In the year Manitoba was to celebrate a century and a half since joining Confederation, a Métis group is renewing the call to absolve Louis Riel of the alleged crime of high treason that led to his hanging in 1885.
Riel was hanged in Regina, then part of the Northwest Territories, on Nov. 16, 1885 at the age of 41. He is now widely recognized — since the federal government acknowledged his role in 1992 — as being the pivotal figure in Manitoba becoming the fifth province of Canada following the Red River Rebellion.
The Red River Rebellion, led by Riel, is the resistance movement that defied federal authority and led to the Legislative Assembly of Assiniboia. The assembly, made up of 28 elected representatives, was three-quarters Métis, with a balance of French and English.
The pandemic halted the province’s celebratory plans this year, but the Manitoba Metis Federation has been drawing attention to Riel on key dates, such as the Manitoba Act achieving Royal Ascent on May 12, 1870.
Riel is now generally recognized as Manitoba’s founder.
The Union nationale métisse Saint-Joseph du Manitoba, a group that calls itself the leading Métis organization in Canada, released a statement this week, roughly two weeks before the day of Riel’s death by hanging 135 years ago.
“The death of Louis Riel is the source of deep division in Canadian society and has led to a profound sense of injustice among the Métis people which still echoes today,” said president Paulette Duguay.
In a letter to Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller, Duguay asked the government to declare Riel innocent.
Keith Henry, president of the British Columbia Métis Federation, stated Riel was an iconic leader.
“He was the most remarkable person in Métis history, fighting for basic human rights not only for the Métis but for all First Nations and other Canadians,” Henry said.
Sen. Marilou McPhedran — a human rights lawyer — also supports the call.
“In 2008, my home province of Manitoba legislated an annual Louis Riel Day holiday. It is a day Manitobans celebrate Louis Riel as the founder of our province and as a strong voice for minority rights,” McPhedran stated.
“The exoneration of Louis Riel would significantly advance the cause of reconciliation and address a long-standing injustice that continues to cause rancour in the relationship between Indigenous nations and Canada.”
But the Manitoba Metis Federation entirely disagrees, its president, David Chartrand, told The Brandon Sun.
He said a pardon or exoneration means Riel did something wrong in the first place.
“For more than 20 years, this whole premise of this pardon and exoneration has been thrown around by different political leaders, different groups, different people with their own ideas and views,” Chartrand said, adding that as far as he knows, the Union nationale métisse Saint-Joseph du Manitoba is a group of no more than 50 or 60 people.
“But, on behalf of the Métis government, we’ve always opposed it nationally and provincially because a pardon means he did something wrong and now he’s forgiven. He’s dead now. What are you going to do about it? The only thing a pardon and exoneration will end up doing is actually exonerate and pardon Canada.”
According to the 2016 census, 587,545 people identify as Métis.
The Sun, founded in 1882, covered the rebellion and Riel’s hanging extensively. The Sun reported in March 1885 that western Manitobans were anxious to help. As the Manitoba Historical Society documents, when the troops of the 90th Battalion passed through Brandon on March 25, crowds numbering in the hundreds turned out to greet the “soldier boys.”
Local bands provided music, women’s groups served tea and sandwiches, and a rousing cheer was given to a patriotic speech delivered by a military official. A number of local men, caught up in the patriotic fervour, volunteered on the spot to join the troops as guerrillas, according to reporting of the day.
A Sun correspondent attended Riel’s cell in Regina, before the hanging. The headline on the front page of the Nov. 19, 1885 edition reads: “Riel Hanged on Monday Morning. He Confesses His Crimes. Asks Forgiveness of All.”
“The condemned man was quite calm and stood talking to Dr. Jukes. On entering the cell Riel looked up and said to the sheriff, ‘So you have come with the terrible announcement; well I am glad to go and be relieved of my suffering’,” the correspondent wrote.
“Riel walked firmly without assistance down the six steps to the scaffold, and, taking his stand on the drop, constantly ejaculating in French, ‘In God I put my trust.’”
The Sun also reported that Riel said he wanted his body taken by his friends to be buried in St. Boniface. There is, today, a prominent grave site at the St. Boniface Cathedral in Winnipeg.
Chartrand said if Canada wants to do something about this historical matter, they should act on what Riel stood for.
“Everything he did was about his people,” Chartrand said.
“There are still outstanding issues negotiated by Riel. For example, the land claim for 1.4 million acres of land. We’ve gone to courts for decades to get clarity on where Métis fit in Confederation. We forced the country of Canada back into the negotiating table they abandoned after Riel.”
Chartrand advocates for a new trial.
“An actual trial,” he said.
“It doesn’t matter if they’re not around. The facts are the facts. In my view, if they (Canada) really want to do something, let’s re-enact an entire trial from scratch from the get go. Why was he charged for treason? Let’s get clarity on that issue. Why was he even charged for treason?”
