Four young Riel Scouts to join Batoche service honouring veterans and soldiers lost at Wainwright

“It comes out of a sense of duty, a duty and commitment to the community,” she said. “And for us as Métis people, our community was our family, right?”

St. Louis is one of the communities taking part in the Riel Scouts pilot, which runs through May 2027. Local leaders work with small groups of young people to teach land-based skills, Métis history and cultural practices. Sunday’s ceremony gives the Scouts a chance to see how that history is remembered in their own community.

“And so we’re trying to connect that history and the past with the present today,” Gervais said.

Batoche itself is part of that lesson. The National Métis Veterans’ Memorial Monument, unveiled in 2014, bears more than 5,000 names, from people who took part in the 1885 Resistance to those who served in the world wars, on peacekeeping missions and in Afghanistan.

“That is our battlegrounds when we look at it as a nation of people,” Gervais said. “Many of us have the opportunity to walk those grounds and to honour our past people.”

Gervais said families who lost loved ones in wars overseas may never get the chance to stand where they fought. At Batoche, Métis families can return to the grounds where their own ancestors fought and remember them there.

An image captured at last year’s MN–S Indigenous Veterans Day Service at Batoche. (Image Credit: Submitted/MN-S)

Building a registry of Métis veterans

Métis Nation–Saskatchewan is asking veterans to register so it can better identify who has served and understand what support they need. Current and former service members can use the veterans department’s self-identification form to share their contact information, citizenship number and details of their service.

Gervais said the department is still developing its veterans portfolio and plans to bring veterans together to hear what they want from it.

“So nothing about the veterans without our veterans,” she said.

That means asking veterans directly what recognition and support should look like, Gervais said.

“How do you want us to represent you? How do you want us to engage with you? And more importantly, how do you want us to uplift you and empower you and support you as we move forward?”

The department also directs families to existing resources, including the Métis Veterans Legacy Program. It offers a one-time $20,000 recognition payment to eligible Métis veterans of the Second World War or qualifying family members.

Sunday’s service

The public is invited to a free pancake breakfast at 8:30 a.m. at the Back to Batoche festival grounds off Highway 312. The ceremony begins at 10 a.m., followed by a procession to Batoche Cemetery at 11:30 a.m. The livestream is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m.

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panews@pattisonmedia.com

by paNOW Staff

Four young Riel Scouts to join Batoche service honouring veterans and soldiers lost at Wainwright

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