Louis Riel Day

Louis Riel ; 22 October 1844 – 16 November 1885) was a Canadian politician, a founder of the province of Manitoba, and a political leader of the Métis people. He led two resistance movements against the Government of Canada and its first prime minister, John A. Macdonald. Riel sought to defend Métis rights and identity as the Northwest Territories came progressively under the Canadian sphere of influence.

Riel’s historical reputation has long been polarized between portrayals as a dangerous religious fanatic and rebel opposed to the Canadian nation, and, by contrast, as a charismatic leader intent on defending his Métis people from the unfair encroachments by the federal government eager to give Orangemen-dominated Ontario settlers priority access to land. Arguably, Riel has received more formal organizational and academic scrutiny than any other figure in Canadian history.^[2] The trial and conviction of Louis Riel has been the subject of historical comment and criticism for over one hundred years.

There are many local, regional and national resources that you can visit to form your own perspective on this important figure in Manitoba’s history.

St. Boniface Museum https://msbm.mb.ca/about/ https://msbm.mb.ca/journee-louis-riel/

Save Our Seine trail https://www.winnipegtrails.ca/trails-maps/louis-riel-sr-route/

Cdn Human Rights Museum https://humanrights.ca/story/the-murder-of-elzear-goulet-and-the-struggle-for-metis-rights

Batoche National Park https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/lhn-nhs/sk/batoche/culture

Cdn War Museum https://www.warmuseum.ca/cwm/exhibitions/chrono/1774northwest_e.html

Cdn History Museum https://www.historymuseum.ca/cmc/exhibitions/aborig/fp/fpz2a22e.html