Rosanna Deerchild to receive honorary doctorate

Thu. Jun. 5, 2025

Rosanna Deerchild, a Cree journalist, broadcaster, poet, and playwright, will receive an honorary doctorate at The University of Winnipeg’s 126th Convocation. She is a band member of the Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation and has deep family roots in O-Pipon-Na-Piwan Cree Nation in northern Manitoba.

Her work in the realm of storytelling, and as a proud advocate for Indigenous perspectives, has enriched both Indigenous and broader Canadian communities for over two decades.

Rosanna worked as a reporter, anchor, and Executive Director of News and Current Affairs for ATPN at a time when Indigenous journalists were few. She was part of a wave of journalists shaping our connections to Indigenous knowledge, stories, and issues surrounding Indigenous way of life.

She also worked in radio, starting at NCI-FM with a weekly talk show called All my Relations, which was heard across the province. And her CBC Radio One show, Unreserved, is one of the most extensive collections of interviews and archival materials regarding all Indigenous Peoples on Turtle Island.

Rosanna’s is also a gifted poet and playwright; whose works reflect the strength and continued resistance of Indigenous communities.

She has received several prestigious awards, including the Marshall McLuhan Medium and Light Award (2019), the Amnesty International Media Award (2021), and the Indigenous Media Award (2024).

Rosanna has been a champion for Two-Spirit, Queer, and Trans People of Colour, and for the next generation of Indigenous writers. She co-founded the Indigenous Writers Collective of Manitoba to foster and support Indigenous creative writing in the province and beyond.

For her profound contributions to Canadian arts, media, and Indigenous advocacy, The University of Winnipeg is proud to bestow an Honorary Doctor of Letters on Rosanna Deerchild.