Cheri Maracle is an Aboriginal Canadian actress and musician of Mohawk- Irish descent.

Early life

Maracle graduated in 1989 from Prince Rupert Secondary School. At seventeen, she moved to

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. Th ...

to study theatre at

Capilano University Capilano University (CapU) is a teaching-focused public university based in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, located on the slopes of the North Shore Mountains, with programming that also serves the Sea-to-Sky Corridor and the Sunsh ...

and the Spirit Song Native Indian Theatre School. She is a member of the

Six Nations of the Grand River Six Nations (or Six Nations of the Grand River, french: Réserve des Six Nations, see, Ye:i’ Níónöëdzage:h) is demographically the largest First Nations reserve in Canada. As of the end of 2017, it has a total of 27,276 members, 12,848 of ...

First Nation.

Career

Maracle is best known for her roles in the television series '' Blackfly'' and '' Moccasin Flats'', the 2007 film '' Tkaronto'' and stage productions of

Tomson Highway Tomson Highway (born 6 December 1951) is an Indigenous Canadian playwright, novelist, and children's author. He is best known for his plays '' The Rez Sisters'' and ''Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing'', both of which won the Dora Mavor Mo ...

's ''

Ernestine Shuswap Gets Her Trout Ernestine is a feminine given name. Ernest is the male counterpart of this name. Notable people with the name include: * Ernestine Anderson (1928–2016), American jazz and blues singer * Ernestine Bayer (1909–2006), American athlete * Ernesti ...

''. She has a recurring role on '' Degrassi: Next Class'' as Ms. Cardinal, the mother of Grace Cardinal. She appeared in

Marie Clements Marie Clements (born January 10, 1962) See p. 147. is a Canadian Métis playwright, performer, director, producer and screenwriter. Marie was founding artistic director of urban ink productions, and is currently co-artistic director of red diva pr ...

' 2017 musical documentary on Indigenous history, ''

The Road Forward ''The Road Forward'' is a 2017 musical documentary film written and directed by Marie Clements about key moments in the history of Indigenous rights in Canada, from the 1930s to today. The film was produced by the National Film Board of Canada. ...

''. In 2019, she played Verna in the

National Arts Centre The National Arts Centre (NAC) (french: Centre national des Arts) is a performing arts organisation in Ottawa, Ontario, along the Rideau Canal. It is based in the eponymous National Arts Centre building. History The NAC was one of a number of p ...

's production of Clements' '' The Unnatural and Accidental Women''. She has been nominated twice for the K.M. Hunter Theatre award for her theatrical work. She was also nominated for the

Canadian Screen Awards The Canadian Screen Awards (french: link=no, Les prix Écrans canadiens) are awards given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry recognizing excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media (web series) ...

in 2014 for her performance as Sarah Bull on the TV series Blackstone. From 2006 to 2008 she was an artistic associate of the

Dora Mavor Moore Award The Dora Mavor Moore Award (also known as the Dora Award) is an award presented annually by the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts which honours theatre, dance and opera productions in Toronto. Named after Dora Mavor Moore, who helped est ...

-winning Aboriginal women's theatre company, Turtle Gals. As a musician, she has performed as a backing vocalist for Jerry Alfred and the Medicine Beat,

Tamara Podemski Tamara Podemski (born October 16, 1977) is a Canadian film and television actress and writer.Rick Garrick"Indigenous multidisciplinary artist to host 13th Annual Outside Looking In Gala in Toronto this Spring" ''Anishinabek News'', March 9, 2020. ...

and

Sandy Scofield Sandy may refer to: People and fictional characters * Sandy (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Sandy (surname), a list of people * Sandy (singer), Brazilian singer and actress Sandy Leah Lima (born 1983) *(Sandy) ...

, and as both a lead and supporting vocalist for Tiyoweh and The Showbiz Indians. She performs with her quartet at various jazz and blues festivals across Canada. She also frequently performs original compositions and contemporary and classic jazz standards with her piano partner, Brendan Peltier. She has also performed in a one-woman musical, ''Paddle Song'', about the life of Mohawk poet Pauline Johnson.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maracle, Cheri Canadian television actresses Canadian film actresses Canadian stage actresses Canadian women rock singers First Nations actresses First Nations musicians Canadian Mohawk people Living people Actresses from Ontario 21st-century Canadian actresses 21st-century First Nations people 1970 births Capilano University alumni 21st-century Canadian women singers