by Sabby Kainth
Louis Riel is one of the most famous and enigmatic characters in Canadian literature and folklore. Since he was accused of treason and subsequently hanged in 1885, he has been portrayed in various ways. Some paint him as a traitor to the Confederacy, a French-Canadian and Catholic hero, a deranged revolutionary, a new frontier liberator, a puppet of hidden white interests, or a prairie political visionary. Others find him to be a Native hero, a devious shaman, or even a Father of the Confederation.
More than a century after his death, there are still conflicting theories regarding his position in Canadian history and how his involvement in the creation of Manitoba should be interpreted. There are differences throughout the country; there are those who see him as a martyr, and those who see him as a hero. Ultimately, Louis Riel wasn’t just a hero or a traitor, he was both. Riel was a complex and mysterious man who wore many hats throughout his lifetime. He was a schoolteacher, the head of a provincial government, and the leader of two rebellions.
Riel thought of himself as a sort of Messiah to the Métis, one who would guide them away from the clutches of the authoritarian Government of Canada. He did not want the Métis to be assimilated into Canadian culture, and eventually discarded. His leadership through the rebellion and the eventual signing of the Manitoba Act ensured the freedom of Métis land and identity as the province of Manitoba joined the Dominion of Canada.
The Métis Louis Riel
Louis Riel was of Métis descent. The Métis are a First Nations community descended from white fur traders and the Indigenous peoples of Canada. According to the 2016 census, there are nearly 587,500 Métis in Canada — accounting for 1.7% of Canada’s total population. The Métis have a culture that is a blend derived from French, Scottish, First Nations, and English customs — making it distinct from other Indigenious communities.
Born in 1844 to a Metis father and European mother, Louis Riel was one of eleven children in a deeply Catholic household. Riel’s plan for much of his early life was to become a priest but the idea became derailed by the sudden passing of his father. He stayed in Montreal for some years taking on legal work until his eventual move to Manitoba.
The Rebel Leader Louis Riel
As Louis Riel arrived back at the Red River settlement (present-day Winnipeg), he found himself knee deep in a culture war. By 1882 pamphlets were being circulated throughout eastern Canada (and as far as Europe) urging immigrants to come settle in the Saskatchewan Valley. The government promised that their risk would be rewarded with free homesteads and plenty of land for wheat cultivation. However, the issue was that Métis like Riel were still living on the land that the settlers were told they could take for free. Riel, an educated and charismatic son of a politician father, soon became the leader of the Métis freedom movement.
The Renegade Louis Riel
The Metis National Committee announced that they would form their own provisional government and Riel was to be their President. The list of demands the Métis people made to the Canadian government regarding being recognized as their own nation were eventually recognized and formed into the Manitoba Act.
Despite a strong start, tensions with the federal government rose to an all time high as Riel led the arrest and subsequent death sentence of a protestsant settler who was caught encroaching on a settlement and fighting with Métis guards.
News of the execution of the protestant settler spread rapidly and sparked widespread uproar in Eastern Canada. The next year, a military force came to restore peace in the newly established province of Manitoba. One demand however was not recognized, a pardon for Louis Riel. Riel had no choice but to exile himself, where he would live for more than 10 years.
Return of The Rebel Leader Louis Riel
Riel eventually made his way back from his exile in the Dakota territories to Canada where he was elected as a Member of Parliament, despite having a warrant issued against him.
By the mid 1870’s Riel had been elected to the Canadian Parliament three times, but he never took his seat, partially because the premier of Ontario had put a bounty on his head, which prohibited him from legally returning to Canada. During this time Riel led multiple armed insurrections against the provincial government of Saskatchewan. Riel was responsible for the death of over eighty individuals during these rebellions.
These years marked the rebel leader’s worsening mental health as he began to refer to himself as the prophet of the Métis people. He was placed in an asylum for a time after being diagnosed with having “delusions of grandeur” as witnessed by bystanders as he tore off his clothes and roared like a bull. After becoming a religious zealot and recluse, Riel eventually began to lose support of the Indigenious and Métis community.
The Traitor Louis Riel
Louis Riel was tried and eventually sentenced to death by a jury in Saskatchewan. Riel testified that when he first entered Saskatchewan, he saw the Métis “eating the rotting pork of the Hudson’s Bay Company and getting sick and tired every day.” He delivered a zealous speech, one which the judge had to interrupt by saying, “Are you done?
Riel said that his acts in the North-West Uprising were to strengthen the “state of the people of Saskatchewan,” even at the expense of his own life. Louis Riel was hanged at the age of 41, with some of his last words being “lead me not into temptation.”
The Legacy of Louis Riel
It is well known that Louis Riel is one of the most notorious figures in Canadian history. The mere mention of his name has potential to spark a divisive argument. The Red River and the North-West Rebellions have built a gulf between English and French Canadians that has lasted over a century after Louis Riel’s death. Across Canada, there will always be a fierce discussion regarding Louis Riel and the role he played in the freedom of the Métis Nation.
He was a mysterious and complex man whose character still remains impossible to fully grasp. Louis Riel was a man that lived in the chasm between hero and villain and if he demonstrated one thing, it’s that national icons need not always walk the straight path of morality.
