Regina Pats hold Indigenous Celebration Night to honour culture, traditions

The Regina Pats will be celebrating Indigenous culture when they face off against the Wenatchee Wild at the Brandt Centre on Friday night.

"It is a night to celebrate Indigenous culture and heritage," said Pats forward Connor Bear, who is from the Ochapowace First Nation, about 165 kilometres east of Regina. 

It is the second season in a row that the Pats are holding an Indigenous Celebration Night. Bear said the event shows respect to Indigenous culture and promotes healthy relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people.

The schedule includes a pre-game ceremony honouring Chief Shawn Longman of George Gordon First Nation, as well as executives at George Gordon Developments Ltd., which the team partnered with to put on the event.  

The opening ceremony will feature an Indigenous drum group and a territorial acknowledgement recognizing the land and peoples of Treaty 4.

The Pats players will be wearing special jerseys with a Star Blanket pattern designed by local Indigenous artists Rodger Ross and Quentin Karmark of 4 Claws Inc.

"We wanted to bring greater awareness to Indigenous art and culture and thought what better way than with an Indigenous-themed jersey designed by local Indigenous artists," said Regina Pats CEO Gordon Pritchard.

Josh Montana, director of business development and strategy at George Gordon Developments, said the relationship between the organization and the Regina Pats is built on reconciliation. 

"We haven't much representation in the corporate world and especially in, say, recreation and in sports," Montana said. "So we thought it was important to create this relationship with the Regina Pats because I want our people to know that we belong and there's no reason that we shouldn't have a seat at the table, or seats on the ice in this case." 

Montana said the Indigenous Celebration Night is an important night to showcase some Indigenous culture.  

"It's just bringing people of all ethnicities that live in the city of Regina together to celebrate our Indigenous heritage and culture," said Montana. 

Doors open at 6 p.m. CST and the game starts at 7 p.m.