If you are Canadian and particularly from southern Ontario then you have probably heard of the hit sitcom Letterkenny about a small fictional Ontario town that is full of strange people and their bizarre problems that show a funny side to Canadian life. Recently the Crave TV series started its 11th season and brought back all the hilarity that the series is known for and one of its biggest stars Kaniehtiio Horn.
Recently I had a chance to sit down with Horn who plays Tanis the Indigenous tough girl who is friends with characters like Wayne and Squirrely Dan. Horn is a Canadian actress with a pretty amazing resume from shows like Reservation Dogs Supernatural and Rutherford Falls. She has even voiced a character in one of the video game Assassins Creed franchise. She also has a Podcast on CBC, Telling Our Twisted Histories .I wanted to talk with Kaniehtiio about her experiences in Hollywood and her roles. There is so much to dig into whether you are in front or behind the camera and I really wanted to make the most of my time with her.
I wanted to know what she learned about that experience and what the media landscape is like for Indigenous people. “Indigenous people have new and interesting stories to tell they have been trying to tell forever but never really been given the chance Horn tells me. She said things are changing in a big way and its about time that we can tell fresh stories. Hollywood superstar and New Zealand native Taika Waititi really helped open up a lot of new things when he won an Oscar said Horn and she believes compared to the U.S., the Indigenous population here is more prominent and she finds that a lot more opportunities are available to get grants and programs. In turn there are unique visions unique stories and if you just let us tell them in an authentic way you will probably enjoy them she said.Horn says that Indigenous stories need to be told and we want different stories as it gets boring seeing the same thing repeated.I asked Kaniehtiio about what she thought about how American and Canadian media portray Indigenous people.
I do not think its perfect in either place first of all. I think there is still a way to go and I think there are people like myself who are pushing for authentic representation and not stereotypical representation said Horn adding that in the U.S. they have this cowboy and Indian mentality. They do not love to see Indigenous people succeeding in a real way .In the TV series Rutherford Falls Horn explains nobody is really a stereotypical fashion that many have come to expect. Rutherford Falls was an American sitcom that portrayed the strange power struggle in a small town with a controversial statue and it being moved. The show aired for two seasons on the U.S. network Peacock.
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