Tantoo Cardinal
Actress wants to tell stories that make people feel good
By Bruce Weir
Windspeaker Contributor
For Tantoo Cardinal,
the National Aboriginal Achievement Awards are an acknowledgment
of her work and, more importantly, a celebration of the community
she is proud to be a part of.
Cardinal is being honored for her achievements in arts and culture, including acting in such films as Legends of the Fall and Dances with Wolves but she said the awards have a greater meaning than the merely personal.
"They are a great thing. It's important to have positive images and to recognize people for the work they've put in to the community." She is quick to add that the awards do more than salute people for their work.
"It creates a vibe that touches the community by 'grand standing' people who are doing something with their lives. It's important for people to feel good about themselves and I'm honored to be selected."
The whole idea of community is important to Cardinal, but her concept of it is a little out of the ordinary. Her ideas about community stem in part from a return visit to Anzac, Alta. in the 1980s. Cardinal grew up there but when she went back things had changed radically.
"The houses I grew up in were gone," she said. "The hill I lived on was gone. It was a parking lot down by the lake. What I'd known as a child and the place I went back to for replenishing was gone."
This experience made her realize that community goes beyond physical reality.
"I realized my community was still there. The people I grew up with would always be there. I couldn't cling to the physical because it was gone," she said, "but the community was still there on some level."
Her chosen profession has given her a chance to travel and her experiences have reinforced her sense of community. She said that certain aspects of places she travels to remind her of home and reinforce her belief that "my community really is very broad. It's everywhere."
Her acceptance is partly the result of her Métis background.
"I've had to come to terms with the fact that I'm also part European, as much as I hate the things they've done," she said. "The man I called dad, my step-father, was English and he was very kind to me." She adds that these experiences taught her about humanity and "helped me get past my first reactions - no matter the nation, we're all a part of the same experience."
This shared experience has often been a struggle, and Cardinal feels it creates bonds between people of different communities.
"There are a lot of non-First Nations people having the same struggles," she said. "Women in general have gone through oppression and people who have suffered through economic greed. We've all been touched by the predator in some sense."
Cardinal said that this knowledge informs the choices she makes in her work and where she wants to go with it.
"It is a choice I've made to make my work meaningful. I started in this business to tell the truth. I was sick of the lies being told about us and the weight of oppression on us as a people."
She is interested in telling stories that "make people feel good about themselves. I can't see the point in perpetuating the mean stuff." This desire may lead her into writing and researching new projects and she feels there are more opportunities now than when she started.
"When I started," she said, "there were very few [Native] people acting. There wasn't a choice. As far as I could see, you had to do what was available. There are people who make movies for good reasons and those who make them for no good reasons at all."
She adds that finding out who you can trust and who you can't is all part of the learning experience and that it is a continuous process.
"I never feel I've done enough," she said. "I want to be more involved in the whole process of getting our stories out. We have to strengthen ourselves and look after the young ones coming up."
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