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The bell of Batoche is a 20-pound silver church bell seized in 1885 as spoils of war from the Métis community of Batoche (now in Saskatchewan) by soldiers from Ontario, following their victory in the Battle of Batoche over the North-West Rebellion.[1][2]
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The bell was purchased in 1884 for the parish church of Batoche at the request of Father Julien Moulin. As was customary, the bell was "baptized" by Bishop Vital-Justin Grandin of the Diocese of St. Albert on 2 September 1884 with the name "Marie-Antoinette", and was given the inscription "Vital-Justin Grandin, évêque de St. Albert" (French: "Vital-Justin Grandin, Bishop of St. Albert").
During the North-West Rebellion, the community of Batoche served as the ad hoc capital of the Louis Riel's Provisional Government of Saskatchewan. Following a succession of losses to the Métis and their aboriginal allies at Duck Lake, Fort Pitt, Fish Creek, and Cut Knife, the Canadian militia serving under British officer Middleton finally succeeded in defeating the Métis resistance at Batoche on May 12, 1885. Louis Riel later turned himself in to the North West Field Force on May 15, 1885.
The bell of Batoche was taken as a war trophy by two soldiers and back to Ontario. It hung for several decades in the fire hall of Millbrook, Ontario, the home of several of the soldiers who had taken it. By 1991, it was kept in the hall of Millbrook branch of the Royal Canadian Legion.
The Métis of Saskatchewan had attempted a number of times since 1885 to recover the bell. In 1990, they sent another request for its return.
A CBC report covering the reaction of the Millbrook legion members quoted one member as saying "You tried to wreck the country and we stopped you... Now we've got the bell. It's ours." [3]. Since the Métis uprisings had actually been part of struggle to form responsible governments in the North West Territories (at the time under the stewardship of a private British corporation) and to join Canadian confederation, these comments were particularly hurtful. The comments may even have inspired events that followed.
In October 1991, Yvon Dumont, president of the Manitoba Métis Federation, visited the Legion hall where the bell was kept, accompanied by several other Manitoba Métis. They were photographed standing in front of the bell.
A week later, the bell was stolen in the night. Taken along with the bell were several medals belonging to Sergeant Ed McCorry, a soldier from Millbrook who had been present at the Battle of Batoche.[4]
The whereabouts of the bell from that time forward are not publicly known. Yvon Dumont disclaimed any knowledge of the identity of the burglars, though he later said that "if it's a Métis person that has it, I would consider that person a hero, not a criminal." [5]
Negotiations were begun to secure the official transfer of ownership of the bell to the Métis Nation, and Dumont offered to pay for the damage caused by the break-in. However, the Ontario legion hall initially refused to negotiate until the McCorry medals were returned.[4]
In 2000, Saskatchewan Aboriginal Affairs Minister Jack Hillson issued a statement promising no charges would be laid if the bell was returned. It was hoped this would lead to the bell's return in time for Saskatchewan's millennium celebrations, but it did not appear.[5]
In August 2005, Gabriel Dufault, leader of the Union nationale métisse Saint-Joseph, stated that "I've heard it's in Winnipeg. I've heard it's in a garage in the North End... I have a pretty good idea who the people that know more... are." [5]
In a Globe and Mail story from 8 October 2005, Gary Floyd Guiboche, a Manitoba Métis who visited the bell with Dumont in 1991, confessed to stealing the bell. He refused to identify his partner in the theft, who he said "has kept the bell hidden too long for no reason." He said his partner had taken the McCorry medals, in addition to the bell, as "payback." [4][6]
In 2009, the bell is rumored to be in Saskatchewan, in Métis hands.