Tina Keeper | |
---|---|
Member of Parliament for Churchill | |
In office January 23, 2006 – September 7, 2008 | |
Preceded by | Bev Desjarlais |
Succeeded by | Niki Ashton |
Personal details | |
Born | Winnipeg, Manitoba | March 20, 1962
Political party | Liberal |
Residence | Manitoba |
Profession | producer |
Tina Keeper, OM (born March 20, 1962), is a Cree media producer, actress and former member of the House of Commons of Canada, President of Kistikan Pictures, a partner company to Buffalo Gal Pictures.
Keeper is best known for her role as RCMP officer Michelle Kenidi in the CBC Television series North of 60, about the fictional aboriginal community of Lynx River. In 2017, Tina had principal roles in "Through Black Spruce" directed by Don McKellar, and "Falls Around Her" directed by Darlene Naponse. Tina has performed in hosted numerous tv specials, and memorably co-hosted with Tom Jackson a relief concert for the 1997 Manitoba flood. Her first role in film was in 1992, she starred in the Canada Award-winning short docudrama For Angela, dramatizing Rhonda Gordon's response to racist taunting of her daughter Angela on a Winnipeg city bus.[1]
Producer
Most recently, Tina co-produced the feature film "Through Black Spruce" with Serendipity Point Films and Distant Horizon, co-produced a 360-3D VR short film "Sky Stories" with Tangent Animation. Additional projects include 2015 feature film "Road of Iniquity", the full-length ballet "Going Home Star" co-produced with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, "Cashing In" drama Tv series for APTN and the "REDress Redress Project", short documentary.
Political career
Keeper was elected as a Member of Parliament in the 2006 Canadian federal election, representing the Liberal Party in Churchill.[2] She served as the Official Opposition's Critic for Public Health and Canadian Heritage and as Special Advisor for Aboriginal Outreach in the parliament that followed. She served for one term, until 2008.
Awards and recognition
Keeper currently serves as chair of the board of trustees for the Helen Betty Osborne Memorial Foundation. She is a member of the advisory committee to Urban Shaman Gallery, the advisory committee to Red Cross Manitoba, the Order of Manitoba, and Canadians for a New Partnership. She is an honorary witness for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. She is the recipient of an Aboriginal Achievement Award, a Gemini Award, three American Indian Film Festival awards for acting and producing, and a 2014 Canadian Civil Liberties Association award for Public Engagement. She was named ACTRA's 2017 Woman of the Year. In June 2017, Keeper received both an honorary doctor of letters from Wilfred Laurier University, and a Governor General Meritorious Service Medal along with the late Elder Mary Richard and RWB artistic director Andre Lewis for the ballet Going Home Star.
Personal life
A Cree of the Norway House Cree Nation, Keeper was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba. She is the granddaughter of Olympic long distance runner Joe Keeper and daughter of Joseph I. Keeper (Norway House Cree Nation), member of the Order of Canada and the Rev. Canon Dr. Phyllis Keeper (née Beardy, Muskrat Dam First Nation). Her siblings Joy, Lorne and Barry are involved in the arts, media and education fields.
She has a BA in Theatre from the University of Winnipeg and has trained at the Centre for Indigenous Theatre, the Banff Centre and the Sundance Film Institute.
References
- ^ Prouty, Daniel; Nancy Trites Botkin (1993). "For Angela". Docudrama. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 2009-10-23.
- ^ "Actress Tina Keeper wins Churchill for Liberals". CBC News. January 24, 2006. Retrieved 2015-12-10.