A member of the Norway House Cree Nation in northern Manitoba, she was born in Winnipeg. She is the granddaughter of Olympic long distance runnerJoe Keeper and the daughter of Joseph I. Keeper, a member of the Order of Canada, and Phyllis Keeper, an Anglican priest. Keeper studied history and theatre at the University of Winnipeg. Originally planning to become a history professor, she instead became an actor after getting involved in an indigenous theatre company in Winnipeg.
Acting
Keeper had a number of supporting roles in film, most notably in the National Film Board of Canada docudrama short For Angela, before being cast in North of 60 in 1992. She was a five-time Gemini Award nominee for Best Actress in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role for her work on the series, winning the award at the 11th Gemini Awards in 1997. At the 9th Gemini Awards in 1995, she also received a Gemini nomination for Performance in a Children's or Youth Program or Series, for her performance in For Angela. Following the end of North of 60 as a regular series, Keeper continued her role as Michelle Kenidi in several North of 60 television films, and appeared in the films Heater, Skins and On the Corner, until she decided to seek the Liberal nomination in Churchill in 2005. After her election defeat in 2008, she took on both acting and production roles in the APTN drama series Cashing In. More recently she has acted in the television series Mohawk Girls and Heartland, and the films Through Black Spruce and Falls Around Her. A partner in the film production firm Kistikan Pictures, she was a producer of Through Black Spruce, as well as the films Road of Iniquity, Sky Stories and REDress Redress Project. In 2014 she participated in the creation of Going Home Star, a Royal Winnipeg Ballet production on the theme of indigenous reconciliation.
Political career
Keeper was elected as a Member of Parliament in the 2006 Canadian federal election, representing the Liberal Party in Churchill. She served as the Official Opposition's Critic for Public Health and Canadian Heritage, and as a Special Advisor for Aboriginal Outreach in the 39th Parliament of Canada. She was defeated in the 2008 Canadian federal election by Niki Ashton of the New Democratic Party, and has not returned to electoral politics since. She continues to work as a political activist. She currently serves as chair of the board of trustees for the Helen Betty Osborne Memorial Foundation, as a member of the advisory committees of the Urban Shaman Gallery, Red Cross Manitoba and Canadians for a New Partnership, and an honorary witness for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
