louis riel led the metis in the rebellions at red river in 1870 and in the northwest in 1885.
louis riel led the metis in the rebellions at red river in 1870 and in the northwest in 1885.
who led the metis in the rebellions at red river in 1870 and in the northwest in 1885?
louis riel
the life and times of celebrated métis people includes military figures, entrepreneurs and sports professionals. historically, william kennedy was an arctic explorer and, in 1851, commander of the second of four expeditions sponsored by lady franklin to find her husband, sir john franklin. gabriel dumont brought louis riel back to canada, in order to pressure the canadian authorities to pay attention to the troubles of the métis people. louis riel was a founder of the province of manitoba, and leader of the métis people of the canadian prairies. he led two rebellions against the canadian government and its first post-confederation prime minister, sir john a. macdonald; the red river rebellion of 1869–1870 and the north-west rebellion of 1885 which ended in his trial. dumont would serve under riel as adjutant general in the provisional métis government declared in saskatchewan in 1885. dumont then commanded the métis forces in the north-west rebellion. elzéar goulet was a métis leader in the red river settlement, supporter of louis riel's provisional government and namesake of winnipeg's elzéar goulet memorial park. charles nolin was a métis farmer and active political organiser who equivocated between religion and political support of the north-west rebellion and his first cousin louis riel. john bruce was the first president of the métis provisional government and fought at the red river settlement during the red river rebellion of 1869.
indigenous canadian personalities
métis history in alberta begins with the fur trade in north america. the métis developed as a people by the interactions of european fur trading agents and first nations communities. from 1670 to 1821 the métis populations grew regionally, typically around fur-trading posts of the north-west and hudson's bay companies. for example, fort edmonton spawned a large métis population that was involved in an annual buffalo hunt for many years. these métis helped to establish the nearby settlements of lac ste. anne (1844), st. albert (1861), lac la biche (1853), and st. paul de métis (1890). the hudson's bay company's land-claim in the west (called rupert's land) was sold to the newly formed dominion of canada with the passing of the british north-america act (canadas founding constitution, 1867) the sale of the hudsons bay companies claimed territory in 1869/70 officially ended its legal monopoly on the fur trade (not enforced since the trial of métis trapper guillaume sayer in 1849). the fur-trade was an economic boom for the métis as it opened the fur and buffalo meat trades to private métis and non-metis traders; however, it also exposed them to a flood of european and canadian colonists seeking to profit and disenfranchise the metis from their lands. metis living closer to canadian occupied territory such as the red river métis, today in parts of manitoba and saskatchewan, took up arms against the canadian government in the two failed riel rebellions (or "riel resistances", 1869 and 1885) in an attempt to assert their rights in the face of the newcomers. following the rebellions, some red river metis fled north-west, married into the northwest metis populations of northern alberta (formerly known as the distinct of athabaska, north-west territories) or assimilated into surrounding euro-canadian society. the end of these rebellions combined with the collapse of the fur and buffalo meat industries forced many albertan métis off their lands and reduced them to critical levels of poverty. on the whole, the métis cultures and communities survived with farming, ranching, fishing and industry replacing their traditional economy of fur-trading as the main economic activity in the parkland belt, though trapping and hunting have remained very important in the rocky mountain and boreal forest regions. more urban metis who live in close proximity to other cultural groups may have intermarried and assimilated into mainstream euro-albertan society to the point that their descendants no longer recognize themselves as métis. however, in much of northern alberta, the métis in more remote rural and isolated communities have remained culturally distinct. many of the contemporary metis settlement population have retained their unique cultural heritage and history due to land-grants provided by king george v by way of the "metis population betterment act of 1938."
métis in alberta