Remembering their leader and celebrating their culture, Friday was Louis Riel Day across Canada and for all Metis.

In honour of the day, Saskatchewan Polytechnic campuses across the province, including Moose Jaw, raised a Metis flag to fly over our campus.

Here at our campus, there were a few more activities also, the New Southern Plains Metis Local 160 also had a display for the Metis culture and Sask Poly had a traditional Michif lunch and welcomed the Cree Land Dancers for some Metis Jigging.

Planned by Xavier Fisher, Coordinator of the Indigenous Students Centre at Sask Polytech, he took this opportunity to partner with the Local 160 group to promote the Metis culture.

"The Local 160 has done a tremendous amount of work in Moose Jaw in order to make their presence known and allow people to reconnect with their Metis culture because for too many years, [the Local 160] was non-existent. So these people have this outlet now," Fisher said.

Fisher actually knows the Beardy’s & Okemasis First Nation Creeland Dancers' organizers and decided to bring the Metis style dance group to perform at Sask Poly. The group is especially good as they "pride themselves on providing an entertaining, first-class performance and demonstrating why they are “Western Canada’s Finest Square Dancers."

The Local 160 group has actually had a reemergence in the community, and are trying to follow a mandate of "Reach, Teach and Unite," as they try to educate people about the rich history of the Metis.

"Our elders worked so hard and we've lost a lot of the elders, they've passed on," President of the Local 160 Metis group, Laverne Trudel, said. "It's a new beginning for the Metis and so basically what you want to try and do is talk to people, educate them about the history of the Metis, how they become, and teach them a lot about culture."

Louis Riel Day is observed every year on November 16th.