Back to Batoche Days aims to reinvigorate Métis culture

Michelle LeClair has been steeped in Métis culture her entire life.

“We didn’t have a TV when we were young, so my dad used to put a curtain up and a light, and he would do little puppet shows behind the white curtain,” she said in an interview with 650 CKOM.

“So we got to hear stories and different kinds of Métis teachings. When you stand back from it, you don’t think, ‘Oh, that was part of learning my culture…’ But it all was,” she reflected.

LeClair, whose family has always maintained their cultural knowledge, is now the vice president of Métis Nation—Saskatchewan.

She recognizes many other Métis people across the province didn’t grow up learning about their Indigenous roots.

“Some of our families are lost out there, you know. They might have their citizenship card, but they’ve lost that cultural way of knowing,” she said.

Thousands of people will gather at Back to Batoche Days from July 18 to 21, 2024, to learn and celebrate Métis culture.

Batoche is a historic Métis site. It is the location of the final and most significant battle of the North-West Resistance, an armed resistance movement by the Métis under Louis Riel against the Canadian government.

LeClair says she has family who fought and died in the Battle of Batoche, and the site holds great meaning for her.

“It’s where we put up our battle flag and we said, no, this is our home. We’re going to fight for our rights. Louis Reil was talking about our inherent rights to self-determination and self-government in 1885. That’s huge. And that was done in this very special place,” LeClair said.

In July 2022 the Government of Canada and Parks Canada transferred 690 hectares of land near the Batoche National Historic Site to the citizens of Métis Nation—Saskatchewan. Four months later, bison were reintroduced to the land. Next, LeClair is hoping to see changes made at the national historic site.

She said the language used on many of the placards around the site referring to Louis Riel or the Battle of Batoche is quite critical of the North-West Rebellion, and she hopes they will be updated.

“The history has to be told in the right way, and it’s not presently,” she said.

LeClair said the relationship between Métis Nation—Saskatchewan and Parks Canada has been a positive step on the path to reconciliation. The two groups are in discussions surrounding possible co-management of the Batoche National Historic Site.

“This is reconciliation in action. You can see it happening. The return of the land, the return of the bison… that’s reconciliation,’ she said.

LeClair’s family has been attending the annual Back to Batoche Days for as long as she can remember.

“It was a whole lot different than it is now,” she said. “There wasn’t a lot for little kids to do. It was just kind of hanging around, listening to my uncle sing and play guitar.”

In recent years Back to Batoche has become a family-focused event, with the addition of a new playground and many events and activities geared toward children.

LeClair said encouraging Métis children to learn about their culture is critical.

“The number of people that still speak our language is very, very low. The language is at the point of extinction,” she said.

In 2021 Statistics Canada reported that 1,845 people identified as speakers of Michif, the most commonly spoken the Métis language.

“What comes with language is culture. We needed to ensure that we don’t lose our language, that our kids aren’t losing our values and our culture and all of those things,” she said.

Leclair said the decline in Métis cultural teachings isn’t a new phenomenon. The loss of traditional knowledge goes back more than one hundred years.

“It actually goes back to the Battle of Batoche, if you can believe it. There were families that went into hiding and they didn’t practice their culture or their language,” she said, noting that Métis people were looked down upon in society following the North-West Rebellion. “That’s trickled down through generations.”

In recent years LeClair has noticed a resurgence in curiosity and interest from people of Métis ancestry.

“What we’re seeing now is people are saying, ‘There’s no threat over my head anymore. I’m going to be proud,’” she said. “I see 90-year-old Elders getting their Métis card. They’ve always known they were Métis, but now there’s safety. People are feeling culturally safe, and that’s just fantastic.”

Earlier this month Métis Nation—Saskatchewan celebrated the opening of Dumont Lodge, a new facility at Batoche where Métis children and youths can come together with Elders to learn about their Métis traditions, values and language.

The new hub was inspired by the vision of LeClair’s father, Albert LeClair. He dreamed of a special place where Elders felt comfortable and could help young Métis citizens reconnect with their culture.

“This gorgeous building was really all about rejuvenating our culture and language with our young ones because you’re seeing it get lost,” LeClair said.

LeClair is looking forward to gathering with friends and family at Back to Batoche Days. She said her grandchildren will be in attendance, learning about their culture while enjoying all of the activities the event has to offer.

“I think my grandson if there was a prize for the dirtiest child last year by the end of Back to Batoche Days, he would have won that!’ she laughed. “They just have so much fun.”

As LeClair watches her grandchildren playing and learning about their heritage through art, songs, and performances at the annual event, no doubt her mind will be cast back to memories of her earliest traditional Métis teachings…

Through the stories of her father, in the form of a puppet show on a white sheet.