For the Métis people, Louis Riel is regularly seen as a hero and spokesman for the rights of the people and their land. To others, he was a rebellious threat who was brought to justice for his criminal acts of treason against the country. The views towards this man are divided, some viewing him as a “victim of Ontario religious and racial bigotry” (Thomas, 1982) and others believe he was an insane man who was rightfully convicted. Today, his life is one of the most controversial and debated topics in Canadian history. Nevertheless, all sides can agree that Riel played a major role in the creation of the province of Manitoba and ultimately bringing attention to the rights of the Métis people. Riel would be a forceful advocate and influential …show more content…
figure for the Métis until his last breath, and his influence would remain long after. His life, the rebellions he led, and the consequences of his actions are continuously discussed and analyzed even today. Background of Riel and Rupert’s Land Louis Riel was born of Métis parents in Saint-Boniface, Manitoba on October 23, in 1844. He was the eldest of 11 children of Louis Riel Sr. and Julie Lagimonière. During his adolescence, he was recognized for his intellect and was sent to Seminaire de St-Sulpice in Montreal for an opportunity to begin a life of priesthood. However, Riel did not complete his studies and later returned home in the Red River area (Thomas, 1982). The Red River Colony was established near present day Winnipeg, Manitoba within Rupert’s Land’s boundaries.
Rupert’s Land was a large territory in North America, owned by the Hudson’s Bay Company from 1670-1870. The Company’s territory was vast, expanding from Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, to Nunavut and the Northwest Territories. Portions of Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota were also kept under the Company’s control. This land contained almost a third of Canada’s current land mass. In this territory, the Hudson’s Bay Company had a monopoly over the trade and the land where the merchandise circulated. There was enormous pressure from the East and the South as both Canada and America attempted to expand their domain. This desire for further colonization and domination lead to tensions between the federal government and the people who called this land home. (“Rupert's”, …show more content…
2004). Thomas (1982) states that the Red River “settlement had grown to almost 12,000 and the village of Winnipeg had emerged, largely populated by Canadians and a handful of Americans.” During this time, Prime Minister John A.
Macdonald began negotiating with the Hudson’s Bay Company for the transfer of Rupert’s Land, but had little consideration for the population at Red River and the Council of Assiniboia (Thomas, 1982). “With the transfer scheduled for December 1 in 1869, Canada unwisely sent surveyors beforehand to mark out the lots it would be distributing to new settlers” (Bumsted & Cosh, 1997). This action rose feelings of resentment and tension in the colony which was largely dominated by the Métis. Without the reassurance of maintaining any rights to their land and their culture, tension began to build within the community. Riel believed his homeland and the payment for the transfer of its territory should be given to the true owners of the land: the Métis people. It would be in this location that resistance, led by Louis Riel and his allies, would change the course of Canadian
history. The Red River Rebellion The Red River Rebellion is more accurately portrayed as a resistance by the Métis to the imposing Canadian government in the Red River settlement in 1869-1870. Louis Riel and John Bruce created the Métis National Committee and a provisional government while discussing ideas of resisting the imposing government. As arrangements were being made in the transfer of land to the rule of the Canadian government, surveyors were sent to divide the land into lots that would be distributed among residents. Riel “assembled and led a group of Métis in physically blocking the surveyors' work” in Fort Garry, present day Winnipeg (Smith, 1995). With the transfer of land between the Hudson’s Bay Company and British North America, Riel and his allies soon presented their List of Rights to the government. Riel and the Métis people wanted the government to discuss matters with them, the residents of the land, rather than imposing without regard to their rights or interests. Their demands included provincial status, bilingual and confessional schools, and control of public lands (Flanagan, 2000, p.9). The proposal, with direct negotiations between Canada and the settlement, was the main purpose of the resistance (Flanagan, 2000).
In 1869, Red River and the North West were to be transferred from the Hudson’s Bay Company to Canadian jurisdiction, so survey crews were sent to Red River. These crews were disrupted by a group of Métis including Riel, who then organized themselves as the “Métis National Committee” with Riel as secretary. This committee formed a provisional government in December 1869 and Louis Riel became its president. This government established a Bill of Rights for the Métis people. They were challenged by a group of English settlers known a...
To them, the excitement and the adventure of the buffalo hunt held more appeal than farming. Hundreds of Metis were content to earn a living by hunting buffalo, making pemmican or finding employment as freight drivers. After a while Canada bought Rupertsland from Hudson Bay Company. When the Metis heard this they were alarmed. They feared their religion,their language, their lands and their old, free way of* life.
In the year 1957, Canada elected its first Prime minister without English or French root, John Diefenbaker. While growing up in the city of Toronto, because of his German name, he was often teased. [1] He grew up as an outcast, and so he was able to relate to the discrimination and inequality many of the minorities in Canada felt. This essay will attempt to answer the question: To what extent did Prime Minister John Diefenbaker help promote equality to the minority communities. . The minorities in this time period were the women, aboriginals, and immigrants. During his time as the Prime Minister, he was able to help protect the rights of this group because many of their rights were being abused by the society. Diefenbaker also helped the minorities to stand up for themselves and other groups. Diefenbaker was able to bring positive change to the minority communities by making an official Bill of Rights and appointing people of discriminated groups to the parliament while other members did not.
The controversy surrounding the trial and execution of Louis Riel has been debated throughout Canadian history with the French-speaking Canadians firmly planted against the English. Today, the government has recognized Riel as the legitimate leader of the Métis people. He is now regarded as a hero for representing the Métis.
During the late 1860s the Red River Settlement was rapidly changing and along with these changes came multiple causes and conflicts that would subsequently to a resistance called the Red River Rebellion. Many profound changes occurred in the Red River Settlement that had caused problems and hostility among the inhabitants to emerge such as:the arrival of Canadians to the settlement, the economic problems and the decline of the Hudson Bay Company. However, the Red River Rebellion was sparked by the Hudson Bay Company selling Rupert’s Land to the new Dominion of Canada without consulting with the inhabitants nor paying any regards to their interests.The colonists of the Red River Settlement, many of whom were Metis, feared for their culture and land rights under the dominion’s control. In order to ascertain that their rights would be protected, the Metis set up a provisional government under the leadership of Louis Riel to negotiate an agreement with the new Dominion of Canada that the Red River Settlement and the lands surrounding it, could enter Confederation as the province of Manitoba under their own terms.
Throughout the mid-eighteen hundreds, the Metis and First Nations people saw a lot of changes due to the increased numbers of White settlements. Throughout their struggles, one Metis man stood up in defense of his people and land. This is a story of the life of Louis Riel, the man who changed it all. His background, his roots, his history.
The special thing about this war was that part of it was over the influence of the territory later Canada (Upper Canada history, 2011).... ... middle of paper ... ... Retrieved May 15, 2014, from McCord Museum website: http://www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/scripts/explore.php?Lang=1&tableid=11&elementid=105__true&contentlong. Official voting results -.
Many people saw Louis Riel as a hero because of his passion about preserving the Métis rights and culture. Riel was a great Métis leader because he risked his own life just to improve the Métis’ lives. His heroism began when he returned home to Red River in 1868 after his studies, and discovered that the settlement was alarmed by arrangements to transfer territorial rights from the Hudson’s Bay Company to the Dominion of Canada. This was because the Hudson’s Bay Company resigned its control of the Northwest, and sold Rupert’s Land to Canada. This caused the Métis (people of mixed Aboriginal and European heritage) to fear that they would lose control of their homeland and traditional rights. They we...
Louis Riel was born in 1844. He was captured and executed by Canadian authorities in November 16, 1885. He was a leader who gave up his life and time to fight for the right of the Metis, Indians and the western settlers. He was an well-educated young man fluent in both French and English. He was also selected as the Metis’s spokesman to negotiate with the Canadian government. During the 1869-70, he led the rebel when Canada purchases Manitoba from the Hudson’s bay company. Also, he organized and led a similar rebellion in 1885. Above all, is he a patriote or a traitor? It was inappropriate to accuse Riel as a traitor. He tried to defend the traditional rights of Metis and made sure they treated as equally as the British subjects. Riel was a patriote, who passionately love, supported and defended his people. He was also a serious and thoughtful person who dedicated his life to help others. Metis, Native Indians and western setters were all very proud of and respected this leader because of his life long effort. He was a person who was willing to step up and told the government what they needed. Riel never wanted any violent, in fact, he wanted to use peaceful methods to achieve the changes they desired. Moreover, he had no intention to declare independence nor to take over Canada. Unfortunately, Canadian government did not realize the difficult situation of the Metis. They kept ignoring and disregarding their demand. Consequently, these people were forc...
Overall Howard deserves to be commended for his political approach to the struggles of 1885. His opinion of the class structure present and its importance in the developmental process of Canada’s political framework lends much insight to any reader willing to give it more than a moments thought. This article fits extremely well with class as it puts emphasis on the united quality among North-West groups, as well as the necessity to shed light on the Metis as a whole, not exclusively Riel. Personally I really enjoyed this article. I did not necessarily agree with the lens Howard was attempting to capture everything in, but the element of political theory that Howard brought to the table, for me, is always worthy of analysis: especially if you connect to a different theory that you can compare it to.
The tension first arose in 1869, when the Canadian government began negations with Hudson's Bay Company to acquire Rupert’s Land.
The spirit of compromise and conciliation shown by the Quebec Act of 1774 would guide generations to come in the shaping of Canada. This legacy of equality and respect would resurface in men like Lafontaine and Baldwin (with their “responsible government”) and in the adoption of the British North America Act. The enduring loyalty it secured from its French-Canadian citizens would help keep the nation whole even through difficult
Louis Riel was a Metis leader, founder of Manitoba, and a central figure in the Red River and North-West resistances. He was born on 22 October 1844 in Saint-Boniface, Red River Settlement and died 16 November 1885 in Regina, SK. He lead 2 Metis Nations, and brought Manitoba to confederation. Many people think that he is a martyr. A martyr is a person that was killed to protect or for their religion or other beliefs. However I still think that Louis Riel is a traitor. A traitor includes someone who betrays another’s trust, someone who is false to an obligation or duty, and it is also someone that acts against one’s nation, sovereign or country. And I think that Louis Riel did just that.
Expanding on the previous required reading, the chapter Historical and Contemporary Colonialism discusses the injustices faced by the Indigenous peoples of Canada by outlining the country’s history of colonialism. A significant legal document that began the process of colonization is known as the “doctrine of discovery”, which allowed for the stealing and raiding of Indigenous people’s land. As a result of this, Indigenous peoples were dehumanized and European colonizers simply viewed Indigenous people as conquered subjects with a complete lack of any rights and freedoms. As argued by the textbook, the doctrine of discovery was used as a means for European countries to justify their actions of stealing land from any non-Christian people.
The Crown has shown no intention of upholding indigenous land claims. Furthermore, Mackay argues this idea of not giving back the land happened because of early pioneers of European settlements feeling that they had a privilege to call this “indigenous land” that is being battled over theirs. The Settlers had a lustrous illusion of certainty. Now, embedded in Law, giving back the land would cause an extreme amount of uncertainty. The Crown can’t allow this to happen because it These people who strive for certainty, do this because of the social