Dennis Fisher has a wealth of knowledge on the 1885 Battle of Batoche. Along with his wife Jean, he has been collecting artifacts from the battle for over 50 years.
"I found my first shell, a 44/40, on September 24, 1967," says Fisher.
Now, at age 77, Fisher is donating a part of his large collection to the Gabriel Dumont Institute in Saskatoon. Fisher says as he gets older, it's harder to care for the artifacts, and he and his wife are happy to give them to the GDI, where they will be taken care of.
Geordy MacCaffrey, the executive director of the institute says it's the largest private donation in the history of the institute. "For us, knowing the pride and excitement the Fishers have for this collection makes this gift even more meaningful. This collection represents an important part of Metis, Saskatchewan, and Canadian history."
For years, Dennis, Jean, and their children collected hundreds of artifacts from the Batoche area, before it was owned by Parks Canada. They researched the history, catalogued their findings, and even built custom cases for the pieces they found, including shotgun shells, china, and even plaster from homes in the area.
Fisher says his collection started growing unexpectedly, but he was happy to dive in. "It starts out with one or two pieces that someone maybe gives you. One or two shells. But then we'd have those days where we'd go out and find 250 artifacts in a day."
But now it's time to give it all away. After over 50 years of collecting, Dennis and Jean hope that others can learn from, and enjoy, this collection as much as they did.
