Indigenous winners of 2022 Canadian Screen Awards reflect on victories and a changing industry

Indigenous creators are reflecting on their accomplishments and on representation in the film industry after taking home several awards from the 2022 Canadian Screen Awards.

The CSAs took place virtually from April 4-10.

Kaniehtiio Horn won best supporting actress in a comedy for her role in the TV series Letterkenny, which is about a small rural town and the characters who live in it. 

Horn, who is Kanien'kehá:ka (Mohawk) from Kahnawake, near Montreal, said Indigenous representation within the film industry has been growing and so has the acknowledgement of that work. 

"What encourages me about where we are now, is that society cannot take this away; we can't go backwards, there is only going forward with this. We just have to keep the momentum up," said Horn. 

"There used to be one or two of us at the awards back in the day, and now there are so many."

Horn said she wasn't expecting to win. When she was announced as the winner in her category, she was breastfeeding her son and had to stop to deliver her acceptance speech. 

"I will say it's a bummer I didn't get to wear a pretty dress, but I got to be in a hoodie with my son at home and that is actually just as awesome," she said. 

Horn said she still wants to see more Indigenous people in the industry in all positions, like editing, casting, sound engineering, set design, key wardrobe, and hair and makeup.

"Inherently we are all storytellers," she said.

"It is a part of who we are and there are so many positions to be filled by our people to bring these stories to life in an authentic way."

For emerging Anishinaabe/Algonquin actor Joshua Odjik, just receiving a nomination came as a surprise. 

So when his name was announced during the virtual ceremony as the winner for performance by an actor in a supporting role for his role in the film Wildhood, he dropped his laptop.

"It was quite a wild 30 seconds of my life," he said.