Tantoo Cardinal hated l.a. ‘It’s not fit for human consumption.’ Banff, on the other hand, will be a treat.

The 1995 recipient of the Sir Peter Ustinov Endowment at the Banff Television Festival, Cardinal will be returning home to Alberta as one of North America’s foremost Native actresses. Cardinal’s recent work includes such high-profile film and television projects as Legends of the Fall, Dances With Wolves, Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, North of 60, and the television movie Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge.

23-year career

Raised in Anzac, Alta., Cardinal’s 23-year career has taken her from Canada to l.a. and has landed her in Vermont. Her premiere appearance, in the 1971 cbc docudrama Father Lacombe, came about through her involvement in Native youth organizations.

‘I started acting to see some justice, justice in how we (Natives) were portrayed and, from there, how we were treated in society.’

Very soon she began to draw parallels between performing and political activism. ‘Both are arenas of storytelling, but in politics you’re forcing your message. When I act, people have a choice; they can open themselves to the message or turn it off.’

That message, she says, is very different depending on whether you’re above or below the border. ‘My work in the u.s. has been basically historical. Americans still see Natives in the context of westerns or living in the bush. Canadians, more often, tend to see Natives as a part of today. Maybe that’s because Native issues are so topical here.’

But the American perspective may be changing. Cardinal has just completed a film for the American Film Institute which features an adopted Native med student searching for her original roots. Cardinal plays an aunt who helps the young woman discover where she came from. ‘It’s a student film. Perhaps younger people are less laden with stereotypes,’ she says.

Return to roots

As Cardinal looks to the future, she hopes to return to her roots in writing. ‘When I was in l.a. I felt, as talent, I was being brought in near the end of the whole process. I’d like to get in on the ground floor again by writing.’ She also hopes to get work beyond the confines of ‘Native’ roles and be ‘cast as a regular human being.’

Cardinal will be honored as the recipient of the Sir Peter Ustinov Endowment at the Rockie Awards ceremony on Monday, June 19.