Edmonton Oilers defenceman Ethan Bear, who was born and raised on Ochapowace First Nation in Saskatchewan, received racist messages and comments on social media following the Oilers’ postseason loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Monday night.
The memoir of Fred Sasakamoose is now on book store shelves. In Call Me Indian, Sasakamoose, who is from the Ahtahkakoop Cree Nation, shares the story of his life from childhood, to becoming the first player with treaty status to make it to the National Hockey League with the Chicago Blackhawks in 1953-54. Fred’s son […]
TORONTO The first treaty Indigenous player in the NHL, Fred Sasakamoose, will tell his story in his own words in a posthumous memoir. The book “Call Me Indian: From the Trauma of Residential School to Becoming the NHL’s first Treaty Indigenous Player,” is scheduled to be released on Tuesday. It details Sasakamoose s brief time in the league, as well as his years spent off the ice, which were dedicated to helping his community and advocating for Indigenous peoples. “It’s his last memoir; it’s his last memory of himself and how he viewed the world and how his experiences changed his life and made him who he was towards the end of his life,” his son, Neil Sasakamoose, said Monday on CTV s Your Morning.
SASKATOON Plans are underway to memorialize a Saskatchewan hockey legend who lost his life to COVID-19. A memorial statue of Fred Sasakamoose will be joining Gordie Howe on the steps leading up to SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon. His son Neil Sasakamoose said he’s eager to celebrate the legacy of his father. “My dad was such a large image, I didn’t know the impacts he had on people,” Neil said. “When he passed it was like all of North America engaged and they wanted to do something.” Sasakamoose died at Victoria Hospital in Prince Albert on Nov. 24 after being hospitalized with COVID-19. He was 86 years old.
Fred Sasakamoose.
(paNOW)
Saskatoon’s governance and priorities committee gave the green light Monday to erect an eight-foot statue of Fred Sasakamoose at SaskTel Centre.
The statue of the Saskatchewan hockey icon will face Gordie Howe’s at the building’s main entrance.
Several groups, including the Dakota Dunes Community Development Corporation, Battleford Agency Tribal Chiefs and Synergy 8 Community Builders submitted a joint application for the commemorative statue.
It will cost about $180,000, which will be picked up by the applicants. Once completed, the sculpture will be donated to the city and will be maintained at a cost of around $250 per year. It’s expected to be completed by October.