Dumont Lodge opens at Batoche to connect Sask. elders and youth

A new facility at the Batoche festival grounds is set to preserve the Métis way of life for generations to come.

Two years after Elder Albert LeClair envisioned a place where elders and youth could come together to bridge understandings, Métis Nation-Saskatchewan (MN-S) opened Dumont Lodge with more than 100 people in attendance to celebrate the historic moment.

"By reconnecting Métis children and youth, they have a sense of pride in their culture, they can learn from their Elders, and carry on our traditions with their own children. In doing so, we help shape them to become our leaders of tomorrow,” LeClair said.

“Dumont Lodge is the ideal structure in the perfect location to allow for that. I couldn’t be more pleased with the outcome. This is exactly what I envisioned."

The new $8 million, 18,000-square-foot building was built with Métis culture guiding every decision and

Métis tradespeople and subcontractors contributing to the construction of the project from start to finish.

Even though the building has only been open for a few hours, people at Wednesday's ceremony unveiling the lodge spoke about how it already felt like home.

"This place is about learning, this place is about elders, this place is about veterans. This place is about programming," MN-S president Glen McCallum said. "What programs are we going to do here? Identity, culture, values and language."

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LeClair's vision was a place for elders to feel comfortable, at home, and could help Métis children and youth reconnect to the land.

With many children on hand for the announcement, the nod to the future and connections to the past is evident throughout the building.

Not only in artwork but in the details of the carpentry, the meeting and children spaces, and the central fireplace meant to be a gathering place for Métis people across the province.

"At the end of the day, our groundedness is based on our identity, culture, values, and language and it's going to get stronger by building programs like what we're doing here," McCallum said.

"[It] really begins the teaching of our young ones, the young ones that are here that need to know where they come from."

McCallum and other speakers at the ceremony spoke about the Riel Scouts programming beginning that legacy for youth to be able to be surrounded by their culture.

Once the building and surrounding areas are fully operational, children will be able to learn about skinning a rabbit, the importance of a bison hunt, and the deep history of the land itself, all while being able to harvest berries and other foods a short distance away.

"Those kinds of historic pieces that we can't lose. Our kids need to learn, and they're wanting to learn it," MN-S vice president Michelle LeClair said.

"So it's an exciting time for us."

As Métis Nation-Saskatchewan works towards self-governance, organizers, and leaders at the lodge see the facility as a crucial step towards showcasing its culture to the masses.

In less than three weeks, the grounds will be filled with hundreds of people from all over Canada coming to celebrate Back to Batoche Days, and Wednesday's announcement ensured the celebrations could start a little earlier this year.

"These are the things that we're going to see flourish and thrive and our lives will be better for it," LeClair said.

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