
Batoche National Historic Site - IIC Day Trip
The College of Pharmacy and Nutrition
By Jason BelhumeurThe Indigenous Initiatives Committee at the College of Pharmacy and Nutrition would like to thank everyone that joined us.
We spent the day on a guided tour filled with history and culture, beginning with a knowledge-rich journey to Dumont Lodge in Batoche and the Batoche National Historic Site. Along the way, we visited the memorial of the fallen soldiers, the grave site of the lost, and the historic church that still stands today. The tour also included a stop at the East Village, where Louis Riel’s home is located and the provisional government of Saskatchewan was once headquartered.
Midday, we gathered at Dumont Lodge to enjoy a traditional Indigenous and Métis lunch prepared by Marie’s Catering. The menu featured hearty bison stew and bannock, served with garden greens and a Saskatoon berry balsamic dressing.
The tour included with a carriage ride to see the bison, where we learned about the animal’s deep cultural significance to the land.
The experience was enriched by the stunning prairie landscape, with wildflowers and trembling aspen forests framing the journey. Parks Canada interpreters, dressed in authentic costume, brought figures from the past to life with stories of 19th-century Métis settler life along the South Saskatchewan River. We stood together on the final battlefield of the Northwest Resistance of 1885—Batoche, the site of Louis Riel’s last stand and a lasting symbol of Métis resilience and cultural renewal.