History - Changing Society

Unit 2

The Red River Resistance

Lesson 9

The Sale of Rupert's Land

Rupert’s Land was in the Northwest region. Rupert’s Land included a large portion of present-day southern Alberta, most of Saskatchewan, all of Manitoba, northern Ontario, the northwest half of Québec, and Nunavut. In total, it covered about one-third of Canada’s geographic area today. Rupert’s Land was controlled by Hudson’s Bay Company. In 1868, Hudson’s Bay Company was preparing to sell Rupert’s Land to the British government. The British government would then turn over the land to Canada, and the territory would become a colony under the control of the Canadian government. The sale, however, did not involve any consultation with the First Nations and Métis who lived there.

Land Rights

As part of the sale of Rupert’s Land, the new Canadian government promised to uphold British laws and recognize Aboriginal land titles. These land titles are the legal Aboriginal right to land or a territory recognized by the Canadian government. However, the government did not recognize the Métis as having the same land rights as First Nations. The government’s position was that any land agreements it made with First Nations did not apply to the Métis. Many Métis were worried they would lose their land if Rupert’s Land was turned over to the Canadian government.

Louis Riel and the Red River Resistance

The conflict between the Métis and the Canadian government around the sale of Rupert’s Land is known as the Red River Resistance. Before the sale of Rupert’s Land was scheduled to be finalized in December 1869, the Canadian government sent surveyors to map out the land into square lots to be granted as private property to new settlers. The first group of surveyors arrived in Fort Garry in August 1869. They did not ask the Métis for permission to enter their land.

Read the quote from Louis Riel about the arrival of the settlers and surveyors. Riel was an emerging leader of a group of Métis in the Red River community. He was born and raised in the Red River area and had studied law in Montréal. What does this quote reveal about the Métis perspective?

When the surveyors reached the farm of André Nault on October 11, 1869, he tried to stop them from entering his land. Nault called his cousin Riel, and about a dozen other Métis, for help. The Métis, armed with weapons, drove the surveyors away and stopped them from continuing to survey the land.

THE MÉTIS NATIONAL COMMITTEE AND WILLIAM MCDOUGALL

In response to the conflict with the surveyors, the Métis organized the Métis National Committee on October 16, 1869. Settlers elected the members of the committee; Riel was elected as the secretary.

In late September of 1869, the Canadian government had chosen William McDougall of Ontario to be the first lieutenant-governor of the Northwest.

McDougall never arrived in Red River. In early November of 1869, Riel gathered support from the Métis community. They forcefully stopped McDougall from crossing the border and entering the area. That same day, a group of Métis from the Métis National Committee occupied Fort Garry. The Métis now controlled Red River. This action delayed the transfer of Rupert’s Land to the Canadian government, which had been scheduled for December 1, 1869. This meant that the Canadian government had no legal authority in the Northwest.

William McDougall

THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT

The Métis established their own provisional government, or temporary government, to negotiate with the Canadian government, in December 1869. Riel was president of this new provisional government. Riel took steps to prevent McDougall from creating an exclusively English and Protestant territory. The provisional government included French-speaking Métis and English-speaking Protestant residents of Red River. The provisional government wrote a bill of rights outlining its terms for joining Canada as a new province.

This 1869 photo shows Louis Riel (centre), surrounded by other members of the provisional government. Analyze: What does the photo reveal about Riel’s significance?

Read an excerpt from the bill of rights. What issues are important to the Métis?

THE CANADIAN PARTY AND THE EXECUTION OF THOMAS SCOTT

A group of Red River settlers calling themselves the Canadian Party attempted to overthrow the provisional government soon after it was established. The Canadian Party was concerned with the rights and welfare of the new English Protestant settlers. The Métis captured about 50 members of the Canadian Party and imprisoned them in Fort Garry. Thomas Scott, a prominent Protestant of the Orangemen, was one of the men captured in a second uprising in February 1870. He was a difficult prisoner, often insulting his Métis guards. Pressured by angry Métis, Riel held a court to try Scott for contempt, or disobedience, of the provisional government. Scott was found guilty and executed in March 1870.

Read the quote from Riel. How does he justify executing Scott?

Thomas Scott

THE MANITOBA ACT

After months of conflict, negotiations began between the provisional government and the Canadian government. The provisional government wanted to make sure that Manitoba became a province. Provinces are self-governing, while territories have governments appointed by the Canadian government in Ottawa. The Canadian government passed the Manitoba Act on May 12, 1870. Prime Minister Macdonald proposed the Manitoba Act as a compromise to please the Métis and French Canadians as well as the English Protestants in Red River and the rest of Canada.

The Manitoba Act officially created Manitoba as a province. The rest of the North-Western Territory and Rupert’s Land was renamed the North-West Territories. The area remained under the jurisdiction of the federal government. The act also accepted most of the Métis terms from the bill of rights. Manitoba was now a province where Métis religious and language rights were guaranteed. Over 5000 square kilometres of land, including present-day Winnipeg, were to be set aside for the Métis. However, the Métis inhabitants had to apply for title to their own properties and register their legal ownership of the land.

This map shows Canada after the Manitoba Act was passed in 1870.

THE RED RIVER EXPEDITION

Despite the passing of the Manitoba Act, there was still conflict in the area. Many people in Ontario were upset by Scott’s execution. Sir John A. Macdonald sent armed forces to secure Red River, claiming it was to provide protection from Americans looking to annex Manitoba. This military force was known as the Red River Expedition and was led by Lieutenant-Colonel Garnet Wolseley. This expedition was not a part of the agreement with Riel’s provisional government. Wolseley’s troops left Toronto in late May 1870 and arrived in Fort Garry at the end of August. It took four months for the more than 1200 troops to reach Red River.

The expedition arrived to find Fort Garry deserted. Riel heard that the troops planned to kill him upon their arrival in retaliation for Scott’s execution. By the time the expedition reached Red River, Riel had fled in voluntary exile to the United States.

Lieutenant-Colonel Garnet Wolseley

In this 1870 excerpt from his diary, Wolseley describes arriving at Fort Garry and finding out Riel had fled. What does the excerpt tell you about Wolseley's reaction to Riel's actions?

This 1877 painting by Frances Anne Hopkins, entitled The Red River Expedition at Kakabeka Falls, Ontario, shows the Canadian military force on its way to Red River in 1870. How might the Métis in Red River view this expedition?

THE MÉTIS LEAVE MANITOBA

Within months of the Manitoba Act, settlers from eastern Canada quickly moved to the new province. They took over much of the land that had previously been inhabited by the Métis. To fulfill the land requirements of the Manitoba Act, the government issued scrip, or coupons, to the Métis. Scrip could be exchanged for land or money. For example, scrip, such as the certificate shown in the picture below, could be valued at $160 or 160 acres of land. If a Métis person accepted scrip, they lost their right to their Aboriginal and title. The Métis who had already settled in the area did not have any advantage over new settlers. The Métis requests for their land claims were often delayed while the new settlers received title to their land soon after they applied for it. By the time the Métis applications were reviewed, much of the land had already been given away.

This is an 1885 scrip coupon for $160. What impact do you think the scrip process had on the Métis?

The arrival of immigrants from Ontario also brought a cultural change to Manitoba. Settlers from Ontario soon dominated the new province. Amendments to the Manitoba Act were introduced that made land ownership harder for the Métis to obtain. By 1880, almost all of the Métis had decided to give up their land claims and move out of the province. Many headed west to present-day Saskatchewan. After they thought they had successfully negotiated for their rights in the Manitoba Act, how do you think the Métis felt leaving the land?

Page updated

Report abuse