Brandon Oakes is a Mohawk from Akwesasne which straddles the Ontario-Quebec-New York border. He has performed and toured extensively throughout North America with several Native dance theatres. He attended the Centre for Indigenous Theatre in Toronto and then went on to study contemporary dance and acting at the Banff Centre for the Arts, dancing & acting in several contemporary / traditional Native fusion performances over the past fifteen years. Brandon was the lead in the live dance tour Spirit – The Seventh Fire which has toured the US and is looking forward to being staged in China in 2014. In working with Native Earth Performing Arts in Toronto, he toured the one man show Tales of an Urban Indian directed by Yvette Nolan in 2007. Brandon has also appeared in Into the West (2005). Drawn to the west coast, he was honored with the opportunity to appear in Richard Montoya and Culture Clash’s staged play Palestine New Mexico at the Mark Taper Forum directed by Lisa Peterson in 2010. Soon following as Chief Bromden in “One flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest” at The Peoples Light Theater directed by Jackson Gay. He returned to Canada in June 2012. Brandon can be seen on CBC’s Arctic Air and the gritty dramatic feature film, “Rhymes for Young Ghouls”. Most recently, Brandon completed the first staging of the controversial play SMOKE by Vicky Ramirez in an Off-Broadway production this past spring at the Signature Theater.