Eric Schweig (born Ray Dean Thrasher; 19 June 1967) is a Canadian Inuvialuk actor best known for his role as Chingachgook's son Uncas in ''

The Last of the Mohicans ''The Last of the Mohicans: A Narrative of 1757'' is an 1826 historical romance novel by James Fenimore Cooper. It is the second book of the '' Leatherstocking Tales'' pentalogy and the best known to contemporary audiences. '' The Pathfinder'', ...

'' (1992).

Early life

Schweig was born in

Inuvik Inuvik (''place of man'') is the only town in the Inuvik Region, and the List of municipalities in the Northwest Territories, third largest community in Canada's Northwest Territories. Located in what is sometimes called the Beaufort Delta Re ...

Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories is a federal Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada. At a land area of approximately and a 2021 census population of 41,070, it is the second-largest and the most populous of Provinces and territorie ...

. He is of mixed race (

Inuit Inuit (singular: Inuk) are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples traditionally inhabiting the Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America and Russia, including Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwe ...

, Portuguese, German, and

Senegalese Demographic features of the population of Senegal include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population. About 42% of Senegal's population i ...

). He is the oldest of seven children, who were all adopted out as part of the Canadian government's failed attempt at forcing

and

First Nations First nations are indigenous settlers or bands. First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to: Indigenous groups *List of Indigenous peoples *First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...

children to assimilate into white society. Schweig's biological mother died of alcoholism in 1989. He never met her. "She didn’t drink a drop of alcohol until we were taken away," says Schweig. "We were part of the whole assimilation program—forcibly taken away, although my adoptive parents told me I wasn't.", "Urban NDN" January 2009 Schweig was adopted at six months of age by an English-speaking German-French family.Inuvik Drum
/ref> He spent his

childhood A child () is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking ...

in Inuvik until he was six, when his family moved to

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

. They moved back to Canada after a year. He described his adoptive parents as having discouraged him from connecting with his Inuit heritage. Schweig said, "I eventually grew tired of living in a prison without walls and ran away when I was 16. What transpired between then and now has been a roller coaster of alcohol, drugs, violence, failed relationships, despair and confusion. Who am I? Where do I come from? Where is my family? Where do I belong? When life's mystery has been shattered by strangers watching over you, a lot of these questions are lost.""Adoption Speech"
19 February 1999, Vancouver Inner City Foster Care Conference, (Retrieved 11 October 2009) After running away, he experienced homelessness and supported himself by framing houses. In 1985, he was part of the cast of ''The Cradle Will Fall'', an experimental adaptation of

Frank Wedekind Benjamin Franklin Wedekind (July 24, 1864 – March 9, 1918) was a German playwright. His work, which often criticizes bourgeois attitudes (particularly towards sex), is considered to anticipate expressionism and was influential in the developme ...

's '' Spring Awakening'' produced by Theatre of Change at the Actor's Lab; this was his first experience as an actor. He was later approached by a producer who suggested he audition for a role in the movie called ''The Shaman's Source'' (1990). The film launched his career in the

film industry The film industry or motion picture industry comprises the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking, i.e., film production company, production companies, film studios, cinematography, animation, film production, screenwriting, pre- ...

Career

Schweig's numerous screen credits (over thirty) include his portrayal of Uncas in the epic motion picture ''

'' (1992) and Pike Dexter in the movie '' Big Eden'' (2000), for which he won the Outstanding Actor Award at the Outfest film festival. In 1992, he was cast as Black Thunder in the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is the Canadian Public broadcasting, public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a Crown corporation that serves as the national public broadcaster, with its E ...

mini-series '' By Way of the Stars''. Among his period film credits since ''The Last of the Mohicans'', Eric became the famous Mohawk leader

Joseph Brant Thayendanegea or Joseph Brant (March 1743 – November 24, 1807) was a Mohawk military and political leader, based in present-day New York and, later, Brantford, in what is today Ontario, who was closely associated with Great Britain du ...

/Thayendanegea for TNT's telefilm '' The Broken Chain'' (1993), playing for the first time the main character in a movie (Schweig appeared with

Wes Studi Wesley Studi (; born December 17, 1947) is a Native American (Cherokee Nation) actor and film producer. He has garnered critical acclaim and awards throughout his career, particularly for his portrayal of Native Americans in film. In 2019, he ...

again for this motion picture). It was shot primarily in

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

. He starred in

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

's ''The Scarlet Letter'' and ''

Tom and Huck ''Tom and Huck'' is a 1995 American adventure comedy-drama film based on Mark Twain's 1876 novel ''The Adventures of Tom Sawyer'', and starring Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Brad Renfro, Mike McShane, Eric Schweig, and Amy Wright. The film was d ...

'' with

Amy Wright Amy Wright is an American actress and former model. She has appeared in such films as '' The Deer Hunter'', '' Breaking Away'', '' The Accidental Tourist'', '' Hard Promises'', '' Crossing Delancey'', and '' Miss Firecracker''. She is the wido ...

in 1995. In 1996 he appeared as a

Comanche The Comanche (), or Nʉmʉnʉʉ (, 'the people'), are a Tribe (Native American), Native American tribe from the Great Plains, Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the List of federally recognized tri ...

protagonist, Buffalo Hump, in the Larry McMurtry miniseries '' Dead Man's Walk''. More recently, he played the lead role in films addressing more contemporary issues facing aboriginal and Native American people: '' Skins'' (2002), ''Cowboys and Indians: The J.J. Harper Story'' (2003) and ''One Dead Indian'' (2006).

Personal life

Schweig was interested in the arts in childhood, and has since become a master carver. Under the tutelage of artist Vern Etzerza, he studied traditional Pacific Coast

carving Carving is the act of using tools to shape something from a material by scraping away portions of that material. The technique can be applied to any material that is solid enough to hold a form even when pieces have been removed from it, and y ...

before directing his talent specifically towards custom and traditional Inuit Spirit Masks, in collaboration with master carver Art Thompson. Schweig previously struggled with

alcoholism Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World He ...

, which he attributed to trauma from his abusive childhood. He has stated that ''Big Eden'' (2000) was the first movie in which he was entirely sober. In 2017, Eric adopted two foster siblings.

Awards

*2000 - Grand Jury Award L.A. Outfest, Outstanding Actor in a Feature Film for ''Big Eden'' *2008 - Honorary Doctorate of Education from Nipissing University *2011 - Nomination for a

Leo Award The Leo Awards are the awards program for the British Columbia film and television industry. Held each May or June in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, the Leo Awards were founded by the Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Foundation of British C ...

for Best Lead Performance by a Male in a Dramatic Series for his role as corrupt band Chief Andy Fraser in the TV series ''Blackstone''.

Filmography

References

External links

* * http://www.mohicanpress.com/eric_schweig_gallery.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Schweig, Eric 1967 births 20th-century Canadian male actors 20th-century Inuit people 21st-century Canadian male actors 21st-century Inuit people Canadian adoptees Canadian male film actors Canadian male television actors Canadian male voice actors Canadian people of German descent Canadian people of Inuit descent Canadian people of Portuguese descent Canadian people of Senegalese descent People from Renfrew County People from Inuvik Living people Inuit male actors Male actors from the Northwest Territories Inuvialuit people Inuit from the Northwest Territories