Chapter 9
The Métis Rise Up
Focus Questions
What was the importance of Louis Riel?
Who’s perspectives on Canada's past
should be considered?
What were some positive & negative
consequences of the political decisions
made during this period?
Should Louis Riel have an exhibit in the
new Human Rights museum?
The Red River Resistance
In October of 1869, the people of Red River
resisted the plan for the Hudson Bay Company,
Britain & Canada to transfer their region to
Canada without consulting them.
In April of 1869, Canada paid the Hudson's Bay
Company and the British government the
equivalent of $ 1.5 million dollars for control of
Rupert's Land.
People living in Rupert's Land were not
consulted about the arrangement.
The Métis wanted a say in their future, Canada
did not want this.
Who Were the People who Lived in
Red River?
French & English
speaking Métis
About half of the
population was
French speaking
Métis.
Canadiens
HBC employees
Scottish & Irish
colonists
What Triggered the Red River
Resistance?
1869 crops had failed, buffalo were
declining, & Canada was making plans
for Rupert’s Land as if nobody else
lived there
July 1869 surveyors were dividing up
the land going through farms as if they
were not even there.
This was done 4 months BEFORE the
agreement was even completed
What Triggered the Red River
Resistance?
October 1869 Louis Riel would not let
the surveyors onto his cousin’s farm
William McDougall was appointed
lieutenant –governor of the territory.
Métis set up a blockade & stopped him
The Métis then took control of Ft. Garry
December 1869 the Métis declared a
provisional government
Louis Riel was chosen as their leader
Riel’s Land Claims
Louis Riel
Louis Riel was born
at St. Boniface in
the Red River
Settlement.
His Mother was
Canadien & his
Father was Métis.
When Riel was 14 he
went to college in
Montreal. He was a
good student.
In 1868, Riel
returned to Red
River.
Louis Riel
In the transfer of Rupert's Land from the HBC
to Canada, Riel saw that Red River could be
recognized as a province.
This would give the people of Red River the
same rights as other Canadian provinces.
In December 1869, the Métis formed a
provisional government in Red River.
In February 1870, the French and English
communities elected 20 representatives each
to the provisional government, then elected
Riel as president.
Louis Riel
Riel had a good
physique
Was a great worker
Was a large man
Thomas Scott
In February 1870,
when the Métis took
over Fort Garry they
arrested some British
settlers.
In March 1870 the
Métis executed one of
the settlers, Thomas
Scott.
Riel could have
spared his life but he
chose not to do so.
The Manitoba Act
The Government of
Canada and the
Provisional government of
Red River finally
negotiated the Manitoba
Act.
This brought the
settlement of Red River
into Confederation as an
officially bilingual
province: the province of
Manitoba.
The Manitoba Act
The act was a
compromise
between the
Canadian
government and the
people of Red River.
The Manitoba Act
The people of Red River got an elected
government protecting the French language and
Catholic religion.
This established Canada as a bilingual country.
First Nations also wanted recognition of their
rights to the land.
Many Canadians from Ontario wanted freedom
to move west and to start farming.
Canada’s Prime minister, Sir John A MacDonald,
wanted to build a railway connecting Canada to
British Columbia.
Canada 1870
Second Métis Uprising
Métis at South Branch
Some Métis from
Red River moved to
South Branch
communities (North
of Saskatoon).
Here they farmed,
trapped and hunted
Buffalo, which was
disappearing.
Canada now
controlled the west.
Métis at South Branch
In 1873, Canada established the North West
Mounted Police.
Surveyors began to arrive, and Métis wanted
recognition.
Land speculators also arrived, and began to
mark out where the BC Railway would go.
They ignored the people that were already
living there.
The Métis, Blackfoot & Cree people sent
many petitions, but the government
continued to ignore them.
Gabriel Dumont
In 1884, Gabriel
Dumont went to seek
the help of Louis Riel.
Riel was living in
Montana, where he
had become a school
teacher and started a
family.
Although Riel was
living elsewhere, he
began to help the
Métis.
Louis Riel Returns
Buffalo had almost
disappeared
Epidemics of smallpox &
other diseases killed many
The railway was coming
through the land
Riel suggested that First
Nations, Métis & Whites all
work together
Riel thought that he could
make another deal with the
Canadian government like
he did in Red River
Métis leaders formed an
army to fight the Canadian
troops that were rumored to
be coming
Chiefs Pitikwahanapiwiyin &
Mistahimaskwa led groups &
took over a trading post & a
town &, 9 people were killed
How Did Canada Respond?
As it turned out the
Canadian government was
not sending any troops to
South Branch.
However, when the railway
was built by Batoche, 600
soldiers arrived.
The Battle of Batoche lasted
3 days & over 100 died.
Riel, Pitikwahanapiwiyin &
Mistahimaskwa surrendered
Riel was tried for treason but
executed for killing Thomas
Scott.
After these uprisings the
Canadian government made
natives have a pass before
they could leave the reserve.
Manitoba School Act
The rights in the
Manitoba School Act
that protected French
language & culture
didn’t last
The original act has
separate schools for
Catholic & Protestant
people both with
government funding
In 1890 the government
of Manitoba abolished
Catholic (separate)
Schools & made
English the only official
language
Demographic Change
When the Manitoba Act
was negotiated more
than half of the people
in this region were
Catholic & spoke
French.
1890 less than 15% of
the population was
Catholic & spoke
French.
This demographic
change happened
because the Canadian
government got
Protestant, English
speaking immigrants to
Métis Move West Again
The defeat of the
Métis at the Battle of
Batoche in 1885
triggered a new
migration west
Métis left South
Branch & moved into
what is now Alberta
James Brady
James Brady was the grandson
of Laurence Garneau who
supported Riel during the Red
River rebellion & the second
Métis uprising.
James grew up hearing about
the Métis fight for their rights.
Brady was born at St. Paul.
In 1896 father Albert Lacombe
founded this settlement to help
Métis become farmers.
In 1910 the settlement was
closed because the government
said it was not working.
Brady & his family left St. Paul
but Brady lobbied the Alberta
government & now Alberta is
the only province where Métis
have claim to the land.
Review questions
Why did the Red River resistance in 1869
& the second Métis uprising in 1885 take
place?
Why do people have different perspectives
on Louis Riel?
How did the Manitoba Act differ from the
Manitoba School Act?