Raven Morrisseau is fighting for justice and change

Raven Morrisseau credits her desire to become a lawyer to two things – her Indigenous ancestry and her grandparents, who are day school Survivors. 

“I want to be a voice that’s supportive, and be a proper advocate,” says the law student who is graduating from the University of Manitoba (UM) this spring. 

“A lot of Indigenous people have been forgotten, and their voices tend to be not supported as much. I want to help in restoring that.”

The member of Misipawistik Cree Nation who also identifies as Métis, grew up in Winnipeg with her mother and sister. But they regularly visited her mother’s rural Manitoba First Nation, located approximately 400 kilometers north of Winnipeg, to spend time with family members and practice their culture.

They continually encouraged her to do more.

“They were very much proper advocates through my entire upbringing for Métis rights and First Nation rights,” she adds. “So out of all that I began working with different (Indigenous) advocacy groups.” 

The exposure to issues affecting Indigenous people crystallized Morrisseau’s goal. She feels becoming a lawyer is carrying on her grandparent’s work.

Morrisseau is active in her faculty as vice-president of professional development with the Manitoba Indigenous Law Students Association. She is one of 53 Indigenous students enrolled in the faculty and 3,292 Indigenous students at UM in 2025.

Guided by a greater purpose

Morrisseau says Indigenous students usually choose law school for the same reason: To help their people. 

“Obviously, in criminal (law) there’s over-incarceration of Indigenous people. Within the child welfare system, there’s the over-representation of Indigenous children and youth,” she says of the well-known statistics. 

“And then, within the scope of corporate (and) commercial governance, there’s so many Nations wanting to focus on economic reconciliation and development.”

She understands why those Nations want to work with Indigenous lawyers who understand their governance and cultures.

 “A lot of people can see within their own Nations and their families the need for Indigenous lawyers, and if there was a voice that was similar to them or at least understood them, then why not at least try?”

Although she had good grades and strong study habits, law school still proved to be a learning curve.

“I always thought I was a pretty good student, but I had to readjust things,” she admits, noting it helped to learn that many of her peers were also struggling.

“I realized why I strived to go to law because there are a lot of people that are neurodivergent. It’s pretty common.” 

She noted studying law use many parts of the brain, letting it grow and think differently instead of doing the same things over and over.

Campus community like no other

Morrisseau sought support and encouragement from student resources and programs like Indigenous Circle of Empowerment and the Blankstein Momentum at UM.

“I think a lot of times students just feel super isolated when they’re going through hard things. It’s difficult to speak out if you think you’re the only one feeling like that.” 

That’s why Morrisseau didn’t hesitate to participate in an Indigenous student recruitment video for UM last summer. 

“I said yes right away—I really liked it. When it came out, we were at my sister’s house and played it for family who were visiting. 

“It’s really well done and makes the campus look beautiful. I thought the stories for each student were done very well.”

A lawyer in the family

As graduation approaches, Morrisseau says her grandparents are excited. 

“They’re telling everyone they’re finally going to have a lawyer in the family,” she says with a laugh. 

But the moment is bittersweet. Her grandfather has dementia. 

“On the bright side, he still remembers,” she says, fighting back tears. “He asks me about law school and how it’s going.”

She’s happy he still has his sense of humor. 

“He jokes that now he can go out and be bad and make trouble, and I’ll pull him out of jail.” 

Morrisseau has an articling job lined up after graduation with Legal Aid Manitoba in the Family and Child Protection Office. She plans to work there for a year before being called to the bar.

Watch four UM Indigenous students pursue different post-secondary paths

At UM, through moments of transition, connection and growth, we see how Indigenous excellence is nurtured here, in a place where students are grounded in culture and supported to lead. Different paths, one place to begin. 

At UM, we are all Bisons!

This story is part of a four-part series.