -- ways that include preserving culture, tradition and seeking cultural truth in diversity.- Apesanahkwat is an enrolled member of the Menominee Tribe of Wisconsin. He has been elected tribal chairman of his tribe 8 times, which is unprecedented.
Apesanahkwat served in the US marine corps, and is a Vietnam combat veteran as well. Apesanahkwat is widely considered by his peers to be one of the foremost knowledgeable originators of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA), which defined the Natiwell Nations' involvement in national gaming as known today.
Apesanahkwat exemplifies the attributes of a traditionalist, as well as a progressive activist who exists for the true empowerment of his people and their well-being. An experienced orator on the political and social nuances of the native experience in America, he is also a motivational speaker promoting language, culture and native spirituality, as well as education, anti-gangs, anti-smoking, drugs and alcohol rehabilitation.
An accomplished actor, Apesanahkwat has appeared in films and starred in numerous television shows. Apesanahkwat is also a champion northern traditional dancer, who competes in powwows throughout the U.S. and Canada and he is a 2nd degree Ogitchidaa (warrior) of the Three Fires Midawin (medicine lodge) society. - Actor
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George Aguilar was born in 1952 in The Dalles, Oregon, USA. He is an actor, known for Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987), Phoenix (1998) and Into the West (2005). He has been married to Josiane Balasko since 12 June 2003.- Actress
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Jessica has spent her whole life dedicated to helping move Indigenous communities forward. Over a span of 20 years, she has worked extensively with Indigenous people primarily all over Canada to help break cycles of inter-generational trauma with her company 7 Forward Entertainment. Her purpose within the film and TV industry is directly fueled by her philanthropic work dedicated mainly to helping Indigenous youth struggling with identity, racism, lateral violence, bullying, and displacement due to trauma, abuse, adoption, and also advocating for justice for missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. Jessica stars opposite Zahn McClarnon and Kiowa Gordon in Robert Redford, George R.R. Martin (Game of Thrones) and Graham Roland's produced "Dark Winds" television series with the AMC Network this 2022.- William Grew up on a reservation in the central British Columbia, Alkali Lake, BC later his Mother Marilyn and Father Dave, whom are both Residential School Surviviors, would move to Edmonton until William was in his preteens. Having moved back William started acting in local plays for his community and high-school. Williams first taste for acting for film came when he auditioned for a speaking role on a mini-series called "Dreamkeeper". Much later having achieved a partial scholarship, William would Honourably graduate his acting program at the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Art. Upon Graduating William returned home to Vancouver, BC where he would book his first role in Twilight saga: Eclipse. -Williams proudest moment was working with Anthony Hopkins in 'Blackway'. "I remember it was one scene. In Vernon, BC a small town in my home province. Tony looked me dead in the eye and smiled 'good work.'" Since than he has learned he can swim with sharks with the likes of Ron Livingston, another idol in, Lorne Cardinal of Corner Gas, and even more recent, Sandra Bullock on an Untitled Project. -William has given back to his community teaching first nations youth in his community acting for Film and Telivision. "The teacher at Sxoxomic school is my cousin, I was briefly visiting home in Alkali Lake and she invited me to her class room to meet her students, I was not ready for that at all, but we adapted a short script from a Shuswap book, a week later we had a short film in the can... Well on an iPad. Wasn't much but they seemed to have a blast learning about writing, making acting choices, getting over fear, blocking, rehearsing, principle photography and editing. So we did a second film, I got a childhood friend of mine to help write it called "Making of a Warrior." Having adapted to a Covid era He's now developing a third project with the youth through Zoom. "We started with 4 actors and now we have 14 or so." William smiles. "2021 I'm celebrating my 15th year sober from Alcohol"
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Temuera Derek Morrison is a New Zealand actor.
After training in drama under the New Zealand Special Performing Arts Training Scheme. One of his earliest starring roles was in the 1988 film Never Say Die, opposite Lisa Eilbacher. In 1994, he received attention for his role as the violent and abusive Maori husband Jake "The Muss" Heke in Once Were Warriors, a film adaptation of Alan Duff's novel of the same name. The film became the most successful local title released in New Zealand, and sold to many countries overseas. The role won him international acclaim and he received the award for best male performance in a dramatic role at the 1994 New Zealand Film and Television Awards. He reprised the role in the sequel, What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?, for which he received the Best Actor award from the New Zealand Film Awards. Despite the acclaim he received for his performance, Morrison said in 2010 that he felt typecast by the role, to the point that it was "a millstone round my neck".
In 1996, Morrison played opposite Marlon Brando in The Island Of Dr. Moreau. He has appeared in supporting roles in Speed 2: Cruise Control (1997) and The Beautiful Country (2004). In 1988 he got to show some comic flair in the James Bond parody Never Say Die. In 2005, Morrison became the host of the talk show The Tem Show on New Zealand television.
In the 1996 Queen's Birthday Honours, Morrison was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to drama.
He started writing an autobiography in 2009, which he hoped would inspire others to "reach for the stars".
He released his debut album, Tem, through Sony Music Entertainment NZ in late November 2014. The album consists of covers of songs that his father, and uncle Sir Howard Morrison, used to perform at local venues when he was growing up.
Morrison has gained attention for his role as the bounty hunter Jango Fett in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002). Part of the film's plot involves an army of clones created with Jango's DNA; Morrison also provided the voice acting for the clones.[7] He reappeared as a number of clones in Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, and re-recorded the lines of the character Boba Fett (Jango's "son") and another clone in the 2004 DVD re-releases of the original Star Wars trilogy, replacing the voice of Jason Wingreen.
Most recently, he became known for voicing Chief Tui, the father of the title character in Disney's Moana (2016). Morrison is currently playing Aquaman's father in the Warner Bros. Feature Aquaman 1 & 2.- Actor
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2019 Nathaniel featured in the CBS Television show FBI: Americas Most Wanted as Clinton Skye. Nathaniel is a highly respected actor. He got his start, starring in a few smaller roles for local independent filmmakers, Nathaniel's big break came when he auditioned for the role of William MacNeil in the hit CBC TV series North of 60. This role landed him guest appearances in other such popular television shows as Due South, Incredible Story Studio, Caitlin's Way, Shoebox Zoo and Smallville. Nathaniel found himself co-starring with the likes of Luke Perry and Malcolm Jamal-Warner (Jeremiah), as well as with veteran actor Nicholas Campbell (DaVinci's City Hall, DaVinci's Inquest). He even had the chance to work with his son Griffin Powell-Arcand in Hallmark Entertainment's 2-part TV mini-series, Dreamkeeper. One of his most memorable roles was the role of Tonto in the television movie The Lone Ranger.
Aside from his first major film role as Ned White Bear in the 1999 film Grey Owl, his other notable film credits include Two Indians Talking, Every Emotion Costs, Unnatural and Accidental, Elektra, Black Cloud, Ginger Snaps Back, American Outlaws and 20th Century Fox's Paththfnder.
Nathaniel won the award for Best Supporting Actor in Shirley Cheechoo's film Johnny Tootall, which screened at the 2005 American Indian Film Festival in San Francisco, and he was also the recipient of the Performing Arts Award at the 2006 Aboriginal Role Models of Alberta Awards. In addition to CBC's mini-series Northern Town, Nathaniel also starred in the APTN Pilot Clean Fight as the lead role of Trevor, a kick boxer struggling with diabetes. Other TV appearances include the Nora Roberts' movie of the week Montana Sky (Lifetime Network), and Showcase's Moose TV (as Clifford). Nathaniel also returns as Scott Cardinal in Heartland (CBC), as Bruce Ward in Arctic Air (2013) (CBC), and as Victor Merasty in APTN's award-winning series Blackstone (2011), Makya "Mack" Begally in Bull (2017) and Derek Swan in Supernatural (2017).- Actor
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Natar Ungalaaq is an actor, filmmaker, and well-known Inuit sculptor whose artwork is in many major collections of Inuit art worldwide. Before playing the lead role in Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner (2001), Natar played major roles in other Canadian and American films, including Kabloonak (1994), Glory & Honor (1998), and Frostfire (1995).- Actor
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Kiowa Gordon was born on March 25, 1990 in Berlin, Germany as Kiowa Joseph Gordon. Moved to the States shortly after to live on the Hualapai Indian Reservation in Peach Springs, AZ and moved around quite a bit growing up until settling down in Phoenix, AZ where he landed the role of Embry Call in The Twilight Saga. He recently won best supporting actor at the 2013 American Indian Film Festival in San Francisco for his role in the indie film, The Lesser Blessed. Ki was also a series regular on a Sundance original series called The Red Road, starring Jason Momoa, Julianne Nicholson and Martin Henderson. Starting in 2021, became a series regular on AMC's hit drama, Dark Winds, an adaptation of Tony Hillerman's Leaphorn and Chee novels. Kiowa's mother, Camille, is from the Hualapai Nation and his father, Tom, is Scottish, Jewish and Choctaw. He has 7 siblings; Cheyenne, Josh, Lakota, MacGregor, Aaron, Sean and Sariah.- Actress
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Tamara Podemski is a multi-disciplinary artist born and raised in Toronto to an Ojibway mother from Treaty 4 Territory in Saskatchewan and an Ashkenazi father from Israel. She is a graduate of the Claude Watson School for the Performing Arts where she studied theatre, dance and music throughout its 10-year program.
Though she is best known as a screen actress, Tamara's stage career has spanned over 25 years as an actress, singer, dancer and choreographer, most notably starring on Broadway in the musical RENT. She also has independent recording career, having wrote and released 3 albums [2 in Anishinaabemowin and 1 in English under her own record label, Mukwa Music].
Tamara made her biggest mark in Sterlin Harjo's film "Four Sheets to the Wind" when she won the Special Jury Prize for Acting at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, followed by an IFC Spirit Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress in 2008. After returning to the stage, she earned a Jessie Theatre Award nomination for her role in Marie Clements' play "The Edward Curtis Project" and, under the direction of Jani Lauzon, Tamara starred in Colleen Wagner's Governor General's Award-Winning Play "The Monument," which was hailed as one of the "10 Best Theatre Productions of 2018" by the Globe & Mail. Recently, she joined the all-Indigenous cast of Keith Barker's "This is How We Got Here" which won a 2020 Dora Award for Outstanding New Play. Behind the camera, Tamara is the writer and story producer of the documentary TV series Future History (directed and produced by her sister, Jennifer Podemski) and was nominated for Best Writing in a Factual Series at the 2020 Canadian Screen Awards. Tamara recently won an 2021 ACTRA Award for "Outstanding Female Performance" and a 2021 Canadian Screen Award for "Best Supporting Actress - Drama" for her role as Alison Trent in CBC's "Coroner."
As a community worker, she has travelled the globe sharing her cultural and creative experiences through workshops, keynotes and panel discussions. Having grandparents who are both Holocaust survivors and Residential School survivors, she speaks openly about issues of intergenerational trauma, reconciliation, inherited legacies and the importance of creating safe spaces for dialogue, education and collaboration.- Actor
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The middle of five children, Bratt hails from a close-knit family. His mother, an indigenous Quechua Peruvian from Lima, moved to the U.S. at age 14. He grew up in San Francisco. He is known for his roles in the films Traffic (2000), Miss Congeniality (2000), and Despicable Me 2 (2013). He is married to actress Talisa Soto.- Actor
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Making his big screen debut, Forrest Goodluck appears opposite Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Domnhall Gleeson and Will Poulter in FOX's epic drama, "The Revenant." Directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, the movie centers on legendary hunter, Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio), who is left for dead by his compatriots following a bear mauling. Goodluck plays Hawk, the son of DiCaprio's Hugh Glass.
While "The Revenant" marks his burst onto the scene, Goodluck has several years of acting work under his belt, participating in community theater and short films since the age of ten. Prolific behind the camera, Goodluck is an award-winning youth filmmaker whose work has premiered at the Seattle International Film Festival, Taos Shortz Film Festival, LA Skins Festival, and had made him the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian and SWAIA Santa Fe Indian Market Class X Youth Winner. Goodluck's film work also led to him being chosen as one of Sundance Institute's 2015 Full Circle Fellows.
A member of the Diné, Mandan, Hidatsa and Tsimshian tribes, Goodluck is the son of Laurie and Kevin, a Practice Manager and Internal Medicine Physician, respectively. He is a student at the prestigious Bosque School and studies drama with acclaimed acting teachers Angela Gibbs and Judith Weston in Los Angeles. Born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Goodluck is currently finishing his high school studies, while pursuing his acting career.- Sacheen Littlefeather was born on 14 November 1946 in Salinas, California, USA. She was an actress, known for The Trial of Billy Jack (1974), Johnny Firecloud (1975) and Winterhawk (1975). She was married to Charles Koshiway Johnston. She died on 2 October 2022 in Novato, California, USA.