Mtis nation bell not missing, being kept in Saskatoon

The mystery behind the latest disappearance of Bell of Batoche, or Frog Lake, appears to be solved.

News broke this week that the iconic bell had gone missing again this time from a locked archive in the St. Boniface Heritage Centre in Winnipeg.

• Ring the alarm: Legendary bell precious to Mtis nation is missing again
• Stolen Metis bell of Batoche returned to Saskatchewan

The centre said it had had agreed to store the bell for safekeeping at the request of its owner, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Prince Albert, Sask. The centre's executive director told CBC News that he had last seen the bell more than a year ago, didn't know who took it out or where it had been taken to.

On Friday, it was discovered the bell was actually in Saskatoon at the Gabriel Dumont Institute.

"It was a bit of a surprise to us to learn it was deemed to be missing," said Geordy McCaffrey, executive director of the institute.

McCaffrey said the bell had actually been at the institute since the summer, on loan from the Winnipeg centre to be used in educational situations to tell the story of the 1885 Mtis resistance. The bellis tiedtothe birth of theMtisnation and the last battleof Louis Riel in the19thcentury.

Hundreds of people have been taking their picture with the bell all summer,McCaffreysaid.

Bishop AlbertThvenot, however, said Friday that he had a written agreement that the bell was given to AudreyPoitras, president of theMtisNation of Alberta.

"It is in good hands,"Thvenotsaid, explaining thatPoitrashad agreed to take responsibility of any financial burden that may come due to court cases regarding the bell.

Upon learning the bell was believed to be lost, McCaffrey contacted the bishop in Prince Albert.

"We're waiting for instruction from the bishop. If the bishop wants us to return it to Prince Albert, we'll do that," said McCaffrey."If the bishop wishes for us to hold onto the bell until he instructs us who to release the bell to, that's what we'll do."