Two students from Piapot School got the opportunity to sing the Canadian national anthem in Cree in front of thousands of fans at the Regina Pats game on Wednesday night.
Seven-year-old Cree and eight-year-old Dinaye Sayer from Piapot First Nation got the opportunity to share their cree language.
The Pats organization reached out to the girls’ former kindergarten teacher and the two only had about a week and a half to practice.
“We usually practice on Youtube and we find O Canada,” said Cree.
“In my old school, we used to sing it every day and every morning,” added Dinaye.
Both of them speak the language and learned Cree at school from their language teacher Oakley Blackstar.
The girls admitted they were nervous to perform in front of the large crowd, but the community was happy they did it and proud of all their accomplishments, including their father Everet Sayer.
He said his daughters are strongly grounded in their language and culture.
“They also went out there representing,” Everet said. “They had on Navajo moccasins and a Navajo bun on yet they sang in Cree because we are trying to show them it’s OK to walk in both worlds.”
The girls’ performance was part of the Pats’ “First Nations Appreciation Night” sponsored by File Hills Qu’Appelle Developments and Casino Regina.
“Hockey really represents community,” said Pats COO Stacey Cattell. “When they lead the way it just really brought the energy up in the building.”
Based on reports from CTV's Creeson Agecoutay
