Une horde ambitieuse en mal de nouvelles
terres Débarque chez les
Métis comme s'ils n'existaient guère D'un océan à
l'autre, chemin de fer à tout prix Les millionnaires
du rail se sont offert un pays
Riel, chef
légitime de l'Assiniboia Réclame en homme
digne, le respect de leurs droits Trahi par Ottawa,
traité comme du bétail Les Métis n'ont
plus le choix, il faut livrer bataille Victoire à
Rivière-Rouge et près de Lac aux Canards Tous leurs
espoirs s'écroulent à Batoche plus tard Riel, les fers
aux pieds; écroué à Regina «Coupable»,
disent les jurés; Richardson sonne le glas
Parodie de
justice dans le plus grand désordre C'est la haine
qui dicte, la potence et la corde De la furie
orangiste, Thomas Scott est le fiel Macdonald le
complice, de la mort de Riel Telle une
cicatrice profonde qui lacère La mémoire des
Métis, que rien ne fera taire Francophones de
partout expriment leur colère Et pleurent Louis
Riel, assassiné hier
Du gibet de ce
dernier ne reste qu'une estampe Un bout de corde,
un musée, la maison de ses parents Et lui qui fut
pourtant père du Manitoba Doit encore
aujourd'hui, essuyer les coups bas Martyr pour les
uns et traître pour les autres L'histoire le
portera en vainqueur face aux fauves On le voudrait
oublié, c'est qu'il dérange encore Toujours
controversé, plus d'un siècle après sa mort
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 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.
Louis Riel's address to the jury in Regina
courtroom, July 1885.
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.
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.
(Based on an article by
Marc-André Gagnon published in Chantier
politique no. 32, November 18, 2013. Translated
from the original French by TML Weekly. Photos
from public archives.)
