Rosalie Tsannie-Burseth, B.Ed., M.Ed., Ph.D. Candidate (ABD)

Rosalie Tsannie-Burseth, a member of Hatchet Lake Dënesųłiné First Nation, serves as a member of the FNUniv Board of Governors. A Dënesųłiné educator, scholar, and community leader with 40 years of experience, she brings extensive expertise in First Nations education, Indigenous language revitalization, curriculum development, educational administration, treaty research, community governance, and First Nations leadership.

Over the course of her career, Rosalie has served in senior educational and leadership roles, including classroom teacher, principal, Director of Education for the Hatchet Lake Band Education Program, Associate Director of Education with the Prince Albert Grand Council, and elected Chief of Hatchet Lake Dënesųłiné First Nation. Her professional contributions have advanced Indigenous language, culture, history, and land-based learning within education systems, with a particular emphasis on Dënesųłiné language, knowledge, and cultural continuity, including the development of the Hatchet Lake Denesuline K–3 Immersion Program and contributions to the Saskatchewan Dene Curriculum.

Rosalie holds a Bachelor of Education from the University of Saskatchewan and a Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Regina. She is a doctoral candidate in Interdisciplinary Graduate Studies at the University of Saskatchewan, centring Elders’ voices and grounding education in Ëghëna Dene values, knowledge, and worldview. A long-serving sessional lecturer with First Nations University of Canada, she has taught extensively in Dene language, Dene history, Indigenous education, and land-based education, and her scholarship includes “Theories of Thanadelthur: Elders’ Oral History and Hudson’s Bay Journals,” published in The Northern Review (2019).

Rosalie is widely recognized for her leadership, advocacy, and long-standing commitment to Indigenous education, language preservation, and community advancement. Her contributions have been acknowledged through numerous honours, including the Governor General’s Citizenship Award (1992), the AWASIS Award — Honour the Teacher (2001), the Northern Justice Symposium Role Model Award (2004), the Woman of the Dawn Award, FSIN Education Category (2004), the Lieutenant Governor’s Saskatchewan Centennial Commemorative Medal (2005), and the University of Regina Alumni Professional Achievement Award (2020). She serves on several boards, including as Chair of the Athabasca Denesuline Education Authority, Caribou Transport – Hatchet Lake Band, Rise Air Board, and, as of 2026, a member of the First Nations University of Canada Board of Governors.