Sadie Joyce Cote

Sadie Cote passed away at the Kamsack Hospital on April 20, 2019.   Sadie is predeceased by her partner, David Sugar, sons Edward, Ronald Tourangeau, and Laurie.  Her parents were John Friday and Rosie Pratt.  Sadie will be lovingly missed by her husband, Tony Cote, her children, Beverly, Johnny, Denise, Faye, Joan, Robert (Heather), Willett Tourangeau (Jennifer), Sadie Friday, Lavonne Secretan (Kent).  Special granddaughters Valerie Cote, Camilla Whitehawk, Jaime Keshane, Jasmine McNab, Jenna McNab, Daneen Cote and special grandson Johnny Ketchemonia, and special nephews  David & Clayton Badger,  and numerous grandchildren and great grand children.

Sadie was a kind, loving, giving mother who brought up her own children, and many other relatives and youth.  She became a positive role model for their lives especially in their later years.   She taught her children positive work ethics. The family always had a convenience store and her children had to work in it after school and on weekends. She stressed the importance of the Western education and to stay in school so that they could become positive contributors to society. Her favorite saying was not to waste the teacher’s time. She was proud of her children that had the following careers:  policing, teaching, nursing, administrators.  Grandchildren in Information Technology, Social Work, Addictions, Administration, Environmental Services, Nursing and Car Salesman.

Sadie was raised in a large family that worked hard and lived across the river.   Her father had many horses and raced thoroughbreds.  Her father, John Friday had a winning thoroughbred named “Clinker” that won many races in Saskatchewan.   Her favourite horse was named “Babe.”

Sadie loved gardening and flowers.  She made a garden every spring and had beds of colourful, beautiful flowers at all houses.  She was called the Queen of Badgerville with her beautiful flowers and trees.   She also loved the Lord and read her bible and also believed in the traditional way.  She believed there is a God and that no one should condemn any other religions. 

Sadie worked as a midwife and a girls’ supervisor, and seamstress in northern Alberta. She was a teacher’s aid at Cote Kindergarten.  Sadie was the first child care worker in the province for the Cote reserve in the 70’s.  She was president of the Saskatchewan Indian Women’s Association in the early 1980’s.  Their organization was instrumental to include First Nations women in First Nations politics at the FSI (Federation of Saskatchewan Indians) level. Also, she was very instrumental in working and raising money for the Cote Chiefs Hockey Club and the building and construction of the Cote Arena. She was a band Councillor for the reserve for 17 terms.  She was an addictions counsellor at the CAP Centre.  She was an Elder for the Women’s Secretariat and for the Chief Gabriel Cote School.  In her later years, Sadie worked as an Elder at the Chief Gabriel Cote Education Complex.  She loved working with the children as she always said that they were our future.  She would go into the classrooms and tell them about the old days and how things were back then.

The family would like to thank the people for their kind words, prayers, and condolences, as well as all the people who visited mother in the hospital especially her nieces and nephews.  Thank you to Rhoda Straightnose and Loretta Friday who supplied lunch to the family.  Thanks to the Chief of Cote First Nation for his prayers and support and also the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations.

A Wake was held on Monday April 22, 2019 from the Chief Gabriel Cote Education Complex

A Funeral was held on Tuesday April 23, 2019 also from the Chief Gabriel Cote Education Complex

Interment was at the Old Cote Cemetery

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