Elder Tony Cote passes away at 84

Remembering Elder Tony Cote Watch: The community is mourning the loss of a leader as elder Tony Cote passed away on Wednesday. Creeson Agecoutay explains.

Elder Antoine Cote, S.O.M., 84 of Kamsack, has passed away.

Cote, commonly known as Tony, was the great-grandson of Chief Gabriel Cote, main spokesperson for Saulteaux communities during the signing of Treaty 4.

Cote was a survivor of the St. Phillips Residential School, and went on to serve in the Korean War.

He has a vast history of employment with the Saskatchewan sports and Indigenous communities.Cote founded the Saskatchewan First Nations Summer Games in 1974, while he was the Chief of Cote First Nation from 1970 to 1978.

He was the Executive Director of the Saskatchewan Indian Housing Commission from 1990 to 1995, and Chief of the Yorkton Tribal Council from 1973 to 1976, and again from 1995 to 2000.

Cote received the Tom Longboat Medal in 1974 for being an outstanding sportsman.

He received the Saskatchewan Order of Merit in 2008 and in 2011 he was inducted into the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame. He constructed the first artificial ice hockey area on a First Nation and formed on-reserve hockey teams for people of all ages.

Cote was an advocate for sports and recreation and headed a number of economic initiatives for his community.