Every year, tens of thousands of people spend this mid-summer weekend at the national historic site of the Battle of Batoche.
When Cassidy Caron goes back to Batoche, she’s not just paying a visit in her role as president of the Métis National Council.
Whether she is standing on stage amidst hundreds of dignitaries from across Canada, enjoying bannock and jam, listening to conversations and prayers given in a panoply of languages, participating in the festivities with fiddle music, dancing, traditional games and chuckwagon racing, or swapping stories around the campsite, this is Caron’s family reunion.
Every year, tens of thousands of people spend this mid-summer weekend at the national historic site of the Battle of Batoche, surrounded by Métis history, culture and language.
This year, as Métis Nation-Saskatchewan continues negotiating a self-government treaty with the federal government, MN-S president Glen McCallum said it is more important than ever for the nation to look outwards, as well as within — to find friends, allies and collaborators amongst First Nations, Inuit and non-Indigenous communities, and to support their work in turn.
“The theme of this year’s Batoche is ‘Nations Coming Together,’” McCallum emphasized. “To be able to come together, we owe it to ourselves and we owe it to our citizens. We owe it to all Canadians. We have so many different issues that we have to deal with in Canada. But … on the question of the importance of identity, culture, values and language, we will not get there if we don’t work together.”
“You cannot sit in your chair and deny the fact that we are going to be living together for the rest of our lives,” he said. “And the young people that are coming up, we need to show them — when we say ‘reconciliation,’ when we say ‘partnership,’ when we say ‘relationship-building,’ we mean it. …
“There is a need for change in this country. And it’s only when we recognize and embrace each other that we will win.”
Since 1970, people from across North America and around the world have spent Back to Batoche Days celebrating, visiting with old and new friends, and connecting to the land where Métis people, led by Louis Riel, fought in the 1885 Northwest Resistance.
This year, MN-S and Parks Canada took a moment during the festivities to renew their agreement to co-manage the historic site, formalizing the decision that they will continue to work together to preserve and showcase Métis culture, history, language and heritage at Batoche all year round while taking care of the land itself.
“What would Louis Riel say now?” Caron asked the crowd on Friday morning. “My guess would be that he would be absolutely delighted to hear that our people are talking good about each other, and that we’re seeing many successes, both collectively as a nation and individually, that Métis people are achieving. He would be happy to see that, for the most part, we can put aside our differences and work towards that better future that Louis Riel gave up his life for; that better future that all Métis people deserve.”
Caron, who was elected as Métis National Council president in 2021, now says she is looking forward to supporting the next generation of Métis people in a new way — rather than running for reelection this year, Caron is stepping back from the role as she and her husband prepare to welcome their first child.
“I have such incredible hope for the future of the Métis Nation,” she said. “And I can’t wait to come back next year with my baby, to show them where they come from and all they have to be proud of.”
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