1885 Northwest Rebellion

The acquisition of the Northwest or ‘Rupert’s Land’ by the Federal government led to a chain of events which triggered the uprising from the Metis in the Red River Settlement of Manitoba. The government of John A. Macdonald needed to acquire Rupert’s Land because the Americans were keen on annexing the land. Negotiations started in 1868 in London between Canada and the Hudson Bay Company (HBC). In 1869-70, one of the largest real-estate deals in history took place, Canada paid the HBC a cash amount of £300,000 and gave the HBC one-twentieth of the land to maintain its trading posts. The establishment of a temporary colonial government in the area was the next goal in mind of the Macdonald government. There is a problem

Louis Riel stood trial for treason of the Canadian government on August 1st, 1885 where he is found guilty and sentenced to be hanged. On November 16th, 1885, Louis Riel is hanged at the police barracks in Regina. The Northwest rebellion of 1885 has finally come to a dreadful end.

The Rebellion of 1885 displayed the unfair treatment of the Metis and Indian peoples of the west. The federal government wanted a white settler population in the west and would have the Metis and Native peoples assimilate into society while on their reserves. As seen earlier in the purchase of the Northwest from the Hudson Bay Company, Macdonald’s goal was expansion and to bring in white settlers. The result was that land titles of the Metis were ignored which was one main factor of the beginning of a long uprising among the Metis. The constant changes of the CPR and re-routing the railway south made it difficult for farmers in Manitoba in the north to link to eastern markets and the monopoly was a huge strain on their pockets. This was another main factor that led to further discontent. The treaties of the west were not fulfilled in times of need as described by Chief Poundmaker of the Cree. The events that lead up to the Rebellion of 1885 were all acts that reflected the action it needed to have the government stop this unfair treatment of the First Nations people. Looking back at Treaty 6 and the Fort Walsh issue, the government did not think that the buffalo would disappear so quickly. When the Natives asked for assistance, the government did not act as the treaty interpreted. Macdonald’s government reacted by saying that they did not have to provide more unless there was a general famine. Farming didn’t work for the Cree of Saskatchewan and Alberta because no assistance which was to be provided. Again no action among the government. The reasons behind the acts of the government when seeing their attitudes towards the railroad, land titles, and treaties, were basically due to the fact that they wanted a white-settler dominated west. The Natives and Metis should have been happy with what they got for compensation. When looking at the events of the uprisings, starting in Red River settlement, it wasn’t a fact of settling for compensation, it was allowing them to conduct their lives as they always did before the purchase without having conflicts with prospective settlers. Riel was a historic symbol of Metis and aboriginal rights in Canada and achieved provincial status for Manitoba and land and cultural rights. The federal government eventually forgot about the grievances that were stated in 1869 though when settlers from Ontario went in and took over. The sequence of events throughout this paper distinctively links one to the other, but on a much smaller scale. There is a main focal point when looking at the issue in great detail or a brief sum of the history itself. The discontent of the Metis and Native people was due to the unfair treatment of the government. The government’s ignorance to land titles, the railway, and the treaties were the causes of this discontent. The uprising of 1885 was to get the government to pay attention to the rights of aboriginals and Metis people that were constantly ignored. The purpose of the rebellion form Riel’s standpoint was that the extermination of the people that came here and took away their land and status as a people should result if their rights could not be respected. In the end, the government wanted a white settler dominated population on the plains and just push those who were there first right out of the picture so expansion could occur. This was the case from the time of confederation, the domination of the white Anglo-Saxon settler.

It was the South Branch of Saskatchewan that called upon Riel to present grievances to the government as he did in 1869. He did try t

Some topics in this essay:
Red River, Metis Native, Fort Walsh, Louis Riel, Metis Indian, Manitoba Act, Fort Garry, Company Macdonald’s, Saskatchewan Alberta, Duck Lake, red river, louis riel, federal government, rebellion 1885, metis indian, land titles, provisional government, gabriel dumont, fort walsh, fish creek, red river settlement, red river colony, northwest rebellion 1885, metis native peoples, government white settler,