Louis Riel- Father of Confederation?

1. Louis Riel- Father of Confederation?

3. After Red River • After the Red River Rebellion, many Métis did not want to be part of an English-dominated Canada and after the province of Manitoba was established, they moved from Manitoba to Saskatchewan, then part of the Northwest Territories, founding a settlement at Batoche.

4. What Prompted Another Rebellion? • The North-West Rebellion (or North-West Resistance or the Saskatchewan Rebellion) of 1885 was a brief and unsuccessful attempt by the Métis people of the Saskatchewan Territory to bring their concerns about their survival to the Dominion of Canada.

5. Settlers were moving west, food was becoming more scarce as were the bison, pushing people to near starvation • Much of their land had also been signed away in treaties, and they were now seeing towns, farm fences and railways appearing on the once wild and expansive prairies • Their old life as fur traders and carriers for the Hudson's Bay Company was disappearing, along with the bison

6. White settlers in Saskatchewan who had purchased land expecting that the Canadian Pacific Railway line would run northwest from Winnipeg to Edmonton, learned suddenly in 1882 that the CPR would now go further south, through Regina and Calgary. • Poor harvests in 1883 and 1884 added to their problems, along with an unsympathetic Dominion government back East.

7. Petitions to Ottawa • The Metis wanted: • Secure titles to their lands, agricultural assistance, schools, and a local police force. • Ottawa ignored them. Who could they turn to?

8. Return of Riel • The Métis persuaded Riel to return • He returned on March 19, 1885 • Tried to set up yet another Provisional Government • First Nations Chiefs gave him full support

9. Gabriel Dumont was once again by his side.

10. Riel Returns • Riel lacked support from both the English settlers of the area and many of the non-Métis natives, and -due to his belief that God had sent him back to Canada as a prophet -the Catholic Church no longer supported him either. • MacDonald had other advantages this time that made this rebellion different.

11. MacDonald Acted… • He did not delay has he had done previously. • The North Wes Mounted Police had been formed in 1873. • Officers were already in the area ready to fight. • There was now a railway line reaching from Ontario to the southeastern part of the Saskatchewan Territory, and the North West Mounted Police (NWMP) had been created.

12. Battle of Fish Creek At Fish Creek the column of some 800 men led by General Middleton encountered about 150 Métis and Native allies on 24 April 1885. Until mid-afternoon, Middleton's soldiers tried unsuccessfully to drive Dumont's men from the ravine and suffered heavy casualties, with six killed and 49 wounded. The rebels had only four killed.

13. Battle of Fish Creek At the end of the day, both commanders decided to pull back. The Métis had held their ground and Middleton's advance was stopped.

14. General Sir Frederick Dobson Middleton July 1884 he was appointed commander of the Canadian Militia. He organized and lead the expedition during the NORTH-WEST REBELLION of 1885. After an initial brush with the rebels at Fish Creek, Middleton became cautious assisted in the battle of BATOCHE and was inevitably successful. Canadian Parliament voted Middleton a monetary award, while the British government made him a KCMG and promoted him lieutenant-general.

16. Battle of Batoche • May 9th, Middleton’s forces attacked Batoche and after a brief, intense conflict in the morning, Middleton kept the attackers at a distance from the enemy positions. In the afternoon, after failing to make headway against the entrenched enemy, the troops built a fortified camp just south of Batoche. • In the afternoon, of the third day of the siege, without specific orders, two colonels led several militia units in a charge. The rebels, weary and short of ammunition, were overrun.

17. The Capture of Batoche • Eight of Middleton's force died during the Battle of Batoche. The general later reported that 51 rebels were killed, but that number has often been disputed. Riel surrendered on 15 May; Dumont fled to Montana.

18. Resistance was Futile • The Métis were eventually defeated by government troops and Louis Riel was arrested. • English Canada, remembering the Thomas Scott affair, wanted the federal government to take tough measures against the Riel. • By contrast, French Canada pressed the government to show leniency toward the French Catholic Riel. • In the end, the federal government was determined to dispose of the man who had led two uprisings in the young country's history.

19. Execution & Aftermath • Riel's trial for high treason was a national spectacle, manipulated by Ottawa. Despite continuing questions about his sanity, Riel was found guilty and hanged. • The trial and its aftermath divided the young country along French and English lines. Riel’s legacy persists today and symbolizes a nation’s continuing struggle to reconcile its linguistic, religious and racial differences.

20. Riel's execution was postponed three times: twice to allow appeals to higher courts, then for a fuller medical examination of his alleged insanity. The appeals failed and the medical commission report was ambiguous. The federal government could have commuted the death sentence, but the decision to let the law take its course was purely political. Riel was hanged at Regina on 16 November 1885. French Canadians had supported the campaign to suppress the rebellion, but there was widespread outrage in Québec over Riel's execution. Wilfrid Laurier's passionate denunciation of the government's action was a major step forward in his political career.

21. Impacts • The rebellion had profound effects on Western Canada. It was the climax of the federal government's efforts to control the Aboriginal communities as well as the settler population of the West. • Aboriginal persons who had thought themselves oppressed after the treaties of the 1870s became subjugated and administered people. • The most vocal members of the Métis leadership had either fled to Montana or were in jail. It took the Aboriginal peoples and communities of Western Canada many decades to recover politically and emotionally from the defeat of 1885.

22. Exonerating Riel • More than 120 years after a Canadian government hanged Riel for treason, Brian Mulroney's government said Canada had "matured as a nation” and called for the official recognition of Riel's, “unique and historic role as a founder of Manitoba and his contribution in the development of Confederation." Métis leaders told CBC Radio the move was a step in the right direction. • In 2004, Prime Minister Paul Martin said his government was considering naming Riel a Father of Confederation. As of 2011, it hasn’t happened.