An ambitious horde in search of new lands
Arrive among the
Métis as if they hardly existed
Coast to coast, a railroad at
any costs
Railroad millionaires gave themselves a country
Riel, legitimate leader of the Assiniboia,
As a man of
dignity, demands respect for their rights
Betrayed by Ottawa,
treated like cattle
The Métis no longer have a choice, they
must fight
Victory at Rivière-Rouge and near
Lac-aux-Canards
Later all their hopes crumble at
Batoche
Riel, in shackles; locked up in Regina
"Guilty,"
say the jurors; Richardson sounds the death knell
Parody of justice in the greatest disorder
It's hate that
dictates, the gallows and the noose
From the fury of the
Orange Order, Thomas Scott is the bitterness
Macdonald the
accomplice, in Riel's death
Like a deep scar that
slashes
The memory of the Métis, that nothing will
silence
Francophones everywhere express their anger
And
mourn for Louis Riel, murdered yesterday
From the latter's gallows only one print remains
A piece of
rope, a museum, his parents' house
And he who was nevertheless
the father of Manitoba
Must still take the low blows
today
Martyr for some and traitor for others
History will
convey him the winner against the wild beasts
They would like
him forgotten, because he still disturbs them
Still
controversial, more than a century after his death