'This has brought me home': Back to Batoche celebrates Métis culture

Thousands of Indigenous people gathered at the Batoche National Historic Site this weekend in what the community says is the largest Indigenous gathering in Canada and the second-largest in North America. 

Back to Batoche Days is Métis Nation–Saskatchewan's (MN-S) annual four-day festival that celebrates Métis identity, culture, values and languages. MN-S said it estimated more than 50,000 people attended this year's festival, held roughly 88 kilometres north of Saskatoon.

In his welcoming remarks, MN-S president Glen McCallum said Métis have come a long way as both, a government and people.

"We're bringing nations together and working as one, the way our ancestors did," he said in a news release.

Romeo Prescott was at the festival on Sunday. He said his dad is Métis, and that this year's Back to Batoche helps him connect with his roots. Prescott said he is Canadian, but he considers himself as Métis first. 

"This has brought me home and this whole weekend is a self-awakening for me of where I came from, what my culture is, and that I have community and that I have family," he said.

Batoche was founded in 1872 by Xavier Letendre, a Métis merchant who established a ferry service on the banks of the South Saskatchewan River at a village he nicknamed Batoche. 

Batoche was where, in May 1885, Louis Riel, Gabriel Dumont and a Métis provisional government made their last stand against armed federal government forces. They were overrun by federal forces, effectively ending the 1885 Northwest Resistance. The last engagement of the resistance came a few weeks later, with a battle at Steele Narrows in Saskatchewan.

The federal government transferred back the Batoche Historic Site land to Métis people of Saskatchewan in 2022. That transfer included 690 hectares of land at Batoche. 

But the festival has been an annual event since 1970 at the national historic site commemorating the Northwest Resistance. 

For MN-S vice-president Michelle LeClair, she said it's about recognizing the women who fought the battle alongside men like Riel and Dumont. 

"We talk about the men that fought that battle but you needed those women to support those men in order to fight in that battle to protect our rights and women were central to that," she said.

In 1998, Parks Canada and MN-S entered into a shared management partnership agreement to maintain the historic site. At this year's fest, they renewed that agreement by signing a memorandum of understanding at the opening ceremony. 

LISTEN | Back to Batoche begins: 

The Afternoon Edition - Sask10:18Back to Batoche begins today

There's more than language and culture to celebrate this year at Back to Batoche. There's the promise of self government for Metis people. The vice president of Métis Nation Saskatchewan joins the Afternoon Edition to tell us more about the weekend-long event.

Steven Guilbeault, minister responsible for Parks Canada, said the renewed mandate couldn't have come at a better time. 

"Batoche National Historic Site holds great cultural and historic significance for the Métis, and we are honoured to have it be part of the Back to Batoche festival each year," he said in a news release. 

MN-S said they've made significant investments over the last year to upgrade the infrastructure at the festival site. Among the improvements, they said, are new bathrooms and showers, more electrified camping, an overhaul at the racetrack and walkway repairs. 

Métis contractors and tradespeople were employed to do all the work to make these improvements, MN-S said.