Kahnawake aims high at acting awards

It was a big night for Kahnawake’s actresses at this year’s ACTRA (Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television, and Radio Artists) Montreal awards, with Kaniehtiio Horn taking home one of the biggest trophies of the night.

Horn won the award for Outstanding Performance in Film for her performance as Ziggy in her directorial debut Seeds, which she also wrote. Horn was nominated alongside fellow Kahnawa’kehró:non Alex Rice, who had also been nominated for her role as Marianne in Tasha Hubbard’s film Meadowlarks.

For Horn, being nominated alongside Rice was part of what made the night so special.

“I wanted to dedicate my award to Alex Rice, who also happens to be my cousin, because she deserves it. She was the lead of the first job I was ever cast in over 20 years ago that actually got me all the credits to join the union,” Horn said.

As well as Rice and Horn, Kahnawake’s Heather White was also honoured as ACTRA Montreal’s Woman of the Year, and Wahiaké:ron George Gilbert gave the opening land acknowledgement.

Horn said that to see such representation from Kahnawake at the awards showed how much talent is alive in the community.

“Being in that room and knowing that I wasn’t the only person from Kahnawake felt right. It was not always like that,” Horn said.

“It just feels like things are finally starting to go in the right direction and we are being applauded and recognized for our contribution to storytelling in the region and beyond.”

Rice, whose role in Meadowlarks followed the story of a group of siblings reconnecting after being separated during the Sixties Scoop, said that being nominated marked an important step in her career.

“It’s taken me 30 years to get to that award ceremony. When I started out in the ‘90s, there weren’t a lot of roles for Native people at all, let alone Native women,” she said. “The time has come now. We have our own people in positions as creatives, writers, directors, producers. That didn’t exist 30 years ago.”

She said she felt proud of the community to see Horn win the award, and that she was moved to tears by Horn’s acceptance speech, in which she honoured Rice.

“I was so proud to hear that my early efforts in this career had that impact,” Rice said.

“There was a time where we weren’t even on the map in the industry, and now here we are.”

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