'A big voice': Friends, family mourn death of Elder Ted Fontaine

Ted Fontaine, a pillar of Manitoba's First Nations community and an author who detailed abuses he suffered at a government-run residential school, has died at 79.

When Fontaine, originally from the community of Sagkeeng, was seven years old, his parents were forced to leave him at a residential school by order of the Roman Catholic Church and the federal government.

Twelve years later, he left the school, still emotionally frozen at age of seven, according to his memoir Broken Circle: The Dark Legacy of Indian Residential Schools. It wasn't until age 29 that he emerged from that darkness, he wrote, and began helping others to heal.

"Ted was a big voice for the real long-standing legacy of Indian residential schools," said Fontaine's cousin, Donavan Fontaine.

"He was a big voice for the community — not just Sagkeeng. He meant a lot for survivors. He was giving them a voice and that's not always an easy thing to do when you have that kind of baggage and trauma."

When Ted Fontaine left the Fort Alexander and Assiniboia Indian Residential Schools in 1960, he was angry and conflicted after his experience, and was on a path of self-destruction, according to his memoir.

At 32, he graduated from the civil engineering program at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology and began a journey of self-exploration and healing.

Fontaine, who died on May 10, according to the University of Manitoba, dedicated the rest of his life to sharing his experiences at the school — not just to heal himself, he wrote, but also his people and those who suffered like him.

Despite the hurt and resentment and injustices that he endured, Fontaine never lashed out, his cousin Donavan said.

"To share that as he did, in a real humble way, not a vindictive way, I think that's his legacy. He didn't send any daggers to anybody, there was no fingers pointed.

"That's just the kind of guy he was."

Fontaine became a highly respected chief of Sagkeeng Anicinabe First Nation, and was also an elder and a traditional knowledge keeper for his home community, doing his best to help people embrace their First Nations heritage, those who knew him say.

In that way, he countered the shame that older generations felt due to the mistreatment by successive Canadian governments and the residential school system.

"He was just a kind and gentle person, always willing to help," said close friend Rosa Walker, who knew Fontaine since the 1980s and spoke with him nearly every day.

"He loved speaking his language and sharing it with people. And he was so proud of his family and to be an Indigenous man. I'll always remember that."

Walker, who also worked with Fontaine at the Assembly of First Nations during the time of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, echoed the character description painted by Donavan.

She believes that is why he was so loved and able to help so many people — because he was pure and honest.

"He didn't harbour any ill will. He gave back instead," she said.

Walker listed off some of Fontaine's accomplishments, including as a participant at the Meech Lake Accord, as co-founder of the Indigenous Leadership Development Institute, as a director at Peace Hills Trust, as a volunteer with the Victorian Order of Nurses, and as an end-of-life companion with Palliative Manitoba.

"He was just everything. How does one man, who has to come through such a difficult upbringing, go through and give back so much?" she said.

"It's pretty amazing."