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Theodore Niizhotay Fontaine
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Indigenous elder.
Born at Sagkeeng Anishinaabe First Nation on 7 September 1941, he attended the Fort Alexander Residential School (1948-1958) and Assiniboia Residential School (1958-1960), played senior hockey across western Canada, led a mineral exploration crew in the North West Territories, and was trained in civil engineering at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (1973). He served as Chief of the Sagkeeng First Nation (1978-1980) and spent 11 years as Executive Director of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs.
His residential school experience left traumatic memories that were captured in his best-selling book Broken Circle: The Dark Legacy of Indian Residential Schools, A Memoir (2010, 2022). He later travelled across Canada and the United States to share these experiences.
He died at Winnipeg on 10 May 2021. He is commemorated by Theodore Niizhotay Park in Winnipeg.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 15 May 2021.
“City considering new name for park near former residential school to honour Indigenous leader,” Winnipeg Free Press, 19 August 2021.
“If you knew Theo Fontaine, you felt the love of his niizhotay - his double heart,” The Globe and Mail, 16 November 2021.
Broken Circle: The Dark Legacy of Indian Residential Schools by Theodore Niizhotay Fontaine, Heritage House Publishing, 2022.
We thank Ruth Bonneville and Brian Hydesmith for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 11 May 2023
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