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Saint Antoine-de-Padoue Church Near Batoche, SK | Jordon Cooper

This past weekend I was in central Saskatchewan for Back to Batoche 2005. The Battle of Batoche was the decisive battle during Northwest Rebellion and led to the end of the war between the Metis and the Canadian Government. Most Canadians remember it for the capture, and eventual execution, of Louis Riel. For the Metis, Batoche has become a symbolic place that reminds us of our history, our culture and our ancestors. For me, my Great Grandmother, Marie-Louise Falcon, was born there in 1881. (Interesting side-note: her parents, Gregoire Falcon and Mary Montour, were married at Duck Lake 4 years before the Battle of Duck Lake opened the Northwest Rebellion).

I spent the weekend hanging out with my family and taking in the celebration. There were fireworks, dance contests, fiddle contests (my Dad’s cousin made it into the finals), voyager games, buffalo burgers, bannock… and dust, lots of dust. A nasty windstorm arrived Saturday, turning the camp into a dustbowl, and it stuck around for the weekend. Depsite the dust in the eyes, nose, food… it was great weekend.

One of my highlights was the Sunday procession from the camp to the cemetery a kilometer away. The procession consisted of many people, drummers, a Red River cart, a few wagons, a very large wooden cross and a container of Holy water from Red River, Manitoba. The cross was planted in front of the mass grave of 9 Metis soldiers that were killed in the battle and, although I am not religious myself (Catholicism is a big part of Metis culture), I thought the ceremony was very interesting.

27 Jul 2005 |