Kaniehtiio Alexandra Jessie Horn (née Batt;[1] Mohawk pronunciation: [ɡanjehˈdiːjo];[1][2][3] born November 8, 1986), sometimes credited as Tiio Horn,[4] is a Canadian actress and filmmaker. She was nominated for a Gemini Award for her role in the television film Moccasin Flats: Redemption and she has appeared in the films The Trotsky, Leslie, My Name Is Evil, and The Wild Hunt, as well as the streaming television horror series Hemlock Grove and the sitcoms 18 to Life, Letterkenny and Reservation Dogs.

Kaniehtiio Horn
Kaniehtiio Horn at the National Canadian Film Day in 2018
Horn in April 2018
Born
Kaniehtiio Alexandra Jessie Horn Batt

(1986-11-08) November 8, 1986 (age 38)
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Other namesTiio Horn
OccupationActor
Years active2004–present
Children1
MotherKahn-Tineta Horn
RelativesWaneek Horn-Miller (half-sister)

Early life

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Horn was born in Ottawa and grew up in Ottawa and on the Kahnawake Mohawk reserve outside of Montreal.[5] Her mother, Kahn-Tineta Horn, is a Mohawk former model and a political activist for the Kahnawake First Nation. Her father, who is of German and Scottish descent, is a lawyer.[5] Horn, her mother and her older half-sister Waneek (later a broadcaster and co-captain of the Canadian women's water polo team at the 2000 Sydney Olympics)[6] were notable participants in the 1990 Oka Crisis.[7] Waneek was stabbed in the chest by a soldier wielding a bayonet while holding Horn, who was then aged four; a photograph of the incident, published on the front page of newspapers, symbolized the standoff between Mohawks and the Canadian government.[8][9][6][10]

Horn decided to be an actress at a young age, but concentrated on swimming and water polo as a teenager. She graduated from Dawson College in 2005 for theatre arts, and appeared in a number of short films.[11]

Career

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Horn's first film acting credit was in 2006 for the CBC television mini-series Indian Summer: The Oka Crisis (for which she had been present at the real-life event sixteen years earlier).

Horn landed a role in the 2007 drama film The Colony, directed by Jeff Barnaby. In 2008, she appeared in the TV film Moccasin Flats: Redemption and was nominated for a Gemini Award for her role. She also appeared in Journey to the Center of the Earth that year, also starring Brendan Fraser.

In 2009, Horn starred in The Trotsky, directed by Jacob Tierney, playing a Montreal high school student. In Web of Lies, a TV movie about a cybersecurity specialist accused of fraud, she played a hacker named Spider. She appeared in The Wild Hunt, directed by Alexandre Franchi and in Reginald Harkema's Leslie, My Name Is Evil as a member of Charles Manson's death cult.[12] The three Canadian films were selected for the Festival du Nouveau Cinéma. The Trotsky and The Wild Hunt made the Top 10 Canadian films list at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival.[13]

Horn starred in the CBC television sitcom 18 to Life as Monica Bellow. The series was picked up by the CW network and it aired in the US in August 2010. Horn filmed a second season in Montreal in mid-2010.[14]

Horn voiced several roles in By the Rapids, an APTN cartoon which she had made in collaboration with Joseph Tekaroniake Lazare. She also shot an APTN television pilot, Escape Hatch, with Mohawk writer-director Tracey Deer. In 2010, Horn again worked with Jacob Tierney in the film Good Neighbours.[13] She starred in the low-budget slasher film A Flesh Offering, directed by Jeremy Torrie, playing an artist who gets lost in the woods.[15]

In 2011, Horn starred in the horror anthology film The Theatre Bizarre,[16] and played a priestess in Immortals. She filmed Penthouse North with Michelle Monaghan and Michael Keaton and shot a CBC comedy pilot.[5] In 2012, Horn joined the cast of the Netflix drama Hemlock Grove as Destiny Rumancek, a Romani witch. She starred opposite Famke Janssen, Dougray Scott, Bill Skarsgård, Landon Liboiron and Lili Taylor in the series.[17]

Horn voiced the role of Kaniehtí:io, the Native American protagonist's (Ratohnhake:ton) Mohawk mother, in the 2012 video game Assassin's Creed III, developed by Ubisoft. That same year, she wrote and directed her debut film, The Smoke Shack, in association with the National Screen Institute.[18] In 2013, Horn played Rynn, an Irathient Spirit Rider, on the Syfy TV series, Defiance,[19] and played Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz in "Slumber Party", an episode of the CW series Supernatural.[20] She also appeared in Embrace of the Vampire starring Sharon Hinnendael, a remake of the 1995 horror film of the same name,[21] in the television special Gavin Crawford's Wild West and in the Amazon series The Man in the High Castle (TV Series).

Horn appeared in a recurring role as Tanis in the CraveTV series Letterkenny, for which she won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series at the 10th Canadian Screen Awards in 2022.[22] Horn has also taken up the role of Consulting Producer on the Letterkenny spinoff show Shoresy, where she was tasked with ensuring the faithful portrayal of the shows many Indigenous characters.[23]

In 2020, Horn appeared as a panelist on Canada Reads advocating for Eden Robinson's novel Son of a Trickster.[24]

From 2021-2023, she played a recurring role as Deer Lady in the FX/Hulu show Reservation Dogs.[25]

In 2022, Horn appeared in a recurring role as Feather Day in season 2 of the Peacock series, Rutherford Falls.[26]

Seeds, her debut film as a director, premiered in the Discovery program at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival,[27] and was longlisted for the 2024 Jean-Marc Vallée DGC Discovery Award.[28]

Personal life

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She gave birth to a son via emergency C-section in November 2020.[29]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
2004 Might of the Starchaser Short film
2006 Montreal Stories: 1971 Young Woman Short film
2007 The Colony Myriam Short film
2008 Journey to the Center of the Earth Gum-Chewing Girl
2008 South of the Moon Mysterious Woman
2009 Missing Alice Short film
2009 The Trotsky Caroline as Tiio Horn
2009 The Wild Hunt Princess Evlynia/Lyn as Tiio Horn
2009 Leslie, My Name Is Evil Katie also known as Manson, My Name Is Evil
2010 Til Death... Jessica Short film
2010 Good Neighbours Johanne
2010 You Are So Undead Chelsea Short film
2010 A Flesh Offering Jennifer Morrisseau
2011 Gene-Fusion Cho Voice role (animated film)
2011 The Theatre Bizarre The Writer Segment: "Vision Stains"
2011 Voyez comme ils dansent La femme kaska French-language film; as Kanietillo Horn
2011 Immortals High Priestess #3
2012 On the Road Rita Bettancourt as Tiio Horn
2013 Embrace of the Vampire Nicole as Tiio Horn
2014 Penthouse North Blake as Tiio Horn
2017 Mohawk Okwaho
2018 22 Chaser Avery Dankert
2018 The Hummingbird Project Barbara Lehman as Tiio Horn
2020 Possessor Reeta
Sugar Daddy Jenny
2022 Alice, Darling Tess
2023 Who's Yer Father? Nicole Thorne
2024 Seeds Ziggy Also writer, director

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
2006 Indian Summer: The Oka Crisis Susan Oke Miniseries
2007 Abducted: Fugitive for Love Mindy Television film
2007 Too Young to Marry Molly Television film; as Tiio Horn
2007 Les Hauts et les bas de Sophie Paquin Réceptionniste Episode: "Rêver en couleur"
2007 Moccasin Flats: Redemption Kayleigh Television film
2007 The Terrorist Next Door Angel Television film
2009 Web of Lies Spider Television film
2009-2011 Doggy Day School Rosie (voice) Recurring role
2010 Mohawk Girls Bailey Episode: "Pilot"
2010–2011 18 to Life Monica Bellow Main role, 25 episodes; as Tiio Horn
2011 Being Human Lindsey Episode: "It Takes Two to Make a Thing Go Wrong"
2011 By the Rapids Bev Littlehorn/Grandma Hazel/Wendy Voice role (animated series); Episode: "Invasion at Turtle Island"
2012 Alphas Trisha Episode: "Alphaville"
2013 Gavin Crawford's Wild West Shannon Television film
2013 Supernatural Dorothy Baum Episode: "Slumber Party"; as Tiio Horn
2013–2014 Defiance Rynn Recurring role, 6 episodes; as Tiio Horn
2013–2015 Hemlock Grove Destiny Rumancek Recurring role (season 1); main role (seasons 2–3); 27 episodes
2015 19-2 Sasha Renner 3 episodes; as Tiio Horn
2015 The Fixer Chloe Miniseries[30]
2016 The Strain Kimberly 1 episode; as Tiio Horn
2016–2018 The Man in the High Castle Gina 5 episodes; as Tiio Horn
2016–2023 Letterkenny Tanis 20 episodes; as Kaniehtiio Horn
2017 What Would Sal Do? Nicole 6 episodes
2018 Ghost BFF Tara 11 episodes; as Kaniehtiio Horn
2019 Wayne Kyra Episode: "No Priests"; as Tiio Horn
2019 Slasher Coroner Lucie Cooper Recurring role (season 3); 4 episodes; as Tiio Horn
2020 Barkskins Mari 8 episodes
2021-2023 Reservation Dogs Deer Lady 3 episodes
2022 Rutherford Falls Feather Day 5 episodes
2023 Telling Our Story Narrator 2 episodes (released as True Story/True Story Part Two)
2024–present Grimsburg Wynona Whitecloud Voice role (animated series); recurring role

Video games

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Year Title Role Notes
2012 Assassin's Creed III Kaniehtí:io
2013 Defiance Rynn

References

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  1. ^ a b Horn, Kaniehtiio (August 4, 2018). "EP. 1 CWMM - Ma Takes On The Toronto Telegram". Coffee with My Ma (Podcast). 3 minutes in. Retrieved May 8, 2020. (c) All rights reserved to Kaniehtiio Alexandra Jessie Horn Batt
  2. ^ "'I've always had an insane sense of humour': Eden Robinson and Kaniehtiio Horn on Canada Reads 2020". CBC Books. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on December 15, 2021. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
  3. ^ Horn, Kaniehtiio [@kaniehtiio] (July 19, 2014). "Gun yeh dee yo" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  4. ^ "Kaniehtiio Horn: Defending Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson". CBC Books. January 21, 2020.
  5. ^ a b c Horn, Kaniehtiio (January 24, 2012). "Interview: 'The Theatre Bizarre' Female Serial Killer Kaniehtiio Horn On Vision Stains, Creepy Contacts And Playing Androgynous". Interviewed by Jason Coleman. Starpulse.com. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved June 19, 2012.
  6. ^ a b Starkman, Randy (July 29, 1999). "From Oka battles to Pan Am glory". Toronto Star.
  7. ^ "Oka Crisis". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
  8. ^ "Pan Ams' Waneek Horn-Miller an Oka Crisis survivor". The Star. July 10, 2015. Retrieved July 16, 2019.
  9. ^ "Sisters Recall the Brutal Last Day of Oka Crisis". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
  10. ^ Winsa, Patty (July 10, 2015). "Pan Ams' Waneek Horn-Miller an Oka Crisis survivor". Toronto Star. Retrieved April 21, 2016.
  11. ^ Griffith, John (October 9, 2009). "Mohawk actress rooted in family and community". Ottawa Citizen. Archived from the original on March 30, 2014. Retrieved May 30, 2010.
  12. ^ "Motion Picture Purgatory: Leslie, My Name Is Evil". Dread Central. June 4, 2010. Retrieved November 25, 2011.
  13. ^ a b Griffith, John (January 2, 2010). "Kaniehtiio Horn: Professional streak". Montreal Gazette.
  14. ^ Vlessing, Etan (July 15, 2010). "'18 to Life' picked up by CW". The Hollywood Reporter. Associated Press. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
  15. ^ Wilner, Norman (October 21, 2010). "A Flesh Offering". Now. Retrieved October 24, 2010.
  16. ^ Kratina, Al (August 5, 2011). "Fantasia 2011: The Theater Bizarre". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved November 25, 2011.
  17. ^ Goldberg, Lesley (July 31, 2012). "'18 to Life' Alum to Play Romani Witch-Prostitute on Netflix's 'Hemlock Grove'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 5, 2012.
  18. ^ "The Smoke Shack | National Screen Institute - Canada (NSI)". National Screen Institute. Retrieved October 6, 2013.
  19. ^ Dyrr, Kristen (May 7, 2013). "Watch the First Four Minutes of 'Defiance,' Episode 5". Yahoo! TV. Retrieved May 12, 2013.
  20. ^ Kristoffersen, Rob (October 30, 2013). "Supernatural 9.04 'Slumber Party'". CraveOnline. Retrieved November 1, 2013.
  21. ^ Cockrell, Garon (October 22, 2013). "DVD Review: Embrace Of The Vampire". Leavenworth Times. Retrieved November 2, 2013.
  22. ^ Greg David, "Tim Rozon, Ayisha Issa, Kaniehtiio Horn and Tallboyz win during Night 4 of the 2022 Canadian Screen Awards". TV, eh?, April 7, 2022.
  23. ^ Star, Kelly Boutsalis Special to the (May 13, 2022). "'Shoresy' puts Indigenous characters at centre ice". Toronto Star. Retrieved December 31, 2023.
  24. ^ "Meet the Canada Reads 2020 contenders". CBC Books, January 22, 2020.
  25. ^ "'Reservation Dogs' Uses 1970s Horror Motifs to Tell the Cruel History of Native Boarding Schools". August 9, 2023.
  26. ^ "Why Rutherford Falls Changed up Its Season 2 Villain". June 21, 2022.
  27. ^ Zac Ntim, "TIFF 2024: Laura Carreira’s ‘On Falling’ & ‘Bonjour Tristesse’ Starring Chloë Sevigny Among Titles Set For Discovery Sidebar". Deadline Hollywood, July 24, 2024.
  28. ^ Connie Thiessen, "DGC unveils Discovery Award long list". Broadcast Dialogue, September 12, 2024.
  29. ^ "Horn balances busy work schedule with life as a new mom". August 21, 2021.
  30. ^ Vlessing, Etan (July 16, 2014). "Eric Dane, Kathleen Robertson Board Canadian Miniseries The Fixer". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
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