Saskatoon council committee gives OK for Fred Sasakamoose statue

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.

Neil Sasakamoose said his father was a great partner to the city.

“It’s an honour for us. It’s the city (the family members) have chosen in Saskatchewan that we would like his image to be displayed,” Neil said.

Mayor Charlie Clark said Sasakamoose was a father to many in the community.

“I gained so much from the times I got to spend with Fred,” said Clark, “and to see the joy that he had in his spirit and also the love and the passion he had to try and make a better future for young people and for especially Indigenous youth, but for all young people growing up in our city and our province and our country.”

Ward 3 Coun. David Kirton also introduced a motion to move both of the statues down the line.

“I was wanting to have that friendly amendment that the statue be moved to the downtown entertainment district when that district is complete,” he said.

That motion was also passed unanimously.

Family reflects on  past five months

Since early November, things have been tough on Sasakamoose’s family.

Sasakamoose — the first treaty-status player in NHL history — died on Nov. 24 after battling a presumed COVID-19 case. He was 86 years old.

Neil Sasakamoose said since his father’s death, things just haven’t felt right in his world.

“I think we’re going into this new stage in our life, remembering him again. We had stages of him,” Neil said. “We’ve been dealing with the passing part of it now.”

The younger Sasakamoose said Fred and his mother had just celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary in July. Following Fred’s death, complications of COVID arose in the family as well.

“My mother got COVID-19, and my siblings and the extension of my family all got COVID-19 during the passing, so the funeral was delayed for (10) or 15 days,” he said.

Sasakamoose said through that time — with the thank yous, the tributes and the condolences — the grief didn’t hit him until just recently. Yet discussions with the City of Saskatoon, along with a letter from the provincial government, had him focused on other projects.

Sasakamoose said the family received a letter from the province, notifying them that May 18 will be proclaimed “Fred Sasakamoose Day” in Saskatchewan. May 18 is also the day Fred’s book, “Call Me Indian,” hits the shelves.

On top of that, there was the news of the statue.

Neil knows how he will react if, or when, that statue is unveiled.

“I’ll cry like a kid. Even that thought of it, I get really emotional … You’re planning something, you remove yourself from the emotion of it and you get in this mindset of planning and organizing. It’ll hit me like a ton of bricks,” he said.

“It’s a big hole in our life that we’re trying to fill.”

Neil said the statue will resemble his father, smiling, at 19 or 20 years old, with a Chicago Blackhawks jersey. It would also have a headdress, resembling one Fred was given when he was 19 years old.

Neil also knows how his dad would feel if his statue is put beside the great Mr. Hockey.

“That was one of his heroes, was Gordie Howe. He looked up to him greatly and to be associated in the same manner as Gordie Howe, he would have been delighted,” Neil said, before adding Fred’s humility would also have him saying that he didn’t deserve to be immortalized alongside Howe.

“He always placed people higher than him (who) played longer years … In his mind, ‘I only played 10 or 11 games.’ … He didn’t want to be out front, but his story, (people) would just draw to the story — and it was someone from here that had that experience.”

The plan is also to have all of Fred’s awards and artifacts shown in one particular place.

But when people look at Fred’s statue, Neil has an idea what he wants people to remember the NHL trailblazer by.

“When you look at him, and all the pain generations had to go through, that people don’t take it for granted,” he said.

“(He went from) isolation, residential school, language, being dropped into non-Indigenous places, having poor education, but at the same time finding hope in people — for the future for their kids, and the need for people to get along: Non-First Nations people, and First Nations people.”

Working together as one was something Fred strived for, Neil continued. His thoughts were heavily embedded in reconciliation and working together to find solutions.

“He knew it took two people to walk together all the time …,” Neil said. “He always wanted other people to feel that trust for, as he would say, ‘white people.’ He always wanted to walk hand in hand with First Nations and non-First Nations people. He really believed that.”