Thanks to Tyrone Tootoosis for permission to share this collection of photographs from the early days of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indians. For Tyrone this political history is also personal, since a great of the history of what is now the FSIN is outlined in detail in the biography of his grandfather, the late Senator John B. Tootoosis. His eldest grandchild, Tyrone is the eldest son of John B’s eldest son, Wilfred Tootoosis.
The Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan gives a brief biography at
http://esask.uregina.ca/entry/tootoosis_john_baptiste_1899-_1989.html.
The 1982 biography, edited by Norma Goodwill and Jean Sluman, is based on recordings of the old man himself, in Cree. Originally published by Golden Dog, it was later reprinted by Pemmican in 1984 and 1987.
Photos are captioned where captions were provided by Tyrone.
I really appreciate these photographs from Tyrone. John Tootoosis was the inspiration for a leading character in my forthcoming novel “Eaglechild.” He is also featured prominently in my forthcominh book “Nation to Nation” which reports on the Indian constitutional campaign in London in 1979-1982. I wonder if anybody can tell me who the young man was who accompanied him on some of his trips to London. I’m not sure if ti was his son or grandson. And can anyone refresh my memory of the name of the son that accompanied the Indian dance group to London. Arsene Tootoosis was the elder with the group but one of John’s sons was a general organiser and another son or grandson was a performer.. For more information on my books and a blog article on John Tootoosis please visit my website:
http://www.victoroconnell.com
I know Brian Tootoosis a nephew travelled with him to the UK to help him with whatever