Biography
Indigenous actress, singer and artist Kiawenti:io Tarbell was born on April 28, 2006 to a Mohawk family in Akwesasne, Ontario, Canada and is a member of the Mohawk Nation of Akwesasne. The First Nation actress is widely known only by her mononymous first name, Kiawentiio, which translates to "Nice Morning" and is pronounced "Gya-wuhn-dee-yo." As a young girl, she grew up on Cornwall Island, part of the Akwesasne Reservation, in the middle of the St. Lawrence River, right on the US border. She received her education at the Akwesasne Freedom School and at the Cornwall Collegiate and Vocational School, one of the oldest schools in Canada.
For the third season of the renowned Canadian TV series "Anne with an E", which was first broadcast by the CBC in 2019, a public casting call was launched looking for a young indigenous actress for the important recurring role of a Mi'kmaq girl. She was able to prevail against 235 competitors and achieved her first notable acting success with the role of Ka'kwet, which remained in the audience's memory. She then had her critically acclaimed acting breakthrough in 2020 with the lead role in the film drama "Beans" by Mohawk director Tracey Deer, in which she plays the role of 12-year-old Tekahentahkhwa (called Beans), who experienced the Oka crisis in Kanesatake in the year 1990, a 78-day violent confrontation between the Canadian indigenous people and the Canadian authorities with road blockages and fatalities. The film won Best Canadian Film at the Canadian Screen Awards and Kiawentiio won the Vancouver Film Critics Circle One to Watch award for her breakthrough performance.
After guest appearances in the American sitcom series "Rutherford Falls" released in 2021 by Peacock and as a voice actor in the animated Marvel anthology series "What If...?" from Disney+ she can be seen in the role of Kantara in the live-action series remake of "Avatar: The Last Airbender", released by Netflix in 2024. She was cast for the streaming provider's fantasy series highlight at the age of 14 after her success with "Beans". According to her own statements, she is a big fan of the original Nickelodeon animated series and grew up with the characters, but as a little native girl on the reservation, she never thought that she herself could embody one of the main characters in the future.
As a singer and songwriter, she released her first EP “In My Head” in 2021 with four songs she wrote herself. She also sings the title song of the film "Beans" herself. She has also been active as a painter and artist since a young age and shares her paintings and drawings on her Instagram channel with her 660,000 followers. Kiawentiio now lives alternately in Ottawa, Montreal and New York and has both Canadian and US citizenship.
