I | INTRODUCTION |
Louis
Riel (1844-1885), leader of the Métis (people of mixed indigenous and
European ancestry in Canada), and widely regarded as the founder of the Canadian
province of Manitoba.
II | EARLY LIFE |
The eldest of 11 children, Riel was born in
the Red River settlement, a farming community within Rupert’s Land, a vast
western colony in North America controlled by the Hudson’s Bay Company. Educated
at Saint Boniface College in Red River, Riel attracted the attention of Bishop
Alexandre Taché, who chose him to receive further training. His parents sent him
to Montréal, Canada East (now Québec), at age 13 to study for the priesthood,
but he ended his religious studies when his father died in 1864. Riel briefly
studied law but left Montréal without a degree in 1866 to work in the United
States. Riel returned to Red River in 1868.
III | THE RED RIVER REBELLION |
Shortly after Riel returned to the
settlement, the people at Red River learned that the Canadian government was
planning to buy Rupert’s Land from the Hudson’s Bay Company. The French Métis
anticipated that a flood of English-speaking Protestants from Ontario would come
and make them a minority in what they viewed as their homeland. They feared
losing religious, language, and property rights, and turned to Riel. As the best
educated Métis in the settlement, Riel was a natural leader, and he acted
decisively. In December 1869, with the support of 400 armed French Métis, he
captured Fort Garry, the headquarters of the Hudson’s Bay Company, and assumed
military control of the settlement. The Red River Rebellion had begun.
Riel proclaimed a provisional government and
soon became its president. He quickly gained the cooperation of most of the Red
River population, including white settlers and English-speaking Métis, by
inviting all residents to communicate their concerns and wishes at conventions
at Fort Garry. The people of Red River wanted to be able to join Canada as a
self-governing province, and they wanted the federal government to recognize
that they had the title to the land they farmed. Canada did not have a way to
transport troops to Red River in winter and agreed to meet with Métis
representatives in Ottawa, Ontario. In May 1870 the Canadian Parliament agreed
to most of the Métis’s terms and approved the Manitoba Act, which established
the Red River settlement and a small region around it as the new province of
Manitoba. (The rest of Rupert’s Land became part of the Northwest Territories.)
Canada promised to recognize Métis land ownership in Manitoba and granted an
additional 600,000 hectares (1.4 million acres) of land to the Métis. The
Manitoba Act also instituted bilingual institutions and Catholic schools in the
province.
However, the establishment of Manitoba proved
to be an empty victory for Riel. While the Métis had held Fort Garry, they
captured a group of armed Red River settlers who welcomed Canadian annexation,
and Riel’s provisional government executed one of their leaders. In August 1870
the Canadian government sent troops to Red River, and hostile British Canadians
arrived from Ontario, gradually pushing many of the Métis away from Red River.
The Canadian government refused to grant Riel amnesty, and he fled to the United
States.
In late 1870 Riel quietly returned to Red
River. In 1873 he was elected to the Canadian Parliament, but he was never able
to represent the Manitoba voters in Ottawa. In 1875 Parliament finally granted
Riel amnesty, but only on the condition that he leave Canada for five years.
Riel suffered an apparent nervous breakdown though, and his relatives committed
him under an alias to an insane asylum in Montréal. Riel claimed that he was not
insane but rather an inspired prophet. He remained in various Montréal mental
institutions until 1878.
IV | NORTHWEST REBELLION |
After his release, Riel traveled to Montana
where he joined a group of Métis buffalo hunters. There he planned to invade
Canada and establish a confederacy of Métis and Indians in the Canadian
Northwest. When this initiative failed to draw support, Riel eventually settled
at Saint Peter’s Mission in Sun River, Montana, and became a schoolteacher and
in 1883 an American citizen.
By 1884 many of the Métis who were forced from
Manitoba had moved west into the Northwest Territories. British Canadians had
begun settling there as well. The Métis wanted the Canadian government to secure
their land rights, but the government had repeatedly ignored them. The Métis
convinced Riel to lead them again against an indifferent Canadian government.
Riel believed that he was called to lead the Métis in making their own nation.
He demanded that the government negotiate the region’s entrance into the
Canadian Confederation with a land grant for the Métis, confirmation of their
land titles, responsible government, and representation in Parliament. The
Canadian government was slow to respond. With Métis frustrations increasing,
Riel established a provisional government at the Batoche settlement in March
1885. Armed Métis and Cree then defeated a detachment of North-West Mounted
Police (now the Royal Canadian Mounted Police). The Canadian government rushed a
large military force to Batoche and crushed what became known as the Northwest
Rebellion in May.
Riel surrendered in the hope that a trial
would highlight the injustices the Métis had suffered and help justify his
actions. In the July 1885 trial at Regina, Northwest Territories, Riel’s lawyers
claimed that he was not guilty, by reason of insanity. Riel vehemently opposed
this defense and argued that the trial should focus on Métis grievances. The
jury found him guilty of treason, and he was hanged on November 16, 1885. The
defeat of the Northwest Rebellion and Riel’s execution ended the dream he had
cherished of a sovereign Métis nation and marked the end of Métis autonomy in
the Canadian West. The rebellion did produce some reforms and a review of Métis
land claims in the Northwest. The government also gave the Northwest Territories
representation in the federal Parliament.
V | RIEL’S LEGACY |
Since 1885 Riel’s reputation has undergone
considerable transformation. At the time of his death, British Canadians widely
regarded Riel as a treasonous rebel, while French Canadians regarded him as a
martyred patriot for defending the rights of French-speaking Roman Catholics
among a majority of Protestant Anglophones. For the Métis, he was and is a hero
and an eloquent spokesperson for their aspirations. More recently, Riel has been
portrayed as a prophet and religious leader who sought deliverance from colonial
domination. Among Canadian Westerners, Riel has come to symbolize resistance to
the political and economic power concentrated in Ontario and Québec.
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