A Brief Historical Overview of the North-West Rebellion
Derric Ludens
The North-West Rebellion had its inception with the fears of territorial losses
nearly twenty years earlier. In 1869, the Canadian government purchased portions of
Canada from the Hudson Bay Company. The Metis, a people of European—usually
French—and native ancestry, feared that the Protestant Canadian governor William
McDougall would infringe upon their rights and land. After the Canadian government
rejected the Metis’ request to negotiate, the Metis prevented Canadian surveyors from
accessing their land and proclaimed that certain rights must be protected in order for the
Metis to consider unification with the Canadian government. The Canadian government
soon became more open to the inclusion of the different demographics which comprised
Canada and declared an amnesty on December 6 for all those involved in the rebellion,
which by this time had witnessed several confrontations between Canadian troops and
Metis, but the rebellion continued. After Louis Riel, the leader of the disaffected Metis,
executed an Ontarian, the Canadian government wished to end the challenge to its
authority and sent a military expedition into the Red River Settlement under Colonel
Garnet Wolseley, which quelled the rebellion by August 24th 1870. This military solution
to the conflict between the Metis and the Canadian government did little to resolve the
issues at the core of the rebellion. Having gained few assurances of their land rights, the
Metis soon moved farther west to the Saskatchewan River, where in 1869 another
rebellion would occur.
Fifteen years after the Red River Rebellion, fearing the rapid westward
expansion of settlers, the Metis, as well as some Cree Indians, once again feared that their
land claims would not be honored. This, coupled with the added pressure of a sustained
drought, compelled the Metis to send an envoy to Louis Riel, who had led the Red River
Rebellion of 1869 and subsequently fled to Montana. After returning to Canada at the
behest of the Metis, Riel, a catholic priest and self-proclaimed prophet, sent several
petitions to the Canadian government requesting assurances that the Metis’ land claims
would be honored, but after no action was taken by the Canadian government, Riel
declared an autonomous provisional government in 1885 and ordered all governmental
officials out of the North-West Territories. Although some Cree Indians participated in
the rebellion, its leadership—most notably Poundmaker and Big Bear—held substantial
reservations concerning the course set upon by the Metis, but the younger warriors in
some of the tribes continued to propel them further into the conflict. Despite their
legitimate grievances with the government’s neglect of treaty promises, more Indians
rejected all invitations and opportunities to participate in the rebellion than joined it. By
April 10th 1885, Cree Indians had captured Battleford, the territorial capital of
Saskatchewan, and on the 24th of April, a group of Metis defeated a militia at Fish Creek
led by the British General Frederick Middleton. But these initial successes accomplished
little more than providing a source of morale for Riel and the independence movement,
while simultaneously giving the government an impetus to quell the rebellion quickly.
Less than a month later, the Metis, who provided the core of the rebellion, were defeated
at Batoche by General Middleton, effectively ending the rebellion. Riel was soon
captured and convicted of treason and was hanged on November 16th.
Sources Consulted
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Wishart. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2004.
Dempsey, Hugh A. “Big Bear.” In Encyclopedia of the Great Plains. Edited by David
Wishart. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2004.
Ens, Gerhard J. “Red River Resistance.” In Encyclopedia of the Great Plains. Edited by
David Wishart. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2004.
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Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2004.
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since Confederation. 6th ed. Toronto: Nelson Education, 2007.
Francis, R. Douglas and Donald B. Smith. Readings in Canadian History PostConfederation. 6th ed. Toronto: Nelson Thomson Learning, 2002.
Huel, Raymond J. A. “Louis Riel” In Encyclopedia of the Great Plains. Edited by David
Wishart. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2004.
Macleod, R.C. “North-West Rebellion.” In The Oxford Companion to Canadian History.
Edited by Gerald Hallowell. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.
Porsild, Charlene. “North-West Rebellion.” In Encyclopedia of the Great Plains. Edited
by David Wishart. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2004.