This painting is set in early 1885. Gabriel Dumont and his friend Michel Dumas look on as another friend lines up a shot for his turn at French caroms, a game that's still played today. The Metis of Batoche, as buffalo hunters were excellent marksmen, making the game of caroms a natural pastime. Marksmanship and steady nerves also came into play in April and May of that year, during what was later to be called the Northwest Rebellion. Louis Riel (seen through the window) was the political and spiritual head of the Metis Resistance Movement and Gabriel was it's military leader. I like to imagine that caroms played a part in calming the tension in the community as they waited for the Canadian Government to reply to their petitions for possession of their ancestral lands. "The Waiting Game" was commission by the Gabriel Dumont Institute for an upcoming book about Dumont.
