1.4 Case Study: Louis Riel

The Métis were an important factor in the growth of Canada into the West. They demanded to be identified as a unique culture with their own rights. This was not always an easy road. Louis Riel, sometimes called the "Father of Manitoba", tried to establish a homeland for the Métis people in Manitoba.

Southern Manitoba, which had been governed by the Hudson Bay Company, was settled by the French and the Métis people. They held land in the Quebec seigneurial system, but they did not have title to their land. As more and more settlers from Canada entered Manitoba, they began to threaten the Métis way of life, so Riel tried to establish some form of government that would recognize the Métis.

Riel developed the Métis Bill of Rights which asked that the Métis land grants, language rights, and denominational schools be recognized by the Canadian government. The Canadian government ignored the Métis requests. Riel's resistance to Canadian incursions created tensions within Red River which led to the execution of Thomas Scott, a prominent member of the group that opposed Métis control of the area, and eventually to Riel's exile to the United States. He remained a popular figure and was even elected to the Canadian House of Commons three times while in exile, although he never served a term.