The next few days will be a time for celebration on the Ahtahkakoop Cree Nation that include a film presentation as part of a national film tour, the dedication of a Sew & Sew Skills Lab and the gifting of a special banner to the local school. The events have been organized by the charity I Love First Peoples (ILFP). ILFP founder Josee Lusignan says they wanted to honour Fred Sasakamoose who she met in 2016 at a Toronto Maple Leafs game, which was a night to honour Indigenous people on ice. She says they maintained the friendship and worked closely with the kids in his community. In addition, after that meeting ILFP commissioned an artist to create a banner with a mural that depicted Fred Sasakamoose’s rookie card which he also signed. That banner is being gifted to the school on Wednesday

Sasakamoose passed away in November 2020 at the age of 86 due to complications from COVID-19 but in 2021, May 18th became a day set aside to recognize Saskamoose as one of the first treaty Indigenous men to play in the NHL.

The charity recently gifted Chief Ahtahkakoop School with a sewing skills lab which gives young people an opportunity to learn sewing on not just fabric but canvas and hides with the goal of providing a launching pad into fashion for those with an ongoing interest who can showcase Indigenous culture through their work. During a fashion show on Wednesday night the lab will be dedicated to the memory of Fred Sasakamoose, described as a friend and adviser to the charity prior to his passing. The fashion show will be presented by the students and community.

And today (Tuesday) the charity is providing a free screening of the film Bones of Crows on the Ahtahkakoop Cree Nation. Lusignan says the film is inspired by many true events and is the story of a young woman who goes through the residential school system and goes on to become a code-talker during the war. It is also premiering on the First Nation in its Cree version.