Today’s move was from Saskatoon, SK to North Battleford, SK with three historical stops along the way. The map and video can be found here.

First up was political history when I visited the Diefenbaker Centre on the campus of the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon. Many US presidents have libraries dedicated to educating the public about their lives but John Diefenbaker is the only Canadian prime minister with such a privilege. He was prime minister in turbulent times, from 1957 to 1963, and is seen as being influential in defining modern Canada. The centre is small but interesting and contains reproductions of the prime minister’s office (see the video) and the cabinet room (below).

Next was a visit to Waneskewin Heritage Park, a few miles north of Saskatoon, which is a non-profit organisation to research and tell the story of First Nation peoples. It is located near two buffalo jumps  and has been extensively excavated to reveal that Prairie Indians were living and hunting buffalo here as long as 6,000 years ago. I took the guided walking tour which added a lot of detail to the descriptive signs on the trails.

My final stop was at Fort Battleford National Historic Site which was one of the first forts built by the North-West Mounted Police in 1876 when the Canadian government began to expand its influence westwards. Although there were few conflicts between Europeans and First Nation peoples in Canada, a few hundred people died in uprisings in this area. The fort itself has been reconstructed but there are several original buildings and the Parks Canada guides are in costume to help create a better idea of life in the fort. Since this is Canada’s 150th year all Canadian National Parks are free and I got my pass before leaving home.

All three visits were worthwhile but all contained less than I had expected. I had been concerned about completing my visit to Fort Battleford before it closed at 4PM but I was done soon after 3.

The cabinet room at the Diefenbaker Centre

The location of one of the buffalo jumps at Wanuskewin. The buffalo would be driven off the edge in the foreground and would fall about 50 feet. The Saskatchewan river is in the background.
To attract the buffalo herd toward the cliff a boy would cover himself with bison fat and fur and then behave like a bison calf to attract one of the dominant females to follow him. This is portrayed in the statue.

The Fort Battleford commander’s house was very large for the 1880s and like nothing the First Nations people had seen. It projected the power and wealth of the Canadian government.