The late Gordon Tootoosis is one of the people I grew up watching on T.V. He would be on the show “The North of 60” and I remember our family would all gather around and watch this show like how we would watch the Simpson’s or Fresh Prince of Belair.
Years after he would star in many movies and become a great Native American Activist.
I sat here thinking of Gordon and all the great things that he has done and wanted to look into who he was and share it with all the people.
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Early Days For Gordon
Tootoosis was born on October 25th, 1941. World War 2 was going on in Germany the same time he was born and would last until Gordon was 4 years old.
Gordon would come from what would be like Native American Royalty for the Cree People.
He come’s from the family tree of Non other than Chief Poundmaker or Pîhtokahanapiwiyin. His great great grandfather was the brother of Pîhtokahanapiwiyin and went by the name Yellow Mud.
Gordon Tootoosis Father John
John Tootoosis had a big family having 14 children and Gordon being one of them.
He raised his kids in the Nehiyaw way until they were taken into residential School.
John was a Native American Activist and his Grandfather was Yellow Mud Blanket. In his thoughts were always the Native American People.
He was born in 1899 in the Poundmaker Reserve. John was 13 when he got sent to the Thunderchild Residential School which was also known as the Delmas Residential School near North Battleford, Saskatchewan.
He stayed in this school for 4 years and returned back to his reserve when he was 17 years old.
John Tootoosis would become a Chief on the Poundmaker First Nations, but the Indian Act would not recognize him as a Chief because they had rules.
The Indian Act stated that you had to be at least 25 years of age, so another Chief was appointed.
He continued on in the role of leadership and in 1946 the Union of Saskatchewan Indians was formed and would be later known as the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations and would become the first President of this Organization.
He also help found the National Indian Brotherhood.
In 1986 John Tootoosis would become a member of The Order of Canada.
He was a great leader and would later have more leaders and great people who came after him. John died, February 1st, 1989.
Residential School
The residential schools were a Canadian Mandate to “kill the Indian Inside”. Canada wanted to make Indigenous people more European like and awful things happened in these schools.
It was said that you were more likely to die in Residential Schooling than you would being apart of World War 2.
Gordon was treated very harsh in these schools and they forbid him to speak his Cree Language.
Since his father John was known as an Native American Activist, it made his experience worse because he was now a target at the School. This got him in a lot of trouble.
Career Before Acting
After his traumatic school experience, Gordon started working with youth. He became a Youth Mentor and found a job working with the Saskatchewan Department of Welfare.
He started to specialize specifically in working with children and also young offenders.
Through this time he was a Powwow dancer and a rodeo roper. He became very good at both and these two arts had brought him many opportunities for travel.
As Powwow dancer and in his 20’s he joined the Plains InterTribal Dance Troupe between 1960 and 1970.
The Plains InterTribal Dance Troupe would travel immensily. They would travel throughout Canada, Europe, and South America, allowing Gordon to start seeing the world.
He also would become a very well known Powwow announcer in the Powwow Trail.
Acting and Movie Roles
At age 33, Gordon would act in his first movie role in a movie called Alien Thunder which then would be called Dan Candy’s Law. This movie came out February 22nd, 1974.
After this movie he would star in many roles, theatre shows, and radio.
Gordon Tootoosis Filmography
Tootoosis stayed very busy where he used his talents as an actor to work with a lot of Hollywood stars such as Brad Pitt, Ben Affleck, Charlize Theron, and Matthew McConaughey to name a few.
He also worked with many famous Native Americans such as Russell Means, Graham Greene, and Irene Bedard.
Awards and Accolades
Gordon Tootoosis was known throughout the world and received many awards for his work and art. Here are some of the awards he has won over the years.
- Awards of Excellence, ACTRA Awards in 2003
- Best Supporting Actor (On the Corner) at the Native Indian Movie Awards in 2004
- Member, Order of Canada in 2004
- Walk of Honour, Dream Speakers Film Festival in 2005
- Best Individual or Ensemble Performance in an Animated Program or Series (Wapos Bay), Gemini Awards in 2008
- Henry Woolf Continuing Achievement Award, Saskatoon and Area Theatre Awards in 2011
- Inductee, Playback Canadian Film & TV Hall of Fame, Playback in 2015
Gordon Tootoosis Nīkānīwin Theatre Company
In 1999, Tootoosis became a founding member of the Saskatchewan Native Theatre Company in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
Their mission is: “To produce and present innovative cultural theatre experiences that engage and empower First Nations, Métis and Inuit youth, artists and the greater Saskatchewan community.”
It was also created to help at risk youth have a positive creative outlet. In 2015 the Theatre Company renamed their name to Gordon Tootoosis Nīkānīwin Theatre Company to honour the legacy of Gordon.
Nīkānīwak – Translates into the word “Leaders”.
Leadership and Family
Like his father John, Gordon was a leader. He was Chief of his Poundmaker First Nations Band and served as the Vice President of the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations.
He married to Irene Seseequasis and together he had three daughters and three sons.
- Glynis
- Alanna
- Disa
- Lee
- Winston Bear
- Clint
He also has adopted children like many Native American’s have a long act of kinship traditions. The names of his adopted children are:
- Rebecca Brady
- Bertrille Fox
- Patrice Kautzman
- Danielle Thunderchild
- Rene Daoust-Thompson
- Melanie Favel
- Adopted Son Derek Thompson
Gordon Tootoosis passed away on July 5th, 2011 at the age of 69 after being hospitalized with Pneumonia at the St. Paul Hospital in Saskatoon.
We remember Gordon Tootoosis as being a great role model for all Native American people.
What was your favourite movie starring Gordon Tootoosis?
Let us know in the comment section below.
2 replies to "Gordon Tootoosis | Legendary Native Americans"
Airwolf is one of my favorite shows along with Emergency
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