Today marks the 140th anniversary of the Battle of Duck Lake.
The battle took place in 1885 and was an infantry skirmish between Métis warriors of Louis Reil’s newly formed Provisional Government of Saskatchewan and the North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) along with members of the Canadian Military. The battle took place just 2.5 kilometres from the town of Duck Lake and lasted roughly 30 minutes.
As a result, 12 members of the NWMP and Canadian Military were killed, with the same amount being wounded, three Métis warriors were wounded, and five were killed, including Gabriel Dumont’s brother.
Today leaders from the Métis Nation Saskatchewan, Beardy’s & Okemasis Cree Nation, the Canadian Armed Forces, and RCMP attended a ceremony to commemorate those who fought in the battle and lost their lives.
“As I sit here and I listen, you know it’s great to be able to come together, but still in our country we’re a ways out yet in regard to how we can cooperate with one another. I know the RCMP, and I want to thank you and thank the Army and thank the Veterans for all the service you do for the people of Canada, but at the same time as we do good things for Canada, we understand sometimes there are shortfalls in regard to how we deal with First Nations and Métis,” explained MN-S President Glen McCallum.
As leaders at the ceremony all recognized that the relationship between Indigenous people and Canada has strengthened over the years, it was also recognized that there is more work to be done through reconciliation.
“As we’ve moved ahead 140 years, we’ve come a long way and have had some positive and some very dark moments in the history as the RCMP has engaged with First Nations and Métis people in this country, and I’m a firm believer that if we don’t acknowledge the mistakes of the past, we are destined to repeat them, and we can’t do that; we have to move forward together; we have to make sure that we’re working hand in hand and side by side to make sure that our communities are safe,” stated Commanding Officer of the Saskatchewan RCMP Rhonda Blackmore.
Recently the RCMP has been training and hiring more Indigenous officers, and Blackmore says that is something she is extremely proud of, as not only does she believe in reconciliation but also reconcili-action and stated that more work needs to be done.
The ceremony concluded with a wreath-laying and gift exchange between leaders at the Battle of Duck Lake monument.