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TROUBLE AT RED RIVER

TROUBLE AT RED RIVER. October, 1869 Red River Colony, Canada. CANADA: 2008. THE RED RIVER REBELLION. A stand off between Canadian surveyors and Metis Surveying: the science or work of making land surveys

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TROUBLE AT RED RIVER

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  1. TROUBLE ATRED RIVER October, 1869 Red River Colony, Canada

  2. CANADA: 2008

  3. THE RED RIVER REBELLION • A stand off between Canadian surveyors and Metis • Surveying: the science or work of making land surveys • Survey: to examine or consider in detail or comprehensively, to determine the location, form or boundaries of a tract of land, gathering information and analyzing it

  4. PRELUDE • At confederation in 1867, Canada was a relatively small nation, containing only four of the provinces which are now part of a much bigger country. • In 1869, Canada bought Rupert’s Land (the vast lands that include the Northwest Territories, Yukon Territory, Nunavut, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and parts of Alberta) from the Hudson’s Bay Company (which had been established by the British).

  5. CANADA: 1870

  6. ALL SALES FINAL? • The sale of these vast lands was not official until December of 1869, meaning that the Canadian government did not actually have the official right to rule over these lands. • Excited about all this new land, the government sent a group of surveyors to go and examine this newly acquired area of territory in October 1869.

  7. GUESS WHAT? • Some people ALREADY live on the land that the Government has purchased! “Get your own tots!” “Well, I didn’t get any buffalo today, just wood”

  8. LIKE WHO? • Like the Metis! (That’s pronounced MAY-TEE, not MET-IS) and a certain man named Louis Riel (again, that’s LOU-EE REE-AL, not LOU-IS REEL)

  9. LIFE BEFORE MSN & FACEBOOK • Could John A. MacDonald send out an E-mail to let everyone in Rupert’s Land know that they were now living on Canadian soil? Of course not! • Back then, it took a very long time for news to travel from place to place, especially secluded little outposts in the middle of nowhere like the Red River Settlement. • Even a “noble steed” galloping as fast as possible would still take weeks to get all the way to the Red River to tell everyone the news so they could understand the situation.

  10. A BUFFALO A DAY… • Imagine you and your Metis buddies, who have just had an exciting day hunting buffalo (“I got two buffalos today”) come back into town and find out that a bunch of surveyors are on YOUR land. • This land was never REALLY yours, but you still had no idea it had been sold out from under you and now strange people claim that the government of Canada will soon be in control of this land.

  11. WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL? • The Metis have been living on this land for a very long time, and they are worried that once the government controls their land, they will be assimilated into Canadian culture, lose all their rights and be forced to give up their traditions under the rule of Canada. • Assimilated: to absorb and incorporate, digest, to make like or alike

  12. A BIG MIS-UNDERSTANDING? • People hate change. They hate the unknown, and they don’t like it when people mess with the status quo, (especially when the status quo involves sitting around building red river carts and hunting as many buffalo as you feel like) so the confusion is understandable to a certain degree. • Status Quo: the existing state of affairs (the way things are right now)

  13. SURVEYORS & YOU • Surveyors are basically scientific type people who make maps and measurements of land to determine the natural features and landscapes in order to plan for future development like roads, railways and other structures. • Wouldn’t you be a little mad if you planned a nice road from Ontario to Manitoba only to find there’s a mountain in the way? You WOULD be, and you’d wish that you would have surveyed that land because now you’ve got a useless road to nowhere….good job!

  14. Surveyors: Now & Then Circa 2008: “I wonder how many trees are left out here” Circa 1870: “I wonder how many trees are out here”

  15. CLASS PARTICIPATION TIME! • Q: Do surveyors sound like violent people? • (Raise your hand if you think that Surveyors are violent people) Peaceful People? Radioactive People? OR

  16. A Quick Comparison • Soldiers can be violent people. • Some pro wrestlers are violent people. • Master Chief in Halo is a violent person. • Surveyors are generally not violent, unless you steal their compasses and even then I wouldn’t expect much violent reaction from them Master Chief: violent Soldiers: violent

  17. John A. MacDonald: A FORGETFUL MAN • on October 11th 1869, a crew of surveyors arrives at what is now part of present day Manitoba. They are armed only with binoculars, maps, and a hard work ethic. • The first person they meet is a man named Andre Nault, who is a member of the Metis. Andre speaks French, the surveyors speak English, and neither understands a word of what the other was saying.

  18. DAZED & CONFUSED • To really understand what happens next, you have to put yourselves in the shoes of Andre Nault who is totally confused. Andre knows only THREE things at this point: • 1. These strange people are on my land, I can’t understand anything they say. • 2. I have never seen any of these tools before, maybe these are spaceship people carrying weird lasers (binoculars) and big pictures with funny shapes (maps). • 3. I had better get some of my friends to help me, I need help!

  19. Andre Nault, Circa 1869

  20. HELP IS ON THE WAY! • Realizing point #1 and #2, our friend Andre mounts his horse and sets off for help (that’s point #3), leaving the surveyors there who are totally confused. • The surveyors have no idea what is going to happen next, or where Andre went, so they start unloading their equipment and begin surveying the land around them.

  21. WAS LOUIS RIEL “EXTRA”? • Shortly thereafter, Andre returns with a group of 16 Metis, one of whom is Louis Riel. I suspect Louis Riel always proclaimed himself captain in gym class when they made teams, because he immediately took control of the situation. • Since Riel understood and spoke English, he was able to talk with the Canadian surveyors. Riel steps on a piece of their equipment and says “you go no farther”.

  22. Why Can’t We Be Friends? • This is what sets off the whole Red River Rebellion, and without knowing this part of the story, nothing makes any sense at all. • With these words, Louis Riel stepped into Canadian history and became leader of the Metis people. Riel would speak for the Metis and was prepared to defend their rights. • The Red River uprising was about to begin. You could call it a melee • Melee: a confused fight or hand to hand struggle among a number of people

  23. Credits • The End. “Wondering what happens next at Red River? Find out next History Class, and be ready for a quiz at the end of the unit!”

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