Ethan Bear speaks after Tuesday’s starblanket presentation. Photo by Manfred Joehnck.
A proud family and proud First Nation stood before the Assembly of First Nations assembly on Tuesday to honour Ochapawace hockey player Ethan Bear.
Bear played with the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds for four seasons and is now an Edmonton Oilers prospect. He says he didn’t get to where he is today without a lot of support.
“The support I had growing up was pretty amazing, from my family and my community. Both my family and my community are pretty large and to have them here with me today is pretty special and I couldn’t be more humbled to have such an amazing group beside me,” he told more than 1,000 people in attendance at the Regina AFN gathering after being wrapped in a starblanket and played an honour song.
Kahkewistahaw Chief Evan Taypotat was a mentor for Bear growing up, saying “when Ethan was a little guy we kind of recognized that he was pretty good at hockey and we said as a family we have to support them.”
He also and spoke of the financial sacrifices both Bear’s mother Geraldine and father Lloyd have made in order to send Ethan to tournaments all over North America, and of Geraldine’s devotion to driving the 20 hours to one of his games in Seattle without even a second thought.
“When someone has someone that they believe in them and they push them, our kids can do a lot,” Taypotat said.
While Taypotat spoke on stage, Aboriginal NHL legend Reggie Leach snuck behind him to chat with Ethan. Also speaking during the honour ceremony were Ochapawace Chief Margaret Bear and FSIN Chief Bobby Cameron.
Bear is hosting a hockey school on Kahkewistahaw starting on Monday.