Battle of Little Big Puck charity hockey game raises over $6,600

The remaining amount went to the Southwest Trust Board. The board funds the Southwest Integrated Health Facility located in Maple Creek.

According to mayor Michelle McKenzie, this is a date everyone in southwest Saskatchewan circles on the calendar.

“For the town of Maple Creek, this turnout is phenomenal,” McKenzie said.

“Everybody wonders and asks why and questions everything of how this can be, but for my community , my town and my surrounding area, this means the world to all of us because we can just be cohesive as a community.”

“There is no ‘Cowboys’. There is no ‘Indians’. When we come here, we’re a community, so a title of ‘Cowboys’ or a title of ‘Indians’, it doesn’t mean anything except for who scores and who wins at the end of the game.”

For organizer and player Joe Braniff, organizing the game is a labour of love, but one everyone treats as a privilege.

“It’s no secret that this game, others have tried to duplicate it and copy it and everything in other places, but for whatever reason, it doesn’t work,” Braniff said.

“But we’ve had such a long term relationship with the Nekaneet people that I won’t say [organizing] is easy, but it somewhat is because we’re friends and when you work with friends, it’s easy.”

People outside of the community might be concerned about the political correctness associated with the game.

Bradley Goodwill, an Indigenous player and organizer, said that people need to experience the game firsthand to see there’s no racial undertones.

“For me, at the end of the day, people can think what they think but the have to come here to witness this first,” Goodwill said.

“They have to experience the atmosphere of this game because when you go to the beer gardens, when you go to the stands, there’s nothing but First Nations mingling with the community of Maple Creek and we’re all standing there together,” he said.

Larry Oaks played in the very first game, held in 1979.

He noted that games like this are starting to pop up across Canada, including a game in Onion Lake, near Lloydminster.

Oaks believes coming together as a community like this can break generational racial barriers.

“This is a hockey game here. But it could be a soccer game in Toronto or a ball game in Vancouver. Go ahead and build on it,” Oaks said.

“I think in today’s day and age, it’s become somewhat of a counter to racism and whatnot. There’s no need for that, we can have a laugh about it,” he said.

“It’s about having fun with your neighbours, your friends and in a lot of ways, your brothers.”

While McKenzie says that it’s unlikely another community can replicate the event, it’s one everyone should experience.

“When you come into this community, you’re welcomed into the community. It doesn’t matter who you are,” McKenzie said.

“So if you wanted to have an experience that is true and warms your heart, you need to come to come here to see what friendship, true friendship is,” she said.

“That’s this game.”

by Adrian St.Onge

Battle of Little Big Puck charity hockey game raises over $6,600

Our Community