Tina Keeper, O.M., M.S.M., B.A., Litt.D.

Tina Keeper is a Cree woman who is a member of Norway House First Nation in Northern Manitoba. She is a film, television and theatre producer, actor, activist and former member of parliament. She discovered her passion for the arts at the Winnipeg Indian and Métis Friendship Centre back in 1980, and it flourished through the acting program at the University of Winnipeg.

Keeper won a Gemini award for acting in 1997 for her portrayal of RCMP Officer Michelle Kenidi in the long-running television series North of 60. She was the first Indigenous person to win a Gemini for a leading role on a dramatic TV series in Canada. In her role as an honorary witness for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Keeper was a producer with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s highly acclaimed production of “Going Home Star,” guided by Indian Residential School Survivors. Keeper was also the MP for the federal riding of Churchill from 2006-2008. She was the first Indigenous woman to serve as a MP in Manitoba.

Keeper has a BA in theatre from the University of Winnipeg and trained at the Centre for Indigenous Theatre, the Banff Centre and the Sundance Institute. She currently serves on the board of directors for the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, is a member of the advisory Committee to Urban Shaman Gallery, is on the advisory committee to Red Cross Manitoba, was an honorary Witness for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and is a member of the Order of Manitoba and Canadians for a New Partnership. Keeper is a recipient of an Aboriginal Achievement Award, a Gemini Award, a Meritorious Service Medal, a Canadian Civil Liberties Association award for Public Engagement, a Canadian Screen Awards Lifetime Achievement award, a University of Winnipeg Distinguished Alumni Award and an Honourary Doctorate of Letters from Wilfred Laurier University.