Ever the teacher

Honoured educator and author, gentle father, devoted Sundancer and fire-keeper

By: Janine LeGal

Indigenous teachings and practices resonated deeply and provided a place of belonging for Blair Robillard, who’d always been a seeker of truth, wisdom and knowledge.

While not born into it, Robillard found his spirituality in university. There, he first recognized a great love and respect for Indigenous people, living their teachings and understandings throughout his life, his illness and ultimately even his death from cancer on Sept. 16, 2024 at age 66.

Robillard had become a genuine servant of the people, a warrior, a helper, a Sundancer and a teacher known for his compassion.

The second of three boys, Robillard was born in 1958 on a Royal Canadian Air Force base in France. At 17, he moved to Winnipeg and eventually to Winnipeg Beach. A natural-born storyteller, Robillard was eager to learn about everything.

A strong swimmer, he taught classes and became a lifeguard at 16. He reveled in scuba diving at West Hawk Lake and canoeing in Northern Ontario. He liked to forage for wild mushrooms, sage and willow and loved the Canadian Shield, being in the bush and on the water. He called it his church, his home away from home.

When he wasn’t communing with nature, Robillard had other pursuits, from strumming the guitar to teaching himself massage and reflexology, woodcarving, yoga, writing poetry, playing gigs with children’s entertainer Al Simmons and attending the annual Winnipeg Folk Festival.

Joannie Halas met Robillard in 1999, when she had a grant to hire instructors for an Indigenous games and activities course in the physical education program at the University of Manitoba.

“Blair’s name kept coming up, and when a respected Indigenous education leader recommended him, I tracked him down. The success of that first course led to Blair’s ongoing teaching in our faculty and the inner city social work program. He eventually taught at other post-secondary institutions in Winnipeg and up north,” said Halas.

She further described how, over the next 20 years, Robillard developed Indigenous games workshops that were delivered throughout Manitoba, in First Nations communities and public schools, leading to publication of his book Kihcite Metawewin: Playing with a Great Heart, which received the Innovation in Teaching Award from the U of M.

“Blair brought the same booming voice and infectious energy every time he taught,” continued Halas. “From tiny children to high school and university students, to physical education teachers and community members and older adults, Blair found ways to bring us out of our comfort zones. He could make you laugh till your sides were splitting and, in the next minute, share with you a teaching so profound that it stayed with you the rest of your life.

“Blair had a way of making young people feel confident in who they were and I know more than a few who credit him with changing their lives.

“He was fiercely determined to make sure the games and teachings he had learned from Indigenous elders and knowledge keepers be passed on to the next generations.”

In 2018, Robillard’s course, Indigenous Games and Activities, was recognized by MacLean’s magazine as one of two “Cool Courses” offered by the U of M.

In October 2024, he was posthumously bestowed a Builder Award from the Physical Health Educators of Manitoba.

Robillard was fully committed to learning and that meant ensuring his children learned as much as they could, too.

Twins Kassin and Genevieve, the youngest of Robillard’s four daughters, agree that their father was an exceptional parent and grandparent.

“When we were teenagers (and we were not easy to raise), he would come home after one of us had made a mistake,” Genevieve recalled.

“He’d ask, ‘Did you learn a lesson?’ There was no judgment.

“He was the most calm and gentle person, he was our safe place. Every time we were struggling, he knew exactly what to say. My daughter had a Papa and Sophia day once a week where he would teach her how to cook or bake or they would paint together or do board games. I am so grateful she got 10 years with him. He always knew when we needed him, whether we voiced it or not. We talked to him about everything and anything. He was our dad and our best friend.”

Even after their parents separated, the children’s well-being remained a priority.

“My dad moved in with his best friend, Stan,” recalled Kassin. “There were eight kids altogether. The house was always very full. It was great. My dad and Stan were both very good with everybody. They kept us engaged, busy and entertained. Dad was famous for saying, ‘If you’re not having fun, you’re doing something wrong.’”

Robillard was also known for his generosity and gifting things to people.

“He was the most giving person I know,” Kassin added. “He was always helping people in need. And he was very spiritual: he would go to Sundance and was involved in many sweats for himself and hosting others as well. He helped to guide us. I will do my best to pass along his teachings.”

Michael Pierre, a traditional Anishinaabe/Ininiw knowledge keeper, met Robillard when they connected as sessional instructors and collaborated on the Indigenous games and culture programming.

“In the early days, he mentioned how he’d looked and tried a few times in his life to find safe spaces and cultural spirituality,” said Pierre. “I accepted him to find out more about who he was by attending Sundance with me. A great way of learning is to do, get involved; that’s the way you learn about who we are and how we fit in creation.

“He felt like he had found his people. He became a helper. He got his vision to Sundance. When he finished his four-year commitment, he continued volunteering and giving back to community. He was always my eyes and ears, a good fire-keeper. He’d get the sweat lodges ready at four and five in the morning. It was during that time that he got that name, North Star Man. Our spiritual and cultural practices are quite universal — what I describe as the human family: it’s looking after the spirit, that soul kind of work.”

“We did that four-night fire for him. Community and family came and helped celebrate his life. We had a pipe ceremony and a sharing circle.

“He tried to do his work from a place of kindness, living a life of service to others as a helper. He lived that.”

city@freepress.mb.ca