Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation is mourning the loss of one of its oldest elders.
Believed to be 102-years-old, Sarah Bear passed away on Monday at a Prince Albert hospital due to complications of old age.
The community is now remembering her for the lessons of culture and language she shared.
“She was a big part of our community because she passed on her knowledge, like the way they used to live back in the old days and how they survived and how they lived off the land,” Bear’s granddaughter Jennifer Bird says.
Bird says band records indicate her grandmother was 102-years-old but close family members think Bear may have been even a few years older than that.
“She lived off the land, she had wild meat and also used traditional medicine.”
She says the most important lesson she learned from her kookum was how she expressed sincere love and compassion to everyone she met.
Bird adds this preservation of culture, tradition and language will now be passed along to her parents who are the next line of elders.
The Prince Albert Grand Council is honouring Bear’s memory by presenting a blanket at the wake service Wednesday afternoon at Full Gospel Outreach Church in Prince Albert.
The funeral service will take place at Reindeer Lake School in Southend on Feb. 2 at 2 p.m.
(PHOTO: Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation Elder Sarah Bear. Photo courtesy of Pauline Clark Facebook page.)