Fred Sasakamoose named Order of Canada recipient
A former player with the Moose Jaw Canucks of the Western Canada Junior Hockey League has been appointed a Member of the Order of Canada.
The appointment was a birthday present for Fred Sasakamoose who turned 84 on Dec. 25. The announcement was made Dec. 29, the same day Sasakamoose was honoured by the Edmonton Oilers prior to a game with his former team, the Chicago Blackhawks.
“I was just amazed to get this kind of recognition for my life and I think it made me truly a Canadian to receive this award,” he told sports writers in Edmonton. “It’s a great thing for my native people.” Sasakamoose was named to the Order of Canada for his “trailblazing contributions as the first Canadian Indigenous player in the National Hockey League and for his work in seeking the betterment of his community through sports.” Information in the Canadian Encyclopedia notes he spent nine years in a residential school and in later years discussed the circumstances of his life at the school where he was forced to give up everything relating to his Cree heritage. He was allowed to skate at the school, using borrowed skates from older boys. He received his own skates for following school rules and working hard at the daily chores of milking cows and chopping wood. Sasakamoose was encourged to develop his hockey skills and soon learned to shoot left or right-handed, a skill he used with the Duck Lake Ducks the year the team won the provincial midget championship. He returned to his home the year he turned 15 and that summer was approached by George Vogan to try out for the Moose Jaw Canucks. He lived with the Vogans and spent four seasons from 1950-54 with the Canucks, accumulating 74 points during that time.
After his last game with the Canucks, he and his teammates were told to wait in the dressing room for an announcement — 20-year-old Fred Sasakamoose was to report immediately to the Chicago Blakhawks. The dressing room exploded with cheers from the team.
To prepare him for the next step in his career, six local women presented him with two suitcases filled with new clothes so he would “look like a professional.” Saskamoose played 11 games with the Blackhawks before being sent to play in the minors with affiliated teams including the Westminster Royals and Chicoutimi Sagueneens. He finished his hockey career with the North Battleford Beavers in the 1960-61 season.
In the subsequent years to the present, he devoted his time to promoting opportunities for youth in sports, including hockey, long distance running, track and field, soccer and basketball.
He has received numerous honors and awards for his work in his community and beyond and he and his wife, Loretta, are currently Elders of the Ahtahkakoop Cree Nation.