Louis Riel: Opinions

Frequently teaching grade seven history class means that I hear the name "Louis Riel" on a regular basis. It makes sense; he's an important part of our history, his blood makes him a rare double-whammy in the sense that he's both French and aboriginal (the textbooks really stress having high representation of both) and he's a symbol for Canada's stand-up-for-the-little-guy attitude. But...

He's a little more controversial than he may seem. This is a far more nuanced issue than most of what you'll see, typically showing Riel as a picturesque hero that can do no wrong against a massive, evil entity. While he's justly seen as a crusader for equal rights, there are plenty of issues that arise that take him down a couple notches. I believe it's right to look into those.

But why?

Take a look at Christopher Columbus. He's been hailed as a hero in the States for so long, until relatively recently when people started remembering some of the terrible stuff he's done. Previously, only the positives were remembered, a bit of revisionist history that had him only as a great explorer who found the New World and... that's all. Never mind the other stuff.  Riel is the same way but to the opposite extent. He's remembered as a champion of the minority, but any negatives are forgotten or pushed to the side to better fit the narrative we wish to put forth. History shouldn't take sides. All facts should be presented and opinions should come through once everything's on the table. We can't laugh at Fox News in the south for only showing one side and then do the same here because ours sends a positive message.

Now, don't get me wrong. I like Riel. But let's go through a little bit here.

The whole Thomas Scott execution... just, or not?
The book I read for this blog and the previous three, "Louis Riel and Gabriel Dumont" in the Extraordinary Canadians series, while well written, was about as biased as a book could be. To soften the blow of the execution, Thomas Scott was called a dog, some wretched human being that had to be put down due to his behaviour.

Well...

He was undoubtedly a belligerent, racist jerk. There's no denying that. But lets keep in mind the circumstances: he's still locked up, by all means he shouldn't be able to escape under their watch a third time, he has no weapons in there (I mean, he's in jail after all), and he was put to death for defying the provisional government. Execution seems an overly harsh penalty. We can't just bump off people we don't like just because we really don't like them.

Just as a side note, I find this whole event very strange. Not only is this an incredibly poor decision as I made clear in the other blog posts, but it's wildly out of character for Riel. Louis was big into not spilling any blood through this rebellion, at least as little as possible. In fact, that belief is what caused Dumont to have so many difficulties mounting an army, supplying them, and using appropriate tactics once there were no other options. Why was it then that he broke and allowed the execution? That guy must have been really just spectacularly obnoxious. It's kind of funny in a morbid, sad way - the guy goes down in history as being so horribly annoying they had to kill him. And nowadays the reaction to it is "well... yeah. He had it coming."

Some of Riel's ideas were... well, crack-pot like. 

Riel certainly had his strange moments, that's for certain. He would sometimes go around naked (nothing to hide in front of God, sure, but please, hide a little in front of the general public), he wished to rename the days of the week (looks like someone's got a case of the "Christ Aurores") as well as believing that the resurrection of an American politician would somehow help his cause (the book didn't go into greater detail on this but I really wish it did). It's a little more difficult to support him when you start hearing about some of his plans, let alone the whole divine prophet thing. There's a reason he spent two years in an asylum, after all.

That being said, I can understand the reason for his popularity now. In many ways he was well ahead of his time, fighting for equality among Canadians regardless of race - surely a worthy cause. For that, he's commendable, and perhaps the Metis people just needed what he most certainly was; a charismatic, charming leader that without doubt believed wholeheartedly in his convictions.

Is the Canadian government the big, evil entity that it seems?

Well... kind of.

John A. and Co. don't exactly come out of this sparkling clean. Time and time again the Metis asked for fairly reasonable claims: a decent plot of land they actually own, a means to divide the land to make it fair for their people, and a reasonable set of basic human rights for them and theirs. A little acknowledgement at the very least would have stymied the necessity of a revolt. Surely, that looks bad on Johnny Mac. I won't argue that.

However...

MacDonald is put in a very difficult position here. The Americans are going to take the west if he doesn't move first. Not only does he need to get settlin' out there, but he has a very strict time limit in which to do so. Failure would mean the likely collapse of his whole country not too far down the line. Lets not forget that Riel himself actually hoped for American expansion as he believed that would help his cause. Cut the guy a little slack. He's between a rock and a hard place on this one.

As for attacking a small community of Metis with the full might of an early ages Canada? Think of the circumstance. The first group of Canadian foot-soldiers went west to respond to the execution of an English speaking man. I'd say that's fair, at that point. There's blood, you have to respond. The second followed the Frog Lake Massacre. It has massacre in the title, so I believe that's just ground for government intervention once more. They made plenty of mistakes, that's for certain, but their use of force, specifically, was justified.

OK, OK, so here's the big one. Is Louis Riel a hero?

Yes.

He fought for the rights of a disenfranchised group and stood up to a larger power he had no chance of defeating. Through and through, he worked selflessly for the Metis, right up until the very end where he quite possibly sacrificed his life in denying the insanity charge and pushing for a different defense because otherwise it would make his cause seem less worthy. Louis theoretically may have even avoided capture had he tried to escape but he turned himself in for leniency for his people. He was ages ahead of his time in what are now common Canadian ideas of equality and racial harmony. Hats off to Louis Riel. He deserves his place in history.

The purpose of this blog isn't to tarnish Riel's legacy, but rather to show that with all coins there are two sides. MacDonald was not some ruthless dictator, but a man having to deal with battling two vastly different forces; a great, imposing giant to the south and an aggravating colony to the west. Something had to give. As for Riel himself, yeah, he was probably more than a little crazy (or looney - like our coin! Pun! Yes!) but his ideals weren't. Except for the whole changing the names of the days of the week, and the New Rome in Saskatchewan thing.

So what should Riel's legacy be, o humble Idiot Historian?

Well, pretty much what it is. A great leader that fought a good fight. I just wish it wasn't always painted as a black and white narrative, where the Canadian government is an evil force that means to squash any resistance that dares say anything against them, always stepping on the weak and disenfranchised. They're still just people here, not monsters versus heroes. I guess it's just my way of saying I'm growing weary of how we learn our history only through how our government and people have done so many things wrong. Just look to Trudeau - he's probably apologizing for something historical as we speak.

Well, once he's done with the whole elbow thing.

Louis Riel: Part 3 - Downfall and Treason

In the wake of the Frog Lake Massacre, Canada sends its might to squash the rebellion. The Canadian forces splintered into three groups; one to take out Big Bear and Wandering Spirit, another for Poundmaker, and the leader of the force, Frederick Middleton, hoping to take in or take out Louis Riel. Gabriel Dumont hoped to harry the incoming forces with hit and run tactics, but Riel didn't want him to resort to guerrilla tactics thinking that was below their cause. If he had been allowed, it would certainly have found a great deal of success; the men being sent to stomp out the rebellion were fairly fresh soldiers, not having seen a lot of combat and unfamiliar with not only the terrain but how to survive well outdoors. A young and inexperienced fighting force, regardless of being well supplied and having better weaponry, would have difficulties against the forces of Dumont who are good at everything that has to do with guerrilla warfare - quick movement, knowledge of the terrain, and experience in their weaponry. Nevertheless, they sat back and waited.

Canadian forces attacking at the Battle of Batoche.
Disciplined soldiers, they practiced the "walk in one really
long line" formation.

They met the first wave of Canadian forces at Fish Creek, hoping to assault them with the element of surprise. However, as disciplined as Dumont was, he and his small army of native and Metis soldiers were still liable to make mistakes. His men saw a cow wandering on the path and decided to chase after it (from what I can tell, just for fun) and left tracks that the Canadians saw. If that wasn't enough, Dumont also chased after a scout which alerted the opposition as well. To be fair to Dumont, he's still injured from being shot in the head, so cut him a break. He would occasionally pass out from the pain, but he still managed to not only fight in the battles but lead them.

Middleton's forces had far more soldiers than the Metis but were unaware of that fact. To pile on, 50 of the 137 abandoned the Metis at the first sounds of gunfire. Nevertheless they held on for hours due to Middleton being unable to gauge just how many Metis were against them. Somehow, after hours of fighting, only four Metis were killed and ten on the other side. Blame unreliable weaponry, I suppose.

Frederick Middleton, looking like he's gunning
for a position as Kaiser Middleton.

For the next assault the Canadians came with a concerted force of 850, along with a gatling gun and four cannons. Coming up against a force of only 200 Metis, they're certainly the favourites. The plan was to attack Batoche in central Saskatchewan, drawing Gabriel out with a steamer full of supplies sent down the river while they attacked the town in the meantime. The ruse succeeded, drawing Gabriel away from the force while they started firing on Batoche. Eventually Gabriel returns and the fight begins in full, Gabriel keeping them at bay with midnight raids that keep the enemy from getting any rest as well as lighting the vast prairie grassland on fire in order to obscure the gatling gun's vision. You've got to hand it to Dumont; he's fighting insurmountable odds, holding on with barely any bullets and keeping them back with using the land itself. His quick thinking worked well, but in the meantime the town was basically left in rubble due to the cannon and gatling gun fire. Middleton, in spite of outnumbering and outgunning the Metis, hesitates in the final assault and the fighting stretches out over a weekend. The priests, however, came back to bite Louis. They held up the white flag and actually came to help the Canadians, pointing out rifle pits that were well disguised. Finally, one of his officers gets fed up and charges with his men, routing the Metis and sending them scattered into the wilderness.

Dumont and Riel both flee, but neither of them know where the other has run off to. The Metis start surrendering in groups, hungry and tired and no longer able to defend themselves. Riel eventually decides to turn himself in in the hopes that it will grant leniency to his people. Dumont, meanwhile, went to the U.S. where he was caught - but quickly released. MacDonald had enough on his plate with deciding what to do with Riel, so he let Dumont slide.

Riel was then brought out east to be tried for treason - and the odds were pretty stacked against him right off the get go. Not only was he tried as a subject of the Queen (so basically someone living in Canada) he was also tried as an alien (someone from outside of Canada) at the same time. This was, somehow, allowed. How they were going to try to free him on the defensive side of the courtroom was up for debate; Riel wanted to defend on the grounds that he was fighting on behalf of a people ignored by the Canadian government where his lawyers wanted to plead insanity (they certainly had a case). Riel didn't want the latter because that would nullify everything he's fought for. Saying he's been doing everything he has been due to him being a nut wouldn't exactly help out his people.

Metis prisoners following the fall of Riel. Every last one
followed the "old prospector" fashion style.

Just before the jury left to decide Riel's fate, the judge gives a rather one sided statement on the way out: "not only must you think of the man in the dock, but you must think of society at large. You are not called upon to think of the government at Ottawa simply as a government. You have to think of the homes and of the people who live in this country. You have to ask yourselves: can such things be permitted?". Well, why not just say "he's guilty, let's move on." Naturally, he was found guilty of treason and sentenced to hang.

John A. did have the option to pardon him, however. He was facing a great deal of international pressure to spare Riel, mostly for two reasons; one, he was a political prisoner that didn't actually fire a single shot, and two, he had a lot of French allies due to his lineage. However, the election was coming up and the votes came predominantly from the English speaking side, and one that would definitely prefer to put Riel down. MacDonald decided against pardoning him, famously saying (well, relatively famously, but famous as far as early Canadian history quotes go) "he shall die though every dog in Quebec bark in his favour!".

He was hanged shortly after. The rebellion, with all the blood and vitriol that fueled it, fizzled out with the loss of Riel and Dumont. As for his legacy, well, at least he's remembered as a better Canadian than Avril Lavigne.

Louis Riel: Part 2 - The Second Rebellion

Fourteen years have passed since the first rebellion. (I wanted to start with that because it sounds so much like the first line for a trailer to a video game sequel.) Since Louis Riel's exile, the Metis have fallen on hard times. (That no longer sounds like a trailer.) The crop yield has been poor, the buffalo are lower in number than ever and mostly moving westward, and the number of European settlers is steadily rising. (We're well past the trailer and well into textbook territory now.) With the railroad coming, that number will only go up and up until they're vastly outnumbered. Sitting back and waiting won't work.

John A. MacDonald offered a deal for them, but it was one that wouldn't really work out that well. The Manitoba Act said they could have 1,400,000 acres (which sounds great!) but the plots would not be choice ones, and would be distributed by a lottery (no longer quite so great). The problem with the lottery system is it would be administered in the English way, not the French one - that would mean that most of the land plots wouldn't have access to water as they went by a square plots system rather than long strips that connect to the river, and thus most land zones would lose most of their value.

You know Dumont's manly musk is so
strong you could bottle it.

In comes Gabriel Dumont. He's the quintessential tough-as-nails cowboy type; leader of the buffalo hunt, a great shot with a rifle, respected by the whole population, and an unofficial leader of the Metis both politically and militarily. A true master of survival and living off the land, he would make Mantracker look like some pampered city folk. This is the man that goes to recruit Louis, bringing him back to the fold. I have a soft spot for Gabriel, because as far as Canadian historical figures go, he's got to be one of the top ten coolest. He must spend half his time debating what title is cooler: "Outlaw General" or "Master Woodsman". Or "Rebel Leader"! Oh, man!

Seeing his people in distress, Dumont convinces Riel to come back, who at the time was working as a teacher in the United States. His return is greeted with cheers and hope, at least from the common public. Louis finds an unexpected enemy; the church. Riel considers himself a prophet who will lead the New World to become great, the "new Rome" being in Saskatchewan of all places (well, that didn't pan out). Upon finding so many followers for his cause he began to usurp much of the political power the church held which understandably upset the Catholic priests who had previously been the guiding hand of the community. The confrontation escalated so high they threatened to brand him a heretic, which, to be fair, is the direction most self-proclaimed prophets find themselves in. Down the line Riel would be excommunicated from the church.

Chief Poundmaker, also known as
Pitikwahanapiwiyin. His friends called him
Pete.

With Riel coming to power and the urgency of the circumstance forcing him to do something, he had to decide what exactly that something is going to be. He considered recreating a provisional government but that would be taken much more seriously this time around; they were on Canadian land now, not HBC territory, meaning any rival governing body would be treated as treasonous and put down swiftly without any political fallout for ol' Johnny Mac. Some believed that the reason why MacDonald kept prolonging any deals with the Metis was because a revolt would serve very well for him. He could step in with a righteous Canadian fist of justice and take back the land from the rebellion without much of an thought, putting the frustrating Metis out of commission.

Regardless of what they were planning, the Metis of Red River were clearly... well, planning something. But more nefariously. I suppose you could call it plotting. Anyways, the police came in to sweep them out. The Metis got word of this and realized that in order to shoot at anyone hoping to send them out of their land, they needed something to shoot with. Guns and ammo were low on supply and Dumont raided an English speaker's store, taking his wares and keeping him as prisoner. Leading from the town of Batoche, he raids more stores and gathers followers as he goes. Dumont is an excellent leader, able to get the upper hand on his enemies through his abilities in tracking and general outdoorsy talents, and if there's one man to stand against the tide of Canadian forces coming to clear him out it's him. Still, he needed more weaponry and knew how to get it: a nearby fort would be easily taken and would provide them with all the supplies they needed. However, there was one thing that stood in the way. Louis Riel.

Riel and Dumont held the same goals in mind (a unified Metis culture, separate from the eastern Canadian forces) but wanted to go about it in entirely different ways. Riel wanted as little bloodshed as possible, a problem that will continue to hamper Dumont throughout the campaign. This was just the first example, Riel urging Dumont to steer clear of the fort. Dumont listened to Louis, perhaps because of the strong influence Riel had in the community, or perhaps because he also believed him to be the prophet he claimed himself to be. It's a shame his plans didn't pan out. It would be cool if Saskatchewan became the "New Rome" he wanted it to be. Instead, we get this.

Wikipedia describes this as a "romanticized version" of the
battle at Duck Lake.

ro-man-ti-cize
verb
"deal with or describe in an idealized or unrealistic fashion; make
(something) better or more appealing than it really is"

In what world, Wikipedia?

Eventually the police approach the only moderately well supplied Metis forces at Duck Lake. Although the police took the first shot, Dumont's men won handily. Bear in mind that Dumont's men are Metis, well trained in hunting and thus probably pretty darn good with a rifle. Even if they're outmanned and outgunned, they'll still prove a formidable force. Meanwhile, Riel? He's galavanting around on a horse carrying a cross, open to fire the entire time but somehow avoiding it. As for Dumont, he got shot in the head, knocked unconscious on the battlefield, and inexplicably survived. It summed up the two characters nicely; Louis, a man completely devoted to his beliefs and his understanding that he's a chosen one, and Gabriel, so tough that a bullet in the head is more of a hinderance than a finishing blow. Both of them, undoubtedly courageous.

The aboriginals nearby weren't too sure if they were to join after the victory at Duck Lake. Riel seemed to want what they wanted; a freedom of movement on the lands west of Canada and a right to uphold their beliefs and culture. However, he was still following the white God, which wasn't really cool in their books. From a purely practical perspective, inciting the wrath of the Canadian government was a risky move, and one that would likely prove dangerous down the road. It splintered the natives; three major leaders, Poundmaker, Wandering Spirit, and Big Bear all saw it differently. Big Bear was the most reluctant, Wandering Spirit the most willing to go on the offensive.

Wandering Spirit took a number of his soldiers and attacked the town of Frog Lake about a week after the battle at Duck Lake. Meant to take supplies, prisoners were rounded up but shooting began causing the deaths of nine settlers. This prompted the Canadian government to start sending soldiers, more than just the local police, to take out the rebellion once and for all.

Louis Riel: Part 1 - The First Uprising

In 2004, CBC ran a country-wide poll through email, phone and mail (to target the young, middle aged and elderly, respectively) to create a top fifty list for a television show called "The Greatest Canadian". There was a wide range of honourees - most were legitimate candidates like prime ministers, inventors, and the predictable hockey player now and then. Then came the infuriating picks that comes with the territory with internet polling. Avril Lavigne probably doesn't deserve to be up there with John A. MacDonald, Lester Pearson and Brett "the Hitman" Heart, but I digress. The reason I brought it up is John A. is number eight on this list, while the topic of this blog post, Louis Riel, is number eleven.

You just know Riel shampoos and conditions
to get that kind of volume.

Number eight on the list of greatest Canadians had number eleven executed. It speaks to how controversial a character Riel can be. It's easy to paint Riel as a heroic figure, fighting against the large, imposing evil that is Canadian government in 1869 (well, it's large and imposing if you're a small community of Metis) but it isn't so cut and dry. MacDonald had his reasons for having to push west as hard as he did, and Riel made some significant missteps along the way that are very hard to defend.

But, before we get too ahead of ourselves, lets paint the background picture. Most of this happens in and around the community of Red River in nowadays southern Manitoba, starting just after Canada became a country. The Metis had been living there in and amongst native groups for over a century now, believing the land to be their own. Canada, at this time a mostly eastern coast land, hopes to move west and hold the land for themselves. Their claim is that the king of England gave it to the Hudson's Bay Company in 1670, and the HBC is selling the land to the Canadian government.  The thing is, Canada really needs this deal to go through. America, shooting the west full of Manifest Destiny, will soon be setting their sights northward. A Canada surrounded on every side by an angry, power-hungry America would fall in short order. (If you want to know more, read my blog about John A. MacDonald's fight to build a railroad out west - it's been called "passable" by my father.)
Of course since both groups of people believe they have a case for the land they're inevitably going to clash over who has the stronger claim (or the stronger arm).

As for the town of Red River, in 1869 it was a thriving, vibrant community. Holding twelve-thousand people, half of them French-speaking Metis and the rest composed of mostly English-speaking Metis and European settlers. The Metis people themselves are an interesting stock; not quite French, not quite native, and not really accepted on either side, they had become their own hybrid culture of the two. Frequently bilingual, trilingual or more (don't forget that there were a number of native languages, not just one) they developed their own mixed language called Michif. Hunting the buffalo and enjoying living off the seigneurial system of farming from New France days (basically everyone gets a piece of the coast, rather than square plots that may or may not have access) the Metis had developed peaceful, happy lives for themselves. That is, until the Canadian government started sending surveyors to check out the lands west of theirs, planting themselves firmly in Red River.
It was pretty clear what they were doing. The surveyors would look at the land and begin to parcel it out in the English fashion (notably not the seigneurial system of old) and the Metis began to get wise that they're probably going to try to kick them out pretty soon.

Enter Louis Riel. Oldest of eleven children, Riel was well educated, having returned from schooling in Montreal. Able to speak with both the surveyors and his Metis people, he makes an impassioned speech to the latter and days later goes to confront the former. He sends them packing. MacDonald was actually warned that surveying within eyesight of the Metis would cause some troubles, but he went ahead with it anyway. That would prove to be an error in judgement.

Riel's Provisional Government. The beardless man at the top right must
have been the subject of endless ridicule amongst the otherwise hairy gentlemen.

Knowing that their land was being threatened by a takeover from the Canadian government Riel and his people set up the Metis National Committee. Welcoming anyone who would join them, they attacked Fort Garry, a symbol of Hudson's Bay Company authority and power, taking it over without any blood being spilt. This proves to be an issue for Canada; the HBC doesn't have a standing army to send after them and the government is too worried about the political ramifications of attacking to dislodge them. For a while, they sat and thought this one over.

Upon realizing that they might be staying for quite some time, the Metis set up a provisional government. Not everyone agrees to the new idea, however, and the dissent came from a predictable source; English settlers who didn't like the idea of a French/Native mix leading them, and especially not ones that are Catholic of all things. Their plan probably could have used some work, though. They only had around fifty people in what they called the Canada Party to hold against Riel's sizeable forces. They were quickly surrounded and gave up shortly after, becoming prisoners of the new Metis provisional government.

Meanwhile, John A. decides he'll try to fight this battle politically instead of with weapons. After a failed attempt at sending French Canadians who didn't have a lot of power, an HBC representative named Donald Alexander Smith tried to smooth things over. Riel responds with a list of rights for the Metis that have to be honoured. Things look like they're on the up-and-up. That is, until the Canada Party decided they'd stir up a little more trouble.

When someone says "he was killed by firing squad", I usually
don't picture it as one guy shooting another from a foot away
while he's lying down.

Twice in a month they had broken out (how, I don't know - perhaps the honour system for prisoners isn't an effective one?) and attempted to stage an uprising before getting captured again. All the while they're in there the prisoners are belligerent, spouting racial abuse and curses at their Metis captors, most of it coming from one man in particular - Thomas Scott. Scott wasn't the leader of the group, but certainly the most aggravating. Leadership belonged to Charles Boulton whom they decided by their courts as worthy of execution for staging an uprising, breaking out of prison, staging another, and then repeating steps two and three. Admittedly, he was kind of asking for it. Canadian negotiators stepped in and managed to get him off the hook and sent him back east, however. As for Thomas Scott, though, it's a different story. Continuing his tirades, the jailers finally got fed up. They put him on trial mostly for being a thorn in the side of the Metis, killing him on the grounds of "well, he's being mean". Scott, unlike Boulton, didn't get the same negotiations and was promptly executed.

It's hard to look at this as anything other than a massive mistake on behalf of Riel. It allowed MacDonald to rally behind Scott's death, calling it unjust and cruel, giving him enough political backing to send the Wolseley Expedition to quell the uprising and put an end to Riel's provisional government. Riel, likely fearful of the wrath that will surely be brought down upon him, flees to the United States and is banished from Canada. Garnet Wolseley, leading the expedition, recaptures Fort Garry and puts an end to the Metis threat - at least for now. It will be fourteen years before they hear from Riel again.