Métis Week is being recognized across the country this week and at Olds College the water tower is lit up to feature the colours of blue and red.
Pamela Lashmore with Indigenous Services at the college says there are two Métis flags – one is blue and white, while the other is red and white.
Métis leader Louis Riel fought for their rights and culture and Louis Riel Day is part of the week, which stretches from November 15th through the 22nd. She says “we have wonderful dances. We are very musical and happy people. Music, and dance, the fiddle is what we do when we come together and there is always food. It is just the coming together of all of us to honour who we are and to share that knowledge with whoever would like to learn about the Metis people. It is a beautiful culture.” Louis Riel Day is commemorated annually on November 16th to mark the anniversary of his execution in 1885
Lashmore points out that they also had a very well attended pemmican making workshop last Friday. She says “we had teachings on the pemmican. How it was made, why it was made, the nutritional value of it and how long you could last/it would sustain you.” She notes they were also able to have the students and the instructor at Olds College’s butcher shop whip up some dried meat with fat and Saskatoon berries to make some. She explains what pemmican is. Lashmore says “it was kind of like the first Power Bar. It is dried meat, dried bison with fat. The traditional recipe was a 50/50 ratio of fat to meat and then you would add your dried cranberries or dried Saskatoons inside that and you would mix it with the fat. The old way was they used to keep it in sealed up leather pouches. So when you were on the road you only needed maybe a quarter of a cup and that would sustain you because the dried meat would expand in your stomach. So it was a very, very important staple to the people of Canada – even before we became a country and even after we did. When a lot of the settlers came, the Indigenous people also shared that pemmican with them because it was easy to carry with you and it would keep you full for quite a while.”
The Métis flag has been raised for this week in front of Duncan Marshall Place at Olds College.
