Hockey player.
Born on 28 March 1980 to Rose and Barney Tootoo, he was raised at Rankin Inlet, Nunavut and moved to Thompson to play hockey when he was 16 years old. He joined the OCN (Opaskwayak Cree Nation) Blizzards in 1997. In his four years with the team, he was captain for two years and led it to three league championships. He was the first Inuit to play professional hockey, signing with the Roanoke Express of the East Coast Hockey League in 2000-2001. He died by suicide at Brandon on 22 August 2002, with memorial services held in Brandon and Rankin Inlet. In 2017, the Avataq Cup senior men's hockey tournament in Rankin Inlet was renamed the Terence Tootoo Memorial Tournament.
“Rankin Inlet hockey player found dead in Manitoba,” Nunatsiaq Online.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 21 September 2002.
“They will never be forgotten” by Kevin Rollason, Winnipeg Free Press, 31 December 2002, page A8.
“Proud Tootoos in Rankin,” Northern News Service Online.
This page was prepared by Ian Stewart.
Page revised: 17 January 2017
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