Celebrate the 15th Anniversary of Broken Circle
September 28th, 2025 is the 15th anniversary of Broken Circle: The Dark Legacy of Indian Residential Schools by the late Theodore (Ted) Niizhotay Fontaine (1941-2021), a powerful, groundbreaking memoir of survival and healing after years of residential school abuse.
Originally published in 2010, Broken Circle: The Dark Legacy of Indian Residential Schools chronicles the impact of Theodore Fontaine’s harrowing experiences at Fort Alexander and Assiniboia Indian Residential Schools, including psychological, emotional, and sexual abuse; disconnection from his language and culture; and the loss of his family and community. Told as remembrances infused with insights gained through his long healing process, Fontaine goes beyond the details of the abuse that he suffered to relate a unique understanding of why most residential school survivors have post-traumatic stress disorders and why succeeding generations suffer from this dark chapter in history.
With the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation coming up on September 30th, we urge you to take a moment to acknowledge Canada’s painful history and the ongoing impact of residential schools is a vital component of the reconciliation process.
Fontaine was a member and former chief of the Sagkeeng First Nation in Manitoba. He attended the Fort Alexander and Assiniboia Indian Residential Schools from 1948 to 1960. As a youth, he played senior hockey across Western Canada before moving north to direct a mineral exploration crew in the Northwest Territories. Fontaine graduated in civil engineering from the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology in 1973 and went on to work extensively in the corporate, government and First Nations sectors, including eleven years with the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs as an advisor and executive director. He served in leadership and voluntary roles with organizations such as the Banff Centre for Management, Peace Hills Trust, the Indigenous Leadership Development Institute, the Manitoba Museum, the Victorian Order of Nurses, and Palliative Manitoba. A regular speaker and media commentator on residential schools, Fontaine presented Broken Circle to more than 1,600 audiences in Canada and the United States.
McNally Robinson Winnipeg is once again honouring Fontaine with Niizhotay Stories, an annual event which calls on us all to forge a healing path in the spirit of “two hearts." Join in-person at Sunday Sep 28 at 1:30 PM, or virtually at
https://www.mcnallyrobinson.
Left: Fontaine family (Theodore bottom left). Right: Theodore on stairs.
Fontaine’s class and the school nuns, Fort Alexander, 1926
A young Theodore, 1966
Sagkeeng hockey team, 1988 (Fontaine far right)
Left: Fontaine running the half marathon, 1996. Right: Author headshot, credit to Ruth Bonneville
Morgan and Theodore Fontaine after the book launch, 2010
Fontaine in his office, Winnipeg
