134th Anniversary of the Hanging of Louis
Riel
Infamous Day in the History of Canada
Métis leader Louis Riel (centre) surrounded by councillors of the Métis Legislative Assembly
of Assiniboia.
On November 16, 1885, the British colonial power executed
the great Métis leader Louis Riel. Riel had been charged and
found guilty of high treason after the Métis were defeated at the
Battle of Batoche in May of that year. The execution of Louis
Riel was intended as an assault on the consciousness of the Métis
nation, but was unsuccessful in putting an end to their fight for
their rights and dignity as a nation. The struggle of the Métis
to affirm their right to be and exercise control over their
political affairs continues to this day.
The two great uprisings of the Métis -- the Red River Uprising
(1869-1870) and North-West Uprising (1885) -- were not isolated
events but took place at a time when the Indigenous nations and the
Quebec nation were also striving to affirm their nationhood, and
at a time of revolutionary ferment in Europe. The Métis'
uprisings represented a response to the colonial project that
sought to reproduce the British state in North America and block
the legitimate aspirations of the nations that comprised
Canada.
The British North America Act of 1867 and the federal
government's purchase of Rupert's Land from the Hudson's Bay
Company in 1869-1870, juxtaposed with the decline of the
traditional Métis economy based on the buffalo hunt, forced the
Métis to engage in a power struggle with the colonial authorities
and negotiate Manitoba's entry into the Confederation after the
establishment of a Legislative Assembly. The spirit that
motivated Riel and the members of the provisional government at
the time is contained in the Declaration of the Inhabitants of
Rupert's Land and the Northwest that affirms the sovereignty of
the Métis over their lands. The latter also refused to recognize
the authority of Canada, "[...], which presumes to have the right
to come and impose on us a form of government even more
incompatible with our rights and our interests [...]."
The Manitoba Act, which established that province, was
voted on and passed in the federal Parliament in May 1870. The
government wasted no time in exerting control over its new
territory as evidenced by the Wolseley military expedition later
that year -- which led to Riel fleeing to the U.S. for fear of
his safety -- the creation of the North-West Mounted Police (1873),
and the Indian Act (1876). Prime Minister John A. Macdonald
championed the colonization of the west and the development of
agriculture with the national policy he had
been promoting since 1878. With the help of the Oblates (lay members of the
Catholic Church affiliated with a monastic community), the
authorities sought to settle the Métis and force them to adopt an
agricultural lifestyle. Facing an existence within this rigid
framework and under pressure from land speculators, some Métis
sold the land that had been granted to them and settled in
Saskatchewan.
This was a period when nationalism was in the air. The
events
in Manitoba alerted Quebeckers to the fragility of the Métis'
situation, while the abolition of the teaching of French in New
Brunswick in 1871 indicated the need for organization. National
organizations to defend the rights and interests of Francophones, such
as the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society, spread across the
continent with the waves of migration from the St. Lawrence
valley. The National Convention of Montreal in 1874 and the
Saint-Jean-Baptiste celebrations in Quebec in 1880 and Windsor in 1883
brought together delegations from all of French America in a
strong show of the vitality of the "French-Canadian family."
Acadians held their first convention in 1881 where they held a
celebration and adopted a national doctrine.
Métis won a victory at the Battle of Fish Creek, April 24, 1885. Lithograph by Fred Curzon.
Métis leaders, under the sway of the Church at that time, did
not rock the boat. In the aftermath of the Red River resistance,
the Saint-Jean-Baptiste society of Manitoba was founded in
Saint-Boniface, Manitoba. Its vice-president was none other than
Louis Riel. This association included in its infancy as many
French Canadians as Francophone Métis.
However, aware of their distinct identity, Métis leaders
wished to forge their own nationalism. Riel would come to
articulate a Métis nationalism, with its own holidays and
national symbols. This process would culminate in the creation of
the Métis National Council at Batoche in September 1884, to
promote the development of their political consciousness.
The Métis once again took up arms to affirm their nationhood
and right to be in the North West Rebellion of 1885. For three
days between May 9 and May 12, 1885, 250 Métis fought valiantly
against 916 Canadian Forces at the Battle of Batoche but were
defeated and Riel surrendered.
Macdonald and his cabinet took a hard line with respect to
Riel and his compatriots. Riel was tried in Regina over five days
in July 1885. After half-an-hour's deliberation he was found
guilty of treason by the jury, which recommended mercy.
Nevertheless, Judge Hugh Richardson sentenced him to death. From
September 1885 to October 1886, Riel and several of his comrades,
all Indigenous, would be condemned to hang.
Louis Riel's address to the jury in Regina courtroom, July 1885.
While times have changed, the Canadian state has inherited the
colonial power and it persists in the aim of negating the
nationhood of the Métis, Indigenous nations and Quebec. The proud
history of the Métis and their fight to affirm their rights and
nationhood is not some historical artifact gathering dust, but
continues to gleam brightly in the light of the present day. The
fight to affirm rights that belong to people by virtue of their
being human is precisely the fight for modern, human-centred
arrangements. Louis Riel's life epitomized the fight for the
recognition of rights on a modern basis.
Louis Riel's life is an important legacy that is as relevant
as ever at this time when the Canadian state is doing its utmost
to negate the rights of the Métis, Indigenous nations and the Quebec
nation, as well as the workers, women, youth, national minorities
and all the collectives in the society, all in the name of
security, balance, austerity and other phony high ideals.
This article was published in
Volume 49 Number 27 - November 16,
2019
Article Link:
134th Anniversary of the Hanging of Louis
Riel: Infamous Day in the History of Canada
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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