The thunder of cannon fire rang out at Fort Normandeau where re-enactments of the 1885 Rebellion attracted about 350 people on Saturday afternoon, and another crowd on Sunday during Fort Normandeau Days.
During the annual black powder re-enactments, gun fire breaks out after unsuccessful talks between Canadian soldiers and Métis and First Nations people.
Alden Boysis, who played a Cree warrior in the reenactment, said the re-enactment gets his heart pumping.
“It’s a lot of fun. You just want to do the best you can,” said Boysis, a volunteer with Red Deer’s Firestick Living History Society.
“I’m defending my camp from the Canadian forces coming in. We’re trying to let them know we’re here and we don’t want them coming onto our land. But of course with treaties and people settling in the west, it’s rather difficult for us to hold onto the land. We’re just trying to send Ottawa a message — we’re still here,” said Boysis who has participated in the event for three years.
Tanya Wells, Waskasoo Environmental Education Society’s special events co-ordinator and public programmer, said the re-enactment is quite spectacular with cannon and rifle fire.
But Fort Normandeau Days is really about bringing cultures together.
“Fort Normandeau Days is the coming together of three different communities — the First Nations, the Métis, and the Europeans,” Wells said.
“It’s a celebration of culture, a sharing of knowledge, helping to educate the community about when these three different peoples came together here at the crossing.”
She said the event has evolved with the addition of vendors like a blacksmith, a beekeeper, and people who sell herbal products and jewelry similar to products that would have been traded during the late 1800s.
Visitors also learned how to throw an axe and practise their archery. Children made corn husk dolls, bannock and ice cream.
“It brings the community to a spot where they can enjoy not just enjoy one or two things, but a variety of different ideas and culture,” Wells said
szielinski@reddeeradvocate.com
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