Whitebear First Nations’ Teagan Littlechief sings national anthem at 109th Grey Cup

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Written By: Christina Cherneskey

Teagan Littlechief is no slouch when it comes to singing the anthem at Saskatchewan Roughriders games in Regina. LittleChief, who is from White Bear First Nation in southeastern Saskatchewan, says she’s been singing “O Canada” at the home games for a decade now. But having the opportunity to sing the opening anthem at the 109th Grey Cup in Regina, in November of 2022 went well beyond Littlechief’s wildest dreams. And in three languages, no less.

“English is my main language,” Littlechief explained. “And in no way am I fluent in anything besides English. So, the French, I did have to learn within the two-week period. And then the Cree. I was very fortunate to have our pre-teacher who explained the Cree to me. And when I sang for the crowds, I really wanted to speak to everybody – in all the languages.”

Littlechief says there was lots to think about during her performance at the Grey Cup, but she wouldn’t trade that experience for anything.

“In Mosaic Stadium, there’s a lot of quirks that you have to learn,”

Littlechief said. “And on Grey Cup day, I didn’t have an earpiece, so I had to really focus on the timing.

I also had to keep in mind when the jets were going to fly over. So, I was trying to keep the beat, because in Mosaic Stadium, there’s a lot of feedback. Like a good 0.5 seconds of REAL delay! So as soon as I’d sing a line, the line hits back at me by the time I’m already into the second line, and I’m like, that’s okay!”

Teagan Littlechief says when she sang the anthem, she felt a certain sense of pride in her achievements. She also works as an addictions counselor and youth worker, was named the Indigenous Artist of the Year at the 2022 Saskatchewan Country Music Awards. She also performed at this year’s Country Thunder Music Festival and has sung “O Canada” at games for the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders and the Western Hockey League’s Regina Pats.

“I still live in White Bear,” Littlechief said. “And I work at the school with lots of people. But when the Grey Cup opportunity came up, I really didn’t want to flaunt it. So, I just went ahead and did the performance. But when I got back to the school and I had all the elementary kids coming up to me and they’re like, ‘Miss Teagan! Oh my gosh. We saw you on TV! We see you on Facebook! We’ve seen you on the news! Miss Teagan, you’re everywhere!’”

Littlechief says that reaction was powerful saying it was moving to receive recognition like that from her own community. She adds it was a privilege to be able to show younger generations that anyone can do anything, if they stay focussed on their dreams.

“It’s always been a dream for me to pursue music,” Littlechief said.

“I’ve taken a short break from it for a while now. I battled addictions for a long time and that kind of took over for a period. But it was during COVID where I basically just started saying, I’m going to go for it.”

Littlechief says this past year and the year before were big buildups for her and she’s grateful to have had the time to regroup.

“You know, it was a lot,” Littlechief said. “If it wasn’t for the fans and the Riders and the Regina Pats for giving me the boost that they did, I bet you anything I wouldn’t be where I’m at right now.”

As for Littlechief’s next steps? She says she has learned from her previous struggles and wants to teach kids that nothing should get in the way of dreams.

“I was skeptical of my own gifts, especially in the music because I was told I was already too old to be performing,” Littlechief admitted.

“I was old news basically - is what I was told. And THAT really put a damper on me which made me believe that addictions were my only way out. And you know, I regret that now.”

Littlechief says hard work, practice and persistence has taken her to where she is now.

“That’s something that I really want to instill in not only the youth, but in my own son,” Littlechief said. “Hard work does pay off. You build strong bridges, and you work for your dreams.”