Louis Riel

Born on October 22, 1844, in Saint-Boniface in the Red River Colony to a prominent Métis family, Louis Riel was educated by the Sulpician priests in Montreal, studying the classics, philosophy, and law. When the Hudson's Bay Company agreed to transfer Rupert's Land to the new Dominion of Canada in 1869 without consulting the Indigenous and Métis inhabitants, Riel returned to Red River and emerged as the natural leader of his people. In the winter of 1869–1870, Riel established a Provisional Government at Upper Fort Garry, drafted a Métis Bill of Rights, and negotiated the terms of entry into Confederation with Prime Minister John A. Macdonald's federal government. These historic negotiations resulted in the Canadian Parliament passing the Manitoba Act on May 12, 1870, creating the province of Manitoba and guaranteeing French language rights and 1.4 million acres of land for Métis families. However, the execution of the defiant Orangeman Thomas Scott by Riel's provisional court ignited fierce anti-French and anti-Catholic outrage in Ontario, forcing Riel into exile in the United States, even as he was elected three consecutive times to the Canadian House of Commons. In 1884, Métis and First Nations leaders in Saskatchewan summoned Riel to lead a new campaign for land titles and treaty rights, which culminated in the tragic North-West Resistance of 1885. Following the Métis defeat at the Battle of Batoche, Riel surrendered. After a sensational trial in Regina where he refused his lawyers' insanity defense and eloquently defended Métis rights, Riel was convicted of high treason. He was executed by hanging on November 16, 1885, in Regina at age forty-one. Today, Riel is officially recognized as a Canadian Founding Father and the Father of Manitoba.