The Battle of Batoche ended the North-West Resistance of 1885 - and ended up with Louis Riel's surrender, and subsequent trial and hanging. It wasn't a pretty - or fair - time to say the least. You can read more information about it here.
I love the original sources like Gabriel Dumont's own account of the battle of Batoche, as well as the battles at Duck Lake and Fish Creek which are rare - in this piece in the Canadian Historical Review the great western Canada scholar George Stanley annotates Dumont's account.
It's art though that maybe really finds the truest way of telling a story. Here is poet Bruce Rice's take based on artist Joe Fafard's clay sculpture of a Metis killed at Batoche from the Mayor's Poetry Challenge in April 2013. Watch the video poem, "Dead Metis at Batoche" which includes the sculpture here
1 comment:
Warfare is a fascinating subject. Despite the dubious morality of using violence to achieve personal or political aims. It remains that conflict has been used to do just that throughout recorded history.
Your article is very well done, a good read.
Post a Comment