“Your culture is your superpower”
Leroy Fontaine (Personal Fitness Trainer ’05) had been thinking about writing a book for a while – a memoir, maybe, or an autobiographical novel. He was in his early 40s then, but a lifetime’s worth of experience was already behind him.
Fans of competitive reality TV may already know Fontaine. In 2023, he finished The Traitors: Canada as a finalist. In 2019, he was the winner of The Brigade: Race to the Hudson. The appearances showcased his strength and determination, the products of a backstory that remained his to tell.
Currently also a firefighter in Halifax, Fontaine grew up as a member of the Denesuliné tribe in Chipewyan Prairie First Nation in northwest Alberta. From the age of seven, he was raised by extended family members, each contributing uniquely to his development. First, grandparents helped him connect with his Indigenous culture; then, in Fort McMurray, an uncle enabled him to pursue a love of football (ultimately leading to his 2010 CFL draft).
Fontaine came to embrace both traditional and western ways; in making both a part of his life, he saw a way forward for himself, and perhaps for others, too. The day he saw his young son in the kitchen wearing a superhero cape, hand raised as if to take flight, he knew the way to tell the story of his own growth and reconciliation was through a children’s book.
In August 2024, Fontaine published Sekweha the Superkid and His Cultural Cape. It’s about an Indigenous boy who, after moving to the city, is helped by friends to reclaim items from his heritage that he’d lost along the way. After a year of sharing its message, here’s what Fontaine told us about representation, reconciliation and what Sekweha has meant to him.
“Sekweha in Dene, my language, means ‘for the youth.’ One of the things that I really wanted to bring into the picture was representation. There’s not enough representation of superheroes that are Indigenous. Somebody can see themselves as having this superhero power – your culture is your superpower. That's what I want to create for the book.
“Every piece in the book has some sort of deeper meaning. Sekweha basically tells the story of me leaving my home reserve to pursue a dream.
"Every time I moved – from my community to Fort McMurray, from Fort McMurray to Edmonton, from Edmonton to Halifax – it always pulled me away from my roots. Every time Sekweha does something new, he replaces something. When he put on football cleats, for example, he took off his mukluks.
“Sekweha was also that opportunity to create a space where allies are a part of this picture. Allies are so important in the book. You're going to have mentors and people along the way that are going to help you and be that partner on this journey with you. If they were not there for me – my coaches, teachers and other people who helped shape me and keep me on the track that I was supposed to be on – I wouldn't be where I am today.
“There were some emotions that I had to work through while writing, but I knew this was the process I had to go through to make sure it was done right. My upbringing wasn't good. We struggled in a lot of different ways as a family.
"I definitely had to relive and revisit, and acknowledge, ‘This is what happened, this is what I am, and what I am doing for the future.’
“I think that process really taught me to not dwell on what happened. I can't change that. There were hardships but it made me who I am. It's made me very proud to share this message with the world.
“But the main goal is to spread that message to young kids. If we're working towards reconciliation, that's where it has to start. And it includes the allies. Both sides have to see the vision of what the future holds for Canada as a whole. It takes both parties to push that forward.
Here's why Leroy Fontaine earned a 2025 NAIT Alumni Award of Excellence
“For Indigenous people, it's about sharing the stories and our framework of what we believe in, and making people aware what wrongs have been done over the years.
“But it can't just completely be Indigenous people who do all the facilitating and education because it becomes a revisiting of trauma. It is also the responsibility of non-Indigenous people to go that extra step and work towards all the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 Calls to Action.
“Everything that I do is another step to trying to have a greater reach, and trying to use my experience to bridge the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people.
"The book has opened doors for me. I've done quite a few presentations and keynotes over the past year, and I’ve been working with a company in Indigenous relations.
“It's a hard weight to carry sometimes, to be honest. But I think there are hundreds, if not thousands, of people who could benefit from the work that I'm doing.
"Anytime I speak, anytime I read a story, even if I can connect with one kid or one person and it opens up their mind and opens up doors, I've done my job.”
“I did a school reading at a First Nations community and all of a sudden this boy in the back said, ‘Hey, I have a braid,’ and he showed me while we're telling the story. ‘That's like me!’ He lit up.
"This is exactly what I want – for someone like that to see themselves in this position and to feel confident and powerful, and connect with that culture.
"It hit me right in the heart.”