IN DEPTH: ABORIGINAL CANADIANS
Profile: Who is Jordin Tootoo?
CBC News Online | November 17, 2005
Jordin Tootoo (CP Photo)
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Jordin Tootoo is the first Inuk athlete to make it to world-class professional hockey. On October 9, 2003, he played his first shift for the Nashville Predators of the National Hockey League.
Tootoo is Rankin Inlet's biggest sports star ever and a role model for Inuit
young people; a mural of him hangs in the local youth centre. The
Nunavut territorial government features Tootoo and four local teenagers
on an inspirational poster encouraging young people to stay in school
and set goals.
Jordin Tootoo was not the only family member with professional hockey aspirations: Jordin's older brother Terence played in 2002 for the minor hockey team in Roanoke, Va. Terence was found dead near Brandon, Man., in August 2002. The 22-year-old had committed suicide with a shotgun not long after being charged with impaired driving.
Nashville Predators right winger Jordin Tootoo (55) races Anaheim Mighty Ducks defenceman Todd Simpson (2) to the puck in the first period, Oct. 9, 2003, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
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Tootoo dedicated the 2003-2004 season to his brother, and played the year with his late brother's name stencilled on his hockey sticks. He played 70 games in his rookie year. He scored four goals and added four assists. He logged 137 minutes in the penalty box.
The 2004-05 season was cancelled due to the lockout by NHL management. Tootoo appeared in one game for Nashville at the beginning of the 2005-06 season before he was sent down to Milwaukee of the American Hockey League.
Here's a timeline of Tootoo's path to the NHL:
- Born Feb 2, 1983, in Churchill, Man.
- Grew up in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut (formerly N.W.T.)
- Played for OCN Blizzard (Opaskwayak Cree Nation) team in Manitoba junior league (1998-99)
- Played for Brandon Wheat Kings (Western Hockey League, 1999-2002)
- Nashville's 6th pick in 2001 NHL entry draft (98th overall)
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Rankin Inlet, population 2,300, is the largest community in Nunavut. Formerly in the Northwest Territories, "Rankin" is a coastal town on the western shores of Hudson Bay, 515 kilometres north of Churchill, Man. It features flat, rocky tundra terrain. The region is snow-covered about nine months of the year.
Vocabulary:
• Inuk (singular) person of aboriginal descent originating from Arctic and northeastern Canada
• Inuit (plural) plural of Inuk
• Nunavut political division of northeastern Canada. Capital: Iqaluit. Formerly part of Northwest Territories, achieved territorial status April 1, 1999.
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| MEDIA: |
 CBC's Simon Dingley interviews Jordin Tootoo, Christopher Thomas talks to his mother Rose Tootoo before the 'big game'. (Oct 9, 2003 - Runs 5:30)
Canada Now/CBC Northbeat Jennifer Tilden profile of Jordin Tootoo (2002 - Runs 5:17)
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Total population of Canada: 31,414,000
Total people of aboriginal origin: 1,319,890
Origin
North American Indian:
957,650*
Métis:
266,020*
Inuit:
51,390*
More than one aboriginal origin:
44,835
Reserves
People of aboriginal origin living on reserve: 285,625
People of aboriginal origin living off reserve: 1,034,260
People of non-aboriginal origin living on reserve: 36,230
(Source: 2001 Census, Statistics Canada)
*includes people of a single aboriginal origin and those of a mix of one aboriginal origin with non-aboriginal origins
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