Louis Riel

Louis "David" Riel (October 22, 1844 – November 16, 1885), was a Canadian politician and leader of the Métis people of the Canadian prairies. He led two resistance movements against the Canadian government that sought to preserve Métis rights and culture as their homelands in the Northwest Territories came progressively under the Canadian sphere of influence.

Early life

The Red River Settlement was a community in Rupert's Land nominally administered by the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), and largely inhabited by First Nations tribes and the Métis, an ethnic group of mixed Cree, Ojibway, Saulteaux, French Canadian, Scottish, and English descent. Louis Riel was born there in 1844, near modern Winnipeg, Manitoba, to Louis Riel Sr. and Julie Lagimodière.

Related Topics:
Red River Settlement - Rupert's Land - Hudson's Bay Company - First Nations - Métis - Ethnic group - Mixed - Cree - Ojibway - Saulteaux - French Canadian - Scottish - English - Winnipeg - Louis Riel Sr.

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Riel was the eldest of eleven children in a locally well-respected French Canadian-Métis family—his father had gained prominence in this community by organising a group that supported Guillaume Sayer, a Métis imprisoned for challenging the HBC's historical trade monopoly. Sayer's eventual release as a result of agitations by Louis Sr.'s group is credited with ending the monopoly, and the name Riel was therefore well known in the Red River. His mother was the daughter of Jean-Baptiste Lagimodière and Marie-Anne Gaboury, one of the earliest white families to settle in the Red River Settlement in 1812. The Riels were noted for their devout Catholicism and strong family ties.

Related Topics:
Guillaume Sayer - Jean-Baptiste Lagimodière - Marie-Anne Gaboury - 1812

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He was first educated by Roman Catholic priests at St. Boniface. At age 13 he came to the attention of Alexandre Taché, then suffragan Bishop of St. Boniface, who was eagerly promoting the priesthood for talented young Métis. In 1858 Taché arranged for Riel to attend the Petit Séminaire of the Collège de Montréal in Montreal, Quebec under the direction of the Sulpician order. Descriptions of him at this time indicate that he was a fine scholar of languages, science, and philosophy, but exhibited a frequent and unpredictable moodiness.

Related Topics:
Roman Catholic - Priest - St. Boniface - Alexandre Taché - Suffragan Bishop - 1858 - Petit Séminaire - Collège de Montréal - Montreal - Quebec - Sulpician order - Language - Science - Philosophy

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Following news of his father's premature death in 1864, Riel lost interest in the priesthood and he withdrew from the college in March 1865. For a time he continued his studies as a day student in the convent of the Grey Nuns, but was soon asked to leave following several breaches of discipline. For a period he remained in Montreal, living at the home of his Aunt, Lucie Riel. Impoverished by the death of his father, Riel took employment as a law clerk in the Montreal office of Rodolphe Laflamme. During this time he was involved in a failed romance with a young woman named Marie-Julie Guernon. This progressed to the point of Riel having signed a contract of marriage, but his fiancée's family opposed her involvement with a Métis, and the engagement was soon broken. Compounding this disappointment, Riel found legal work unpleasant, and perhaps as early as 1866 he had resolved to leave Quebec. He is believed to have worked odd jobs in Chicago, Illinois while staying with poet Louis-Honoré Fréchette, and was then for a time employed as a clerk in St. Paul, Minnesota prior to returning to the Red River on July 26, 1868.

Related Topics:
1864 - 1865 - Convent - Grey Nuns - Rodolphe Laflamme - Marriage - 1866 - Chicago - Illinois - Louis-Honoré Fréchette - St. Paul - Minnesota - July 26 - 1868

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