Deanna Haywahe and Eryn McArthur were first in line to meet members of the first-place team.

Vendors at the First Nations University’s Spring Celebration Powwow, Haywahe and McArthur greeted two Saskatchewan Roughriders players — fullback Albert Awachie and receiver Mitch Picton — by presenting them with team-themed, hand-made, beaded leather keychains.

Photos were then taken with the Grey Cup on Sunday afternoon at the Brandt Centre, situated on Treaty 4 territory.

“I have been a fan of the Roughriders for at least 25 years,” said Haywahe — who, like McArthur, is from Pheasant Rump Nakota First Nation.

“I was just overwhelmed to see the Grey Cup and touch it and kiss it.”

Whereas Haywahe had been introduced to the CFL’s most-coveted prize several years earlier, McArthur had never seen the Grey Cup in person until Sunday.

“It’s awesome!” McArthur said. “I got really shaky and excited.

“There’s a lot of energy coming from it. You can feel the good vibes. They’re radiating from it.”

Haywahe and McArthur represented the Broken Arrow Trading Post at the two-day powwow, which concluded Sunday.

“This is quintessentially Saskatchewan,” Roughriders President-CEO Craig Reynolds said. “There’s so many people here. It’s a celebratory event and, as a result of that, people are celebrating the Cup again.

“It was amazing to be in the Grand Entrance with Albert and Mitch and Gainer. When Albert raised the Cup and you hear the roar of the crowd, it never gets old.

“It’s pretty special to be here.”

The Grey Cup Community Tour wrapped up at the same event — 71 days after the first stop.

The Tour began on Feb. 7 in Humboldt, where the Roughriders appeared at an SJHL game between the Broncos and Estevan Bruins.

After the Broncos’ bus crash in April of 2018, Reynolds promised that the Grey Cup would visit Humboldt as soon as possible after the Roughriders next captured a championship.

Humboldt was among 37 stops on the Tour, along with Nipawin, Melfort, James Smith Cree Nation, Prince Albert, Outlook, Weyburn, North Battleford, Meadow Lake, Assiniboia, Foam Lake, Fort Qu’Appelle, Davidson, Saskatoon, Buffalo Narrows, Ile-a-la-Crosse, Patuanak, Beauval, Pinehouse, Melville, Yorkton, Kerrobert, Kindersley, Rosetown, Elbow, Pangman, Oxbow, Estevan, Indian Head, Earl Grey, La Loche, Regina, Belle Plaine, Chaplin, Swift Current, Moose Jaw and La Ronge.

“We said from Day 1 that when you win a Cup in Saskatchewan, the Cup belongs to the people of Saskatchewan,” Reynolds said at the powwow. “It’s such a great cross-section of people who are here today.

“I was also told that there are folks here from the northern U.S. One of the organizers said there are some dancers here from New Mexico. For them to see how much the Cup means to Saskatchewan, it’s pretty cool, too.

“All four corners of the province are represented here. There’s a mix of young and old from all over the province — such an amazing cross-section.

“It’s a very fitting way to end the Grey Cup Community Tour.”