November 16, 1885: Louis Riel is hanged, ending Canada's North-West Rebellion.
Louis David Riel was born on October 22, 1844 in the Red River Colony, Prince Rupert's Land -- now Winnipeg, Manitoba. He was a leader of the Métis people, descendants of the original European settlers of Canada and its aboriginal peoples, which Canadians call "First Nations."
He led the Red River Rebellion in 1869, and the peace he and the federal government made allowed Manitoba to enter Confederation as a Providence, earning him the title "the Father of Manitoba." But he made the mistake of ordering the execution of Irish-Canadian leader Thomas Scott in 1870, and had to flee to America.
In 1884, the Métis of Saskatchewan called on him to lead their grievances with the federal government. He led a military resistance that became known as the North-West Rebellion. It failed, he was convicted of treason, and executed at the North-West Mounted Police barracks in Regina, Saskatchewan on November 16, 1885, at age 41. He is buried at St. Boniface Cathedral in Winnipeg.
Part of the irony of his life is that he is seen as a hero less by the aboriginal population of Canada, and more by the French-speaking one. His removal from the scene guaranteed Anglophone control of Western Canada, and this has been part of the Francophone grievance with Ottawa ever since.
*
November 16, 1885 was a Monday. There were no scores on this historic day: No college football games were scheduled, baseball was out of season, hockey was in its infancy, and basketball hadn't yet been invented.
No comments:
Post a Comment