'I reached for the stars, your voice told me I could': A poetic tribute to Tantoo Cardinal

In a career that has spanned over 50 years, Cardinal has used her gifts for good

Tantoo Cardinal will receive the Lifetime Artistic Achievement Award at this year's Governor General's Performing Arts Awards. Watch the televised special celebrating the laureates on CBC Television and CBC Gem on November 26 at 7pm ET.

When I was a child, I wanted to make a difference in the world. When I saw someone I thought was in need of comfort or friendship, I wanted to do everything I could to fix what it was that was upsetting them. I believe that is what Tantoo Cardinal has done with her career of more than 50 years in the television and film industry.

Most notable for some people might be her role as Arlene in Smoke Signals, but for me there's one role she played that will have an impression on me for the rest of my life.

In the mid-90s, I used to watch a show on television called North of 60. It was a great source of inspiration for me, and among the people I looked up to the most, Tantoo's character Betty Moses was one I wanted to be like. She wanted to help people who were struggling with substance addiction make their lives better and gain back their sense of self-reliance. She encouraged them and tried to make sure they had a safe place to go when things got too difficult for them to handle on their own and that they had life-skills programs. Although the character appeared in only seven episodes, these were some of the most powerful for me — because even though it was just a television show, back in those young days, I still saw it as real life. If I saw people were hurting and others were trying to fix it, I would do the same too, and I was going to show them what I did someday.

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