By Nigel Maxwell

Family members share memories of Gordon Tootoosis

Jul 6, 2011 | 12:35 PM

Gordon Tootoosis passed away Tuesday at the age of 69.
A cause of death isn't known as of yet, but he was in hospital recently for pneumonia.

The well respected aboriginal actor from the Poundmaker First Nation was one of the stars of C-B-C's “North of 60” television series.

His film career also included the 1973 film “Alien Thunder” which was filmed in Duck Lake.

Family members are sharing their memories of Gordon Tootoosis.

“People always shook his hand. He was never famous to me, he was family,” said Kurt Seesequasias.

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Seesequasis said his uncle would often speak at family gatherings and pass on his wisdom.

Tootoosis was a mentor to other Aboriginal actors and was one of the founding members of the Saskatchewan Native Theatre Company (SNTC). “(We're) extremely saddened by the sudden loss of a founding member and dear friend,” said the SNTC in a news release.

“Gordon was extremely dedicated to SNTC, especially to the youth who benefit from SNTC’s vision and programming. Gordon was key in the development of this vision.”

“In the over 11 years of this company’s existence, SNTC regularly depended on Gordon’s guidance, and its greatest successes are owed to his insistence that they be rooted in Aboriginal spirit and culture.”

“He was very outspoken on our beliefs, our loss of language, the Cree language. Today most of our kids are not fluent in our language,” said Seesequasias.

Seesequasis said his uncle could be very serious at times but also had a softer side.

“He was very kind. He was humorous. He loved horses. He was very into his cowboy lifestyle.”

Seequasis said his uncle was a powerful speaker and people always listened when he spoke.

nmaxwell@panow.com