Alexandrea Kawisenhawe Rice (born September 16, 1972) is an Aboriginal
Canadian actress. She grew up in Brooklyn, New York where her father
was an ironworker.Rice was born September 16, 1972 into a
Kanien'kehaka (Mohawk) family on the Kahnawake reserve in Quebec, and
she is proud of her First Nations heritage. Through her father she is
a member of the Rice family of Kahnawake, having descended from Edmund
Rice, an early immigrant to Massachusetts Bay Colony. Two Rice boys
were taken captive as children in 1704 from Massachusetts, and taken
to Kahnawake, Quebec where they were adopted by Mohawk families and
became assimilated. Alex is descended from Edmund Rice's great
grandson, Silas, who took the name of Tookanowras, but he was also
baptized as Catholic and known as Jacques Thanhohorens.Born on the
Kahnawake Mohawk reserve in Quebec, Canada, Rice spent the majority of
her childhood with her family in Brooklyn, New York. Her father was
among a community of Mohawk ironworkers, who settled in what is now
Boerum Hill. The men worked on skyscrapers and bridges, and the women
made community. The Mohawk called their neighborhood "Little
Caughnawaga", after their homeland.There Rice attended local schools
and trained to become a professional dancer at local dance studios;
she developed a passion for acting when she landed a part in an
educational video produced at her grammar school. She attended Our
Lady of Perpetual Help High School in Brooklyn. In 1990, after her
father died and she graduated from high school, Alex and her mother
Melody Rice moved back to Kanawake. She attended Dawson College and
Concordia University in Montreal, where she earned a degree in library
science.
Canadian actress. She grew up in Brooklyn, New York where her father
was an ironworker.Rice was born September 16, 1972 into a
Kanien'kehaka (Mohawk) family on the Kahnawake reserve in Quebec, and
she is proud of her First Nations heritage. Through her father she is
a member of the Rice family of Kahnawake, having descended from Edmund
Rice, an early immigrant to Massachusetts Bay Colony. Two Rice boys
were taken captive as children in 1704 from Massachusetts, and taken
to Kahnawake, Quebec where they were adopted by Mohawk families and
became assimilated. Alex is descended from Edmund Rice's great
grandson, Silas, who took the name of Tookanowras, but he was also
baptized as Catholic and known as Jacques Thanhohorens.Born on the
Kahnawake Mohawk reserve in Quebec, Canada, Rice spent the majority of
her childhood with her family in Brooklyn, New York. Her father was
among a community of Mohawk ironworkers, who settled in what is now
Boerum Hill. The men worked on skyscrapers and bridges, and the women
made community. The Mohawk called their neighborhood "Little
Caughnawaga", after their homeland.There Rice attended local schools
and trained to become a professional dancer at local dance studios;
she developed a passion for acting when she landed a part in an
educational video produced at her grammar school. She attended Our
Lady of Perpetual Help High School in Brooklyn. In 1990, after her
father died and she graduated from high school, Alex and her mother
Melody Rice moved back to Kanawake. She attended Dawson College and
Concordia University in Montreal, where she earned a degree in library
science.
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