BACK to Batoche Days
131 years ago the prairies at Batoche resounded with the sound of gun battles as the Canadians
Nowhere is this more obvious than at the annual “Back to Batoche” festival started 44 years ago the third weekend in July on Métis land. Instead of violence there is peace. Instead of the sound of guns there are the sounds of fiddle music and jigging feet. Come along for four days of wholesome, alcohol free, family fun.
On the way there fill up on some of the history that is an important part of the peoples of this land. We visited Cutknife “Home of the World’s Largest Tomahawk.” It was built as a symbol of the cooperation between First Nations and non-aboriginal peoples. The story involved Chief Poundmaker and nonaboriginal people. Chief Poundmaker was involved in the North West Rebellion with Riel and Dumont. There’s a campground and historical village in Cutknife.
We stopped at Fort Battleford National Historic Site for a tour. Battleford was the first seat of the Territorial government in 1898 and at one time had 50 buildings. It was here, during the North West Rebellion in 1885 that settlers sought refuge. It’s a fascinating tour and in the summer special events are held there. We stayed at Eiling Kramer Campground next to the fort, which has 74 electric sites. It overlooks
battled 350 Métis and First Nations people. It was a three day battle leaving the Métis broken but not defeated. Their leader Louis Riel said at his hanging on Nov.16, 1885, “My people will sleep for 100 years, but when they awake, it will be the artists who give them their spirit back.” That has been the case as Métis have regained their culture across Canada.
the magnificent expanse that is the North Saskatchewan River Valley. www. battleford.ca/excursions/eiling_kramer
Trails of 1885 travel guide lists significant historical locations such as Fort Carlton Provincial Park, located 25 km west of Duck Lake. It is an original Hudson’s Bay Company fur-trading post. The Duck Lake Regional Interpretive Centre and Battlefield towers into the sky with levels of history. On the way to Tourond’s Coulee we stopped at a very old wooden Ukrainian church, its steeple piercing the blue skies. The Battle of Tourond’s Coulee Historical Site is 15 km from the junction to Batoche. We took a two km walk through the fields, learning from the interpretive plaques along the way. On the banks of the coulee, steel cut-outs of men on horseback portray the battle that took place between Gabriel Dumont, his men, the Cree and Dakota, against Major General Middleton on Madame Tourond’s land. She lost everything but her horse and buggy during the battle but went on to live to be 97 years of age.
Batoche National Historic Site is on the land where the battle took place. Visit