Saskatchewan is mourning the loss of Indigenous sports builder Tony Cote.
Cote, who founded the First Nations Summer Games in the mid-1970s, died Wednesday at the age of 84.
He is also credited with establishing one of the first indoor hockey rinks on a Saskatchewan First Nation and starting the fist all-Indigenous Junior B hockey team in the province.
Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations Chief Bobby Cameron says he met with Cote just a few weeks ago at what is now called the Tony Cote Summer Games.
“I had the pleasure of visiting him the last few weeks at Flying Dust (First Nation) where he was able to spend time, the whole week, with all the athletes,” he says. “He was a tremendous contributor to many First Nations. His legacy, his name, will forever be etched in the memories of people across the country.”
Cote was a recipient of the Saskatchewan Order of Merit and a member of the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame.
He also served as chief of the Cote First Nation in the early 1970s and was a Korean War veteran.
(PHOTO: Tony Cote. Photo courtesy Flying Dust First Nation 2019 Tony Cote Summer Games Facebook page.)