Bell of Batoche

[5] A bell was purchased in 1884 for the Catholic parish church of Saint Antoine de Padoue in Batoche at the request of Father Julien Moulin.

[6] 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.

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.

"[11] 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.

[9] In 2000, Saskatchewan Aboriginal Affairs Minister Jack Hillson issued a statement promising no charges would be laid if the bell was returned.

[11] In August 2005, Gabriel Dufault, leader of the Union nationale métisse Saint-Joseph du Manitoba, stated, "I've heard it's in Winnipeg.

The bell is now held by the Union nationale métisse Saint-Joseph du Manitoba, a Métis organization founded in 1887.

The bell was not reinstalled in the Batoche church steeple, but is displayed at Le Musée de Saint-Boniface Museum in Winnipeg.

The Frog Lake bell was misidentified as being from Batoche in a centennial yearbook published by a local historical society in 1967.

[3] The director of Le Musée de Saint-Boniface Museum was convinced that the bell in their possession is from Frog Lake.