Solomon Ratt was born in a trapper's cabin along the banks of the Churchill River, just four miles north of Stanley Mission, Saskatchewan. His parents were hunters and fishers who lived off the land, spending their winters on the trapline and summers fishing in La Ronge. Solomon spent the first six winters of his life with his parents, who didn't speak English. They knew the ways of the land, including the traditional stories passed down through generations, which they told to Solomon and his siblings. He later went to Indian Residential School in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. He attended the University of Regina, graduating with two BAs and a Masters of Arts. He has been teaching the Y-dialect of Cree at First Nations University of Canada (formerly SIFC) in Regina, Saskatchewan since 1986.