Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class from how
Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot Com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 1: I'm Holly Fry and I'm Tracy B. Wilson. Tracy. Yeah,
Speaker 1: Canada is spending celebrating his hundred and fiftieth birthday. I
Speaker 1: am aware of this. We know because lots of people
Speaker 1: have mentioned it to us and requested that we do
Speaker 1: some sort of Canadian history. UM. And one particular topic
Speaker 1: has come up over and over and over so many times. Uh. Specifically,
Speaker 1: it was requested by Alexander, Jamie, Susan, Nicole, Drina, Stasha
Speaker 1: and Tyler. If you requested it and I missed you,
Speaker 1: I apologize. Uh. But today this topic is considered by
Speaker 1: some but not all historians to be the father of Manitoba,
Speaker 1: and that disparity in these some but not all is uh.
Speaker 1: And how he's viewed is something that's really been a
Speaker 1: part of his agacy pretty much from the beginning of
Speaker 1: his life as a prominent figure in Manitoba and Canadian history.
Speaker 1: And we were talking today about Louis Rielle. Before we
Speaker 1: get into Louis Rielle's story, we need to back up
Speaker 1: a little bit and set some context about the mate people.
Speaker 1: The origin of the earliest Mayti is traced back to
Speaker 1: the sixteen hundreds in eastern Canada. Matie is a French
Speaker 1: word that translates roughly to mixed blood or hybrid. As
Speaker 1: European fishermen took wives from the local indigenous population, their
Speaker 1: children became the first generation of mate. Yeah. There are
Speaker 1: a number of different translations that you will see of maytie,
Speaker 1: from very sort of mild ones like oh it means
Speaker 1: combined to some fairly disparaging type translations uh. Just if
Speaker 1: you go looking know that that will happen. And as
Speaker 1: the fur trade led French Canadian trappers and traders to
Speaker 1: move west, they too often took wives from the Indian population,
Speaker 1: marrying primarily Cree, Ogibwa or Salto women. And this was
Speaker 1: the result to some degree of an eagerness on the
Speaker 1: part of the people that lived there to foster positive
Speaker 1: relationships with these Europeans that were moving in. So they
Speaker 1: kind of offered them wives who would be able to
Speaker 1: care for them uh and serve in in roles as wives,
Speaker 1: but also that would translate and bridge any cultural confusion
Speaker 1: between the Europeans and these indigenous peoples. The children of
Speaker 1: these negotiated marriages became the foundation of the Western Meti Nation,
Speaker 1: which was centered in the Red River region of what's
Speaker 1: now Manitoba. This became a uniquely blended culture that incorporated
Speaker 1: both French, Catholic and Native beliefs and traditions. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: there was even like a language that developed that is unique,
Speaker 1: which I don't get into in this episode, but it's
Speaker 1: quite fascinating. And the mate also had a vast knowledge
Speaker 1: of both European and Native to Canada cultures, and so
Speaker 1: they could easily work with both Indigenous and European groups,
Speaker 1: and many as a consequence, became employees of the Northwest
Speaker 1: Company and the Hudson's Bay Company, both of which were
Speaker 1: the large fur trade enterprises operating in the Canadian areas
Speaker 1: at the time. There is some irony there because initially
Speaker 1: the Hudson's Bay Company actually discouraged these types of mixed marriages,
Speaker 1: but they soon realized there were some benefits to having
Speaker 1: employees with wide ranging skill sets that really helped the
Speaker 1: fur trade grow. Yeah. I mean, among other things, they
Speaker 1: were able to survive in climates that people that came
Speaker 1: here straight from Europe weren't always prepared to deal with
Speaker 1: and then they could teach other people, and they ended
Speaker 1: up being just such a knowledge base for these companies.
Speaker 1: Hudson's Bay Company also owned this massive tract of Canada
Speaker 1: known as Rupert's Land, and this land had been given
Speaker 1: to the company by King Charles the Second. It was
Speaker 1: named for Prince Rupert of the Rhine, who held governorship
Speaker 1: over the land when it was first granted in six
Speaker 1: teen seventy. By the early eighteen hundreds, there was an
Speaker 1: influx of European immigrants into the Red River Valley area,
Speaker 1: and those immigrants were given land assignments from the Hudson's
Speaker 1: Bay Company, but this was done completely ignoring the fact
Speaker 1: that the Eight Nation people were already living there. Additionally,
Speaker 1: the Northwest Company had trade routes through the land which
Speaker 1: were disregarded in this process. As a result, the Northwest
Speaker 1: Company was put in a position where they had no
Speaker 1: real option but to merge with the Hudson's Bay Company,
Speaker 1: and the combination of the two of them meant that
Speaker 1: a lot of land in Canada was owned by one
Speaker 1: fur trading company. Yeah, if you look at maps that
Speaker 1: overlay like here's Canada, Here's what was owned by the
Speaker 1: Hudson's Bay Company at this time. It's like most of Canada,
Speaker 1: uh which is interesting that it would all be owned
Speaker 1: by a corporate venture. So the Red River Colony was
Speaker 1: founded over the years of eighteen eleven and eighteen twelve
Speaker 1: by a Scottish immigrant, Thomas Douglas, fifth Earl of Selkirk,
Speaker 1: was granted a one hundred and sixteen thousand square mile
Speaker 1: that's about a three hundred thousand square kilometer land parcel
Speaker 1: by the Hudson's Bay Company, and though its initial years
Speaker 1: as a settlement were kind of shaky due to fighting
Speaker 1: caused by the rivalry between the then separate Hudson's Bay
Speaker 1: Company in the north West Company, once the two for
Speaker 1: trew one, things really started to stabilize, and in eighteen
Speaker 1: thirty six the Hudson's Bay Company purchased the colony back
Speaker 1: from the Selkirk estate. Louis David Riale was born in St.
Speaker 1: Boniface and the Red River Colony on October twenty three,
Speaker 1: eighteen forty four. His father was a well respected member
Speaker 1: of the Mate community and his mother was French Canadian.
Speaker 1: Louis was their first child and they eventually had ten more.
Speaker 1: At the age of fourteen, Riale traveled to Montreal to
Speaker 1: be trained and educated for the priesthood, and when he
Speaker 1: was thirteen he had actually been hand picked by the
Speaker 1: clergy and Red River as a potential priest and to
Speaker 1: go have this education and as a con quence, his
Speaker 1: education was financed entirely through a scholarship, but he never
Speaker 1: completed his training and he was never ordained. If he
Speaker 1: had been, he would have been Canada's first mate priest.
Speaker 1: And while he was excelling in seminary, he had also
Speaker 1: met a young woman, Marie Julie Gerna, and the two
Speaker 1: of them fell in love and became engaged. Real however,
Speaker 1: was not really welcomed by her family. They were French
Speaker 1: Canadian and they did not really have an interest in
Speaker 1: marrying their daughter off to a mate man. After that,
Speaker 1: he quit his religious studies. During that timult of his
Speaker 1: failed romance, Reel's father died in eighteen sixty four, which
Speaker 1: was also a huge blow and part of why he
Speaker 1: was sort of willing to make this big sea change
Speaker 1: and leave the seminary, and that also left his mother
Speaker 1: and the rest of the family without a provider, and
Speaker 1: Louis worked first for a time as a law clerk,
Speaker 1: sending money back to the family, but eventually he returned
Speaker 1: to St. Boniface in eighteen sixty eight. In eighteen say
Speaker 1: ex nine, there was a deal in motion to annexed
Speaker 1: parts of the Red River Settlement to the Dominion of Canada,
Speaker 1: and a sale that would really benefit the Hudson's Bay Company,
Speaker 1: but the Mayti people who lived in the area to
Speaker 1: be annexed had no say in the matter, and there
Speaker 1: were approximately nine thousand of those people. The whole deal
Speaker 1: was being handled by the Fur Company, and the Canadian
Speaker 1: government appointed a Lieutenant governor to oversee the survey work
Speaker 1: that would re evaluate all this land for future use. Yeah,
Speaker 1: they were plotting rent along, kind of ignoring the fact
Speaker 1: that there were a whole lot of people that already
Speaker 1: called that place home, and the mate were concerned additionally
Speaker 1: that there would be a massive influx of Anglo Protestant
Speaker 1: immigrants crowding out the community that had been building up
Speaker 1: the Red River Settlement for decades. There had already been
Speaker 1: a steadily growing tension among the different cultures and religions
Speaker 1: in the region, and the potential arrival of additional immigrants
Speaker 1: from Ontario was seen as a real danger to the
Speaker 1: future of the Mate way of life. This conflict led
Speaker 1: to the founding of the Mayti National Committee, which had
Speaker 1: a mission to defend Mate culture and to have a
Speaker 1: political voice. Louis Rielle, whose family was prominent among the Mate,
Speaker 1: was elected secretary of the Mayti National Committee and eventually
Speaker 1: became its president. In his role and working, he was
Speaker 1: able to stop the survey. It was actually halted on
Speaker 1: October eleventh of eighteen sixty nine, but that was far
Speaker 1: from the end of Riel's involvement in working against the
Speaker 1: Canadian government. On behalf of the Mate and November, the
Speaker 1: Mayte launched a more aggressive plan. First, the committee set
Speaker 1: up a roadblock that would keep William McDougal, the Canadian
Speaker 1: government's appointed Lieutenant governor, from entering the Red River Settlement.
Speaker 1: In addition to preventing McDougal's visit, the committee also made
Speaker 1: a raid on one of the Hudson's Bay Company posts,
Speaker 1: Upper Fort Gary, and took over that post. Then they
Speaker 1: set up their own government over the Red Middle River Settlement,
Speaker 1: and once they had established their authority, the Mainti National
Speaker 1: Committee invited delegates both French and English speakers from the
Speaker 1: Red River Settlement to come to Upper Fort Gary so
Speaker 1: they could all discuss the situation and what they were
Speaker 1: all willing to accept as terms to allow the Lieutenant
Speaker 1: Governor into the Red River Settlement. This whole sequence of
Speaker 1: events became known as the Red River Rebellion and in
Speaker 1: the in early December, the Mainti National Committee formed a
Speaker 1: provisional government. At this point, John Bruce was still president
Speaker 1: of the group and thus of the provisional government, and
Speaker 1: Louis Rielle was a secretary. Eventually, Bruce stepped down due
Speaker 1: to illness and Rielle assumed the leadership role of president.
Speaker 1: And coming up next, we're going to talk about how
Speaker 1: the issues with the Red River Settlement and the Canadian
Speaker 1: government played out. But first we're gonna pause and have
Speaker 1: a word from one of our sponsors. Bruce and Rielle
Speaker 1: together issued the Declaration of the People of Rupert's Land
Speaker 1: and the North West on December eight. This document stated
Speaker 1: plainly that the Canadian government did not have any authority
Speaker 1: in the region and offered the opportunity for Canada to
Speaker 1: negotiate with the mate provisional government to reach some sort
Speaker 1: of settlement. In response to this declaration, the Canadian government
Speaker 1: sent three men Hudson's Bay Company wrapped Donald Smith, Colonel
Speaker 1: Charles de Salibarry, and Reverend Jean Baptiste Tebou to negotiate.
Speaker 1: Initial efforts on the part of Canada's trio were focused
Speaker 1: on setting up a structure for the discussions where all
Speaker 1: of the stakeholders could be involved. It was decided that
Speaker 1: forty representatives of the settlement, half English speakers half French speakers,
Speaker 1: would meet in a convention with the Canadian government's negotiators
Speaker 1: to see if an agreement could be struck so the
Speaker 1: lands under the leadership of the Mati National Committee could
Speaker 1: join with Canada. In January seventy the forty men assembled
Speaker 1: as delegates made a list of conditions that had to
Speaker 1: be met for them to join the Confederation of Canada.
Speaker 1: Over the course of the next two months, the convention
Speaker 1: formed into a more structured entity with the legislative branch,
Speaker 1: an executive branch, and a judicial branch, and it took
Speaker 1: the name Provisional Government of a Sinebwa. Three delegates were
Speaker 1: selected from this new provisional government to be sent to Ottawa,
Speaker 1: and there they negotiated with co Premier George Etienne Cartier
Speaker 1: to integrate the territory including and surrounding Red River, into
Speaker 1: the confederation. There was not universal support for the efforts
Speaker 1: of the MATE National Committee and the provisional government they established, though.
Speaker 1: A group of armed Canadians gathered in force and made
Speaker 1: their way to Red River, and the MATE quickly took
Speaker 1: them into custody and confined them at Upper Fort Gary.
Speaker 1: One of the men who was captured by the MATE
Speaker 1: was Thomas Scott. Scott was a member of the Orange Order,
Speaker 1: which was a pro Protestant group in Canada that viewed
Speaker 1: French Canadians and Catholics as inferior. For his involvement in
Speaker 1: the attempted attack on Red River, Scott was court martialed
Speaker 1: by the MATE leader ship and sentenced to death. He
Speaker 1: was executed by firing squad on March fourth, eighteen seventy
Speaker 1: and as a consequence, Louis Rielle was despised by many
Speaker 1: Protestants after that. But this incident did not halt the
Speaker 1: negotiations that were taking place in Ottawa. Yeah, and it
Speaker 1: was actually an associate of Louis Rielle that that made
Speaker 1: that decision to have Scott executed. But because Rielle was
Speaker 1: kind of the leader of this rebellion. At this point
Speaker 1: he was blamed and two months after Scott was executed,
Speaker 1: the Manitoba Act, which made the Province of Manitoba a
Speaker 1: part of the confederation, was sanctioned on May twelfth, eighteen
Speaker 1: seventy and according to the terms of the Manitoba Act,
Speaker 1: the province would be bilingual and one point four million
Speaker 1: acres that's about five hundred and sixty six thousand hectares
Speaker 1: of land was to be reserved for the children of
Speaker 1: the province's mate residence. One of the first things that
Speaker 1: happened after the Manitoba Act was that the Canadian government
Speaker 1: sent military troops and to a red river. This was,
Speaker 1: according to then Lieutenant Governor A. G. Archibald, intended as
Speaker 1: a show of support for him from the federal government
Speaker 1: and was peaceful. But no such move had been in
Speaker 1: any way discussed when the Manitoba Act was being hashed out,
Speaker 1: and so no one had told the provisional government that
Speaker 1: it was going to happen, let alone ask them if
Speaker 1: they would be okay with it. Yes, it's like you're
Speaker 1: going to be part of Canada. We are sending in
Speaker 1: the military uh, and it became really clear as well
Speaker 1: that Louis Rielle should be very concerned about this military force.
Speaker 1: There was still a great deal of anger over Thomas
Speaker 1: Scott's execution, and it was discovered that Rielle was very
Speaker 1: much in danger of being lynched by federal troops there
Speaker 1: was a plan to do so, so he fled to
Speaker 1: the United States. Rial didn't stay away for long, though,
Speaker 1: he returned to Red River a year later in May
Speaker 1: seventy one, but he kept a very low profile and
Speaker 1: with good reason. He was still very controversial and on
Speaker 1: Harryo to the east of Manitoba, which was still predominantly Protestant,
Speaker 1: he was labeled as a murderer responsible for Thomas Scott's death,
Speaker 1: and there was a reward offered for his arrest, but Quebec,
Speaker 1: which is on the eastern side of Ontario, viewed him
Speaker 1: as a in a more heroic light because of his
Speaker 1: efforts to make sure French language and the Catholic faith
Speaker 1: were part of Manitoba's culture. This clash of opinions about
Speaker 1: real concerned Canadian Prime Minister Sir John A. McDonald and
Speaker 1: fearing that Riale's presence in Canada would lead to civil unrest.
Speaker 1: He actually offered re Real some money. He paid him
Speaker 1: to go back to the United States and live in exile.
Speaker 1: And Riale took that deal in part because he was
Speaker 1: still taking care of his mother and siblings and he
Speaker 1: needed the money. But even gone from Canada, Rielle was
Speaker 1: a significant figure in Manitoba's culture and politics. After supporters
Speaker 1: urged him to enter federal politics, he won a parliamentary
Speaker 1: seat in eighteen seventy three and then again in eighteen
Speaker 1: seventy four. After his re election in eighteen seventy four,
Speaker 1: he traveled to Ottawa on March thirtieth of that year,
Speaker 1: went into the Parliament building to swear his allegiance and
Speaker 1: signed the House of Commons member register, and then he
Speaker 1: had to leave. Emotion had been introduced by an Orange
Speaker 1: Order member from the House of Ontario that expelled him.
Speaker 1: The following year, a conditional amnesty was offered to Real
Speaker 1: by the Canadian government on the stipulation that he must
Speaker 1: accept five years of banishment, and Rial agreed to these terms.
Speaker 1: And this was also tied into some deals that were
Speaker 1: going on with other people that had been involved in
Speaker 1: the Red River rebellion, and this would seem like a
Speaker 1: really positive moment in his life. Uh. But unfortunately, the
Speaker 1: stresses of his leadership role in Manitoba and the ongoing
Speaker 1: blame leveled at him for Scott's death really took a
Speaker 1: toll and he ended up suffering a nervous breakdown. This
Speaker 1: was after a series of episodes that make it apparent
Speaker 1: that Rielle was struggling with mental exhaustion. He had been
Speaker 1: staying with an uncle, John Lee, near Montreal. When his
Speaker 1: public outbursts and and manic episodes became too much for
Speaker 1: the Lee household to manage. He was taken first to
Speaker 1: an asylum in Montreal, where he was admitted under the
Speaker 1: name uh Louis R. David on March sixth of eighteen
Speaker 1: seventy six. There was concern, however, that real would be
Speaker 1: discovered in the hospital, first clearly against the terms of
Speaker 1: his amnesty, but more importantly at a time when he
Speaker 1: was vulnerable and could be victimized by political enemies if
Speaker 1: they realized that he was there. And the staff at
Speaker 1: the hospital who knew who he was, consulted with the
Speaker 1: friends and family who had admitted him, and it was
Speaker 1: decided after two months in the Montreal asylum that he
Speaker 1: should be moved to another facility, the Beauport Asylum outside
Speaker 1: Quebec City, and the period leading up to his hospitalization
Speaker 1: and while he was convalescing, Real, who had always been religious,
Speaker 1: became obsessed with matters of spirituality. He wrote extensive notes
Speaker 1: on religion. He also became convinced that he had been
Speaker 1: chosen by God to serve as a leader or a prophet. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's that's worded in various different ways when you read
Speaker 1: about him. Uh, some people think that he kind of
Speaker 1: saw himself as a messiah of the Mayti people. He
Speaker 1: definitely didn't think God had chosen him to enact huge change. So,
Speaker 1: after a year and a half of rest and treatment,
Speaker 1: Real was discharged from the Beauport Asylum and his doctor
Speaker 1: advised Real to find a way to live a quiet,
Speaker 1: peaceful life, and initially Real traveled to Keysville, New York,
Speaker 1: in search of work, and then eventually made his way
Speaker 1: to the American Midwest. He joined some of the mate
Speaker 1: who had moved to the United States in the Montana territory,
Speaker 1: and he applied to be an American citizen. Married a
Speaker 1: mate woman named Marguerite Monet de Belle Humur, and settled
Speaker 1: down in Montana, where the couple had three children. He
Speaker 1: started a new career as a school teacher at St.
Speaker 1: Peter's Mission, which sat on a tributary of the Missouri
Speaker 1: River known as the Sun River. So at this point
Speaker 1: it seems like real had found that a life that
Speaker 1: he was prescribed by his doctor. But it wasn't long
Speaker 1: before he became embroiled in another conflict. And we're going
Speaker 1: to talk about that after we first have a quick
Speaker 1: word from one of our fantastic sponsors. So during that
Speaker 1: time that Rielle was in Montana, there were still ongoing
Speaker 1: issues between the Mayti and the Canadian government. For one,
Speaker 1: the Mate were suffering economically because the fur trade in
Speaker 1: buffalo hunting industries that had employed many Mayti people were declining,
Speaker 1: and some, like the Mate that Rielle had connected with
Speaker 1: in Montana, had decided to move on to other places,
Speaker 1: and that also included Saskatchewan. One of the major Mayti
Speaker 1: settlements in Saskatchewan was Batouche. There was no political representation
Speaker 1: for the Mayti in the territorial government, even though they
Speaker 1: made up a majority of the population there. There had
Speaker 1: been efforts in the eighteen seventies to establish Mayti members
Speaker 1: of the Territorial Council, but they had wrapped resented the
Speaker 1: Mate of Manitoba, not those in Saskatchewan. When the Mate
Speaker 1: of Saskatchewan did finally get a representative in government, the
Speaker 1: requests that were made by that position never got any attention.
Speaker 1: For one, there had been a request to survey the
Speaker 1: land along the South Saskatchewan River so that it could
Speaker 1: be best used to suit the needs of the community.
Speaker 1: They had also petitioned to have formal titles to their
Speaker 1: lands established, fearing that without that, if Batusche experienced an
Speaker 1: influx of new settlers, as Manitoba had, they could easily
Speaker 1: lose the land that they had been on for years.
Speaker 1: Even with support from the Roman Catholic Church working on
Speaker 1: their behalf in this matter, the Canadian government gave only
Speaker 1: the vagus of responses with no plans for action on
Speaker 1: any of the matters that had been raised. So by
Speaker 1: the eighteen eighties, the Mate and the European settlers in
Speaker 1: the area all had problems with the federal government, and
Speaker 1: in additions to lack of clear titles, there had been
Speaker 1: a land devaluation because the Canadian Pacific Railway had been
Speaker 1: relocated to the Southern Prairie region, meaning Batouche was not
Speaker 1: on the line anymore. In June of eighty four, the
Speaker 1: plight of the maytee was once again brought to Louis Rielle.
Speaker 1: Because he had managed to negotiate with the Canadian government
Speaker 1: during the problems in Red River, it was believed that
Speaker 1: he could probably help with Saskatchewan's problems too. Gabrielle du Mont,
Speaker 1: president of the Maytee Council of Saint Laurent, which had
Speaker 1: formed in Saskatchewan, visited Rielle in Montana and asked him
Speaker 1: to help his people's cause, and Rielle agreed and he
Speaker 1: traveled to Batouche with his family. Once they arrived there,
Speaker 1: Rielle and William Henry Jackson, who was Reale's secretary as
Speaker 1: well as the secretary of the local farmers union, put
Speaker 1: together a petition that listed all of the grievances of
Speaker 1: the people in Batouche and send it to Ottawa and
Speaker 1: on December sixteenth. This was after more than three dozen
Speaker 1: petitions had been sent already, but the federal government replied
Speaker 1: to the one drafted by Rielle and Jackson, promising that
Speaker 1: it investigated of commission would be appointed in this response
Speaker 1: really did not sit well with the Mayti in Batuche,
Speaker 1: who had heard similar assurances before and who had frankly
Speaker 1: grow tired of waiting. So on March five five they
Speaker 1: held a meeting to discuss an armed effort to force
Speaker 1: the government's hand. Rielle suggested a few days later that
Speaker 1: what they should do is set up of provisional governments
Speaker 1: for Saskatchewan. Rielle's motion was not enacted. Instead, the group
Speaker 1: drafted a revolutionary Bill of Rights. So the document that
Speaker 1: consisted of ten demands, and included in the demands is
Speaker 1: a stipulation that a government office to be established that
Speaker 1: was closer to them so they didn't have to take
Speaker 1: up land disputes with far with far away Ottawa, and
Speaker 1: that they had the right to own their farms. In
Speaker 1: response to the Revolutionary Bill of Rights, the federal government
Speaker 1: sent in a military force consisting of five hundred men.
Speaker 1: The mate, hearing about this before those men had arrived,
Speaker 1: took possession of the Batouche Church and there established a
Speaker 1: provisional government, as Rielle had suggested, and they did that
Speaker 1: on March eighteenth. Louis Rielle was the leader. The new
Speaker 1: government also sees the Hudson's Bay Company's Fort Carlton Post,
Speaker 1: and leading up to the taking of Fort Carlton, Rielle
Speaker 1: and five dozen men had also looted several stores for supplies,
Speaker 1: and Rielle was heard proclaiming that Rome has fallen. He
Speaker 1: also proclaimed that Bishop in nas Bourges was the new pope,
Speaker 1: and these odd proclamations were red flags that there was
Speaker 1: something amiss in Rielle's mental state. But he was so
Speaker 1: charismatic and so invested in the Mayti cause that the
Speaker 1: men with him remained loyal and continued to follow his
Speaker 1: lead for the next several months, which came to be
Speaker 1: known as the Northwest Resistance or the Northwest Rebellion. The
Speaker 1: Mate and their aboriginal allies fought the Canadian government. In
Speaker 1: the early weeks, the Mate were able to score some
Speaker 1: victories at the first battle of the rebellion, the Battle
Speaker 1: of Duck Lake three d Maytie defeat did one Canadian men,
Speaker 1: but as Canada sent in more troops, the Canadian militia
Speaker 1: wound up dominating the fight. On May fifteenth of eight five,
Speaker 1: Louis Rielle surrendered to Canadian authorities. He was charged with
Speaker 1: high treason and was taken to Regina, Saskatchewan, and his
Speaker 1: trial there began on July twentie and in total there
Speaker 1: were eighty four trials held for participants in the rebellion,
Speaker 1: but Real, because of his leadership in the conflict, was
Speaker 1: the only person tried for high treason. His trial was
Speaker 1: almost as much of a conflict between riel and his
Speaker 1: legal counsel as it was between Real and the Canadian government.
Speaker 1: Rielle's lawyers wanted to use an insanity defense and use
Speaker 1: his year and a half in asylums in Quebec is
Speaker 1: evidence of this, and there was some indication, as we
Speaker 1: just mentioned, that he was not entirely in a clear
Speaker 1: state of mind when this rebellion started. Rielle hated this idea.
Speaker 1: He felt that if they claimed insanity, it was an
Speaker 1: insult to everything the mate had fought for, and that
Speaker 1: it discredited both the eighteen seventy Manitoba actions at the
Speaker 1: Red River Colony and the recent uprising in Saskatchewan. His
Speaker 1: plan was to argue self defense. He felt that it
Speaker 1: was clear that the mate needed to make the moves
Speaker 1: that they had for self preservation. But the trick was
Speaker 1: that his lawyers did not actually answer to him. They
Speaker 1: were paid for by wealthy friends of his and by
Speaker 1: people that he was related to, because Rial simply could
Speaker 1: not have afforded that counsel on his own, and the
Speaker 1: lawyers employers wanted Riale their friend to go free or
Speaker 1: at least achieve the minimum possible punishment. As the trial
Speaker 1: neared its end, Real made a speech. Always having been
Speaker 1: skilled and passionate as an orator, he left no one
Speaker 1: in the courtroom and any doubt that he was in
Speaker 1: full command of his faculties, leaving his counsel's work at
Speaker 1: cleaning a claiming his insanity essentially in the trash, and
Speaker 1: in doing so, he sacrificed himself for the mate cause
Speaker 1: because he had convinced the people present that he had
Speaker 1: led the mate in doing what they did with just cause.
Speaker 1: He was also basically admitting to the treason that he
Speaker 1: was charged with. On August one, five, the verdict was
Speaker 1: handed down. He was found guilty, but the jury, composed
Speaker 1: of six men, all of whom were Protestant and who
Speaker 1: were English speakers, recommended mercy in Real's sentencing. Allegedly, the
Speaker 1: foreman cried as he read the verdict. The judge, Hugh Richardson,
Speaker 1: sentenced Louis Reale to death is sometimes framed as though
Speaker 1: the judge disregarded the jury's plea for leniency, but at
Speaker 1: the time, a guilty verdict in a high treason case
Speaker 1: in Canada meant a mandatory death penalty. There were two
Speaker 1: appeals to higher courts, but both of those were dismissed.
Speaker 1: Riale was examined by three different doctors, each of whom
Speaker 1: gave their opinions on the state of his mental health,
Speaker 1: and one actually felt that he could probably be diagnosed
Speaker 1: as insane, but the other two did, and so it
Speaker 1: got written up that the thing he was just fine.
Speaker 1: He could he was in his right mind, so to speak,
Speaker 1: and could accept the punishment that had been sentenced to him,
Speaker 1: and so his execution order stood as he waited for
Speaker 1: his sentence to be carried out. Rielle, who had written
Speaker 1: throughout his whole life, wrote poetry in his cell and
Speaker 1: in one of these poems he wrote, let us have
Speaker 1: peaceful hearts and the infinite will open a little over
Speaker 1: three months after his trial for treason concluded, Louis Rielle
Speaker 1: was executed by hanging on November sixteenth of eighty five.
Speaker 1: Among his last words, he said, I have nothing but
Speaker 1: my heart, and I have given it long ago to
Speaker 1: my country. His body was transported to his birthplace St. Boniface,
Speaker 1: where he was laid to rest in the cathedral cemetery,
Speaker 1: and his death, Riale became a martyr to the Matti
Speaker 1: and galvanized the French Canadian population. His reputation in other
Speaker 1: parts of Canada, however, has been that he was a
Speaker 1: madman or a trader, so in the last half century
Speaker 1: that view has softened pretty considerably. Pat Martin, new Democratic
Speaker 1: Party of Canada member of Parliament, has introduced several bills
Speaker 1: in parliament to reverse Riel's conviction. In interview with Canada's
Speaker 1: Cable Public Affairs channel, he said, quote exonerating Louis Rielle
Speaker 1: would go a long way to healing the relationship between
Speaker 1: the Crown and the mate Nation, and other members of
Speaker 1: parliament have also tried to exonerate real via legislative measures.
Speaker 1: Since two thousand seven, Manitoba has celebrated an annual Louis
Speaker 1: Riale Day every February. The mate Nation honors him with
Speaker 1: a day of Remembrance each November sixteenth, on the anniversary
Speaker 1: of his execution, and the Mate nations relationship with the
Speaker 1: Canadian government continues to evolve. Even in the last several
Speaker 1: months prior to when we were recording this, there have
Speaker 1: been a lot of um legal measures as well as
Speaker 1: kind of government gestures that have been made trying to
Speaker 1: repair some pretty uh poor relations based on really bad
Speaker 1: treatment that that members of the Mate nation have received
Speaker 1: in various different ways, some related to a whole separate
Speaker 1: thing that could be another podcast, related to very poor
Speaker 1: and really terrible treatment of children, as well as being
Speaker 1: denied access to certain hunting lands. There have been a
Speaker 1: lot of different things that have gone on that are
Speaker 1: all kind of uh in in the course of hopefully
Speaker 1: having reparations made. So it's an ongoing discussion that will
Speaker 1: continue to to blossom and develop. Do you also have
Speaker 1: some listener mail for us? I do, and it's I'm
Speaker 1: keeping it short since this episode is a little on
Speaker 1: the long side. Uh. It is a lovely, lovely thank
Speaker 1: you card from two of our listeners, Amy and mary Anna,
Speaker 1: and I won't read it because it's all very kind
Speaker 1: and really crazy. But they didn't think they like podcasts,
Speaker 1: and now they listen to ours, and I love it
Speaker 1: and I'm glad that they do. And I hope they
Speaker 1: find others that they love just as much, because there
Speaker 1: is a world of podcasts out there that are fascinating
Speaker 1: and there's so much good content that everyone should everyone
Speaker 1: can pretty much find something that they like. They also
Speaker 1: sent this um my Little Pony stickers, which I love, uh,
Speaker 1: And they mentioned that, um, the history Wonder Woman might
Speaker 1: be a good topic. Which might. It's been very prominent
Speaker 1: lately Wonder Woman being discussed a lot, but I think
Speaker 1: it's getting covered plenty. Yeah. I also the man who
Speaker 1: created her as a character is fascinating. Yeah. But we
Speaker 1: definitely could not have either of those potential things be
Speaker 1: done before the movie. That we would have to run
Speaker 1: right out right now, not sleep for the next two days, record,
Speaker 1: and then move around our schedule to make it happen.
Speaker 1: And that's not We would need a time turner. I
Speaker 1: think you don't like my idea of not sleeping for
Speaker 1: three days. No. I like to sleep. Sleep is sleep,
Speaker 1: sleep soothe and console me. You know, I have a
Speaker 1: love hate thing with sleep. So I know if you
Speaker 1: can't sleep and would like to write to us, you
Speaker 1: can do so at History Podcast at how stuff works
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Speaker 1: way back to way before Tracy and I were ever
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Speaker 1: of visit us at missed in History dot com and
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