Kaniehtiio Alexandra Jessie Horn ( Batt; ; born November 8, 1985), also credited as Tiio Horn, is a Canadian First Nations (Kahnawake Mohawk) actress and filmmaker. She is the daughter of political activist Kahn-Tineta Horn and the half-sibling of athlete Waneek Horn-Miller. She is known to television audiences for her roles as Tanis on Letterkenny (2016–2023), Monica Bellow on 18 to Life (2010–11), Destiny Rumancek on Hemlock Grove (2013–2015), Gina on The Man in the High Castle (2016–18) and Deer Lady on Reservation Dogs (2021–2023).

Horn is a two-time Canadian Screen Award winner for her work on Letterkenny. She won a Directors Guild of Canada Award for her feature directorial debut, the horror comedy Seeds (2024).

Early life Horn was born in Ottawa and grew up in Ottawa and on the Kahnawake Mohawk reserve outside of Montreal. Her mother, Kahentinetha, also known as 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. Horn, her mother and her older half-sister Waneek (co-captain of the Canadian women's water polo team at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and later a broadcaster) were notable participants in the 1990 Oka Crisis. 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.

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.

Career 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. 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.

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.

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. She starred in the low-budget slasher film A Flesh Offering, directed by Jeremy Torrie, playing an artist who gets lost in the woods.

In 2011, Horn starred in the horror anthology film The Theatre Bizarre, and played a priestess in Immortals. She filmed Penthouse North with Michelle Monaghan and Michael Keaton and shot a CBC comedy pilot. 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.

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. The same year, she wrote and directed her debut film, The Smoke Shack, in association with the National Screen Institute. In 2013, Horn played Rynn, an Irathient spirit rider, on the Syfy TV series, Defiance, and played Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz in "Slumber Party", an episode of the CW series Supernatural. She also appeared in Embrace of the Vampire starring Sharon Hinnendael, a remake of the 1995 horror film of the same name, 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.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. 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 show's many Indigenous characters.

In 2020, Horn appeared as a panelist on Canada Reads advocating for Eden Robinson's novel Son of a Trickster."Meet the Canada Reads 2020 contenders". CBC Books, January 22, 2020.

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

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

Seeds, her debut film as a director, premiered in the Discovery program at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival,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. and was longlisted for the 2024 Jean-Marc Vallée DGC Discovery Award.Connie Thiessen, "DGC unveils Discovery Award long list". Broadcast Dialogue, September 12, 2024.

Personal life Horn has two children, a son born in November 2020 and a daughter born in November 2024.

Filmography

Film

Feature films Year Title Role Notes 2008 Journey to the Center of the Earth Gum-Chewing Girl South of the Moon Mysterious Woman 2009 The Trotsky Caroline Credited as 'Tiio Horn' The Wild Hunt Princess Evlynia/Lyn Leslie, My Name Is Evil Patricia "Katie" Krenwinkel 2010 Good Neighbours Johanne A Flesh Offering Jennifer Morrisseau2011 The Theatre Bizarre The Writer Segment: "Vision Stains" Gene-Fusion Cho (voice) See How They Dance La femme kaska Credited as 'Kanietillo Horn' Immortals High Priestess 2012 On the Road Rita Bettancourt Credited as 'Tiio Horn' 2013 Embrace of the Vampire Nicole 2014 Penthouse North Blake 2017 Mohawk Okwaho 2018 22 Chaser Avery Dankert The Hummingbird Project Barbara Lehman Credited as 'Tiio Horn' Death Wish Natasha 2020 Possessor ReetaSugar DaddyJenny 2022 Alice, DarlingTess 2023 Who's Yer Father? Nicole Thorne 2024 Seeds Ziggy Also writer and director 2026 Seventeen Layla

Short films Year Title Role Notes 2004 Might of the Starchaser 2006 Montreal Stories: 1971 Young Woman 2007 The Colony Myriam 2009 Missing Alice 2010 Til Death... Jessica You Are So Undead Chelsea

Television

Television series Year Title Role Notes 2007 Réceptionniste Episode: "Rêver en couleur" 2009–11 Doggy Day School Rosie (voice) Recurring role 2010 Mohawk Girls Bailey Episode: "Pilot" 2010–11 18 to Life Monica Bellow 25 episodes; credited as 'Tiio Horn' 2011 Being Human Lindsey Episode: "It Takes Two to Make a Thing Go Wrong" By the Rapids Bev Littlehorn/Grandma Hazel/Wendy (voices) Episode: "Invasion at Turtle Island" 2012 Alphas Trisha Episode: "Alphaville" 2013 Supernatural Dorothy Baum Episode: "Slumber Party"; credited as 'Tiio Horn' 2013–14 Defiance Rynn 6 episodes; credited as 'Tiio Horn' 2013–15 Hemlock Grove Destiny Rumancek 27 episodes 2015 19-2 Sasha Renner 3 episodes; credited as 'Tiio Horn' 2016 The Strain Kimberly 1 episode; credited as 'Tiio Horn' 2016–18 The Man in the High Castle Gina 5 episodes; credited as 'Tiio Horn' 2016–23 Letterkenny Tanis 20 episodes 2017 What Would Sal Do? Nicole 6 episodes 2018 Ghost BFF Tara 11 episodes 2019 Wayne Kyra Episode: "No Priests"; credited as 'Tiio Horn' Slasher Coroner Lucie Cooper 4 episodes; credited as 'Tiio Horn' 2020 Barkskins Mari 8 episodes 2021–23 Reservation Dogs Deer Lady 3 episodes 2022 Rutherford Falls Feather Day 5 episodes 2023 Telling Our Story Narrator Episodes: "True Story Parts 1 & 2" 2024–present Grimsburg Wynona Whitecloud (voice) Recurring role 2025 The Lowdown Samantha Recurring role TBATasha GravesRecurring role

Television films and miniseries Year Title Role Notes 2006 Indian Summer: The Oka Crisis Susan Oke 2007 Abducted: Fugitive for Love Mindy Too Young to Marry Molly Credited as 'Tiio Horn' Moccasin Flats: Redemption Kayleigh The Terrorist Next Door Angel 2009 Web of Lies Spider 2013 Gavin Crawford's Wild West Shannon 2015 The Fixer Chloe

Video games YearTitleVoice roleNotes2012Assassin's Creed IIIKaniehtí:io2013DefianceRynn

Awards and nominations Award YearCategory Work ResultACTRA Award2010Outstanding Performance - FemaleThe Trotsky2019Outstanding Performance - FemaleThe Man in the High CastleAmerican Indian Movie Award 2008Best Supporting Actress Moccasin Flats: Redemption 2010Best Actress A Flesh Offering Canadian Screen Award2021Best Lead Performance, Web Program or SeriesGhost BFF2022Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy SeriesLetterkenny2024Best Ensemble Performance in a Comedy Series 2025 Best Lead Performance in a Comedy FilmSeedsBest Original ScreenplayJohn Dunning Best First Feature AwardImagineNATIVE Film and Media Arts Festival2013Drama Pitch PrizeRats

References

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