Lily Gladstone was nominated for Best Actress at the 96th Academy Awards for her role in Killers of the Flower Moon. Gladstone was the first Native American actress to be nominated for an Academy Award. As we know, Emma Stone won the Oscar for Best Actress for Poor Things.
Gladstone did win a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama and the Screen Actors Guild award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role in a Motion Picture. Just not an Oscar.
Given the considerable number of Indigenous films and actors in Canada, we were highly curious about Indigenous representation in Canadian film awards. We compiled a list from the Canadian Screen Awards and, before 2012, the Genie Awards.
We list the winners and then those who received nominations. We need to start with a current nominee for Best Supporting Performance in a Drama Film: Alexis Vincent-Wolfe for Slash/Back. The titles listed below are the older gender-specific nominations:
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
2020 Michael Greyeyes Blood Quantum
2008 Natar Ungalaaq The Necessities of Life | Ce qu'il faut pour vivre
nominated
2021 Phillip Lewitski Wildhood
2018 Brandon Oakes Through Black Spruce
2018 Paul Nutarariaq The Grizzlies
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
2021 Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers Night Raiders
nominated
2019 Violet Nelson The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open
2019 Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open
2013 Cara Gee Empire of Dirt
2013 Kawennáhere Devery Jacobs Rhymes for Young Ghouls
1987 Tantoo Cardinal Loyalties
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
2021 Joshua Odjick Wildhood
nominated
2019 Douglas Grégoire Kuessipan
2017 Sladen Peltier Indian Horse
2017 Natar Ungalaaq Iqaluit
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
2021 Cherish Violet Blood Scarborough
nominated
2021 Gail Maurice Night Raiders
2019 Yamie Grégoire Kuessipan
2018 Anna Lambe The Grizzlies
2013 Jennifer Podemski Empire of Dirt
2003 Annabella Piugattuk The Snow Walker
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The one mostly common factor in these films is a strong Indigenous process. Cherish Violet Blood in Scarborough is an exception. Canada has had way more films with Indigenous stories than those in the United States and very few of the latter are considered for the Academy Awards.
We also listed actors with significant Indigenous blood as opposed to a theoretical 1% rule.
Another consideration is that we aren't factoring in TV work, such as Reservation Dogs (that stars Canadians such as Devery Jacobs and D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai. The Podemski sisters — Jennifer, Tamara, and Sarah — have had more accolades on the TV side than in films from any country. In fact, Tamara Podemski won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her portrayal as Alison Trent on Coroner for her work in 2020. Coroner aired in both countries on CBC and the CW. All 3 Podemski sisters have been on Reservation Dogs, though Sarah has the most prominent role of the sisters.
Little Bird received the most Canadian TV nominations for the 2024 Canadian Screen Awards with 19. The drama based on the Sixties Scoop has nominations for best lead performer (Darla Contois and Ellyn Jade) and best supporting performer (Braeden Clarke). The program aired on APTN and Crave in Canada and PBS in the United States.
Independent Spirit Awards nominations have some Canadian flair
Jennifer Podemski interview (Toronto Life)
If you break down the Oscars in terms of North American Indigenous people, consider that both nominations for Best Supporting Actor belong to Canadians: Chief Dan George Little Big Man (1970) and Graham Greene Dances With Wolves (1990).
Michael Greyeyes got film and television nominations at the 2021 Independent Spirit Awards: (film) Best Male Lead for Wild Indian and (television) Best Male Performance in a New Scripted Series for Rutherford Falls. Greyeyes didn't win either award.
This isn't saying Canadians are better on this topic. Canadians have made a lot more Indigenous themed content in Canadian film and Canadian television. While Canadians might think Indigenous people are relatively invisible in their country, they truly are invisible in U.S. society.
Beans from Tracey Deer won Best Motion Picture at the 2021 Canadian Screen Awards. The late Jeff Barnaby, creator of Blood Quantum and Rhymes for Young Ghouls will posthumously receive the Board of Directors' Tribute Award at the 2024 Canadian Screen Awards.
None of these film awards factor in the incredible documentary work such as Angry Inuk, Birth of a Family, Kímmapiiyipitssini: The Meaning of Empathy, and numerous documentaries from Alanis Obomsawin.
2024 Canadian Screen Awards nominations: Television
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My relatively limited knowledge of Indigenous issues is based in great part by Canadian films and Canadian television tackling Indigenous issues and stories. You can find them in our Indigenous, Canadian film, and Canadian television sections. They make a difference in what we know and how much we don't know.
photo credits: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open; Beans
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