Louis Riel: The Man, The myth, The Metis

Louis Riel: The Man, The Myth, The Métis

The importance of Louis Riel for the Métis Nation lives on in the annual Riel Day, commemorated on November 16th, the same date that he was hung. Louis “David” Riel was born at the Red River Settlement, Manitoba on October 22, 1844. He was educated in theology in Montreal, but then pursued law. In 1868, he returned to the Red River area, where he had spent his childhood.
At this critical point, there were tensions between the government’s agenda of settlement and the rights of the Métis. The government, in an effort to unite Canada and “settle the west” wanted to claim the Red River settlement for farming and make room for the influx of white settlers while the Métis people who had settled there previously wanted recognition as a nation and to keep their land. Riel, fluent in English and French, spoke on behalf of them and defended their claim to nationhood. After Riel spoke for the Métis people in Manitoba, there were many battles that ensued, both in the political and military sense. Riel then went into hiding until he was asked by Gabriel Dumont and others from the Red River Settlement to lead the Métis people in 1884. Battle at Batoche, fought from May 9 – May 12, 1885, was the last major battle Riel led against the Canadian military. After losing the battle, many Métis fled and Riel surrendered himself after a period of days into the hands of the government. He was charged with high treason and hung on November 16, 1885 in Regina, Saskatchewan. (http://www.metisresourcecentre.mb.ca/bios/l_riel.htm, accessed March 3, 2009). Although Riel died, the Métis people continue to live on, their vibrant language and music are communicative of their resilience and resistance.
Who are the Métis? Métis artist and scholar, Sherry Farrell Racette notes that the identity of the Métis would be best understood considering Homi Bhabha’s notion of hybridity. Racette proposes, “the notion of fluid cultural spaces which are simultaneously marginalized and dynamic has potential for a more accurate understanding of the evolution and persistence of Métis identity. The hybrid state as described by Bhabha is at once reflective and resistant of its constructive elements. Hybridity is unpredictable and unsettling, particularly to the colonial interest” (Racette 2001: 185). Métis identity then is a fluid entity that has evolved since its inception at the Red River Settlement.
With the advent of the fur trade, many French and English men immigrated to Canada. They married Aboriginal women, resulting in a new nation of people, influenced by both Aboriginal and European traditions. These people are the Métis; they have a unique language, heritage and identity. During the nineteenth century, the best-known geographic space that the Métis occupied was the Red River Settlement. French Métis largely depended on the buffalo hunt to sustain their nomadic lifestyle while the English “half-breeds” farmed the fertile lands. The French Métis valued their Catholic religion and the English looked to their Protestant or Anglican traditions.
Métis were influenced by Aboriginal and European cultures. Perhaps their language, Michif, best reflects this influence. Michif is a unique language that combines Cree and French. Verbs are Cree while nouns are Michif-French in origin (2001:177). Peter Baaker notes that the influence of the Ojibway or Anishnaabe is also present in the Métis language, due to intermarriage between French men and Ojibway women (2001: 178). Baaker states “When the mothers of the first generation speak a language different from the fathers, the new mixed languages of their descendants, if they are a considerable group, appear to combine the grammatical system of the mother’s language and the lexicon of the father’s”(2001: 179). Adopting from Aboriginal traditions, the Métis have used oral history as a mode of communicating, the telling of stories is very important in passing on values, myths and important life skills. For example, when Métis women gather to do beadwork, often they will share stories, fostering a sense of community amongst the women while passing on their wisdom.
Métis music and dance, like identity, has been influenced by a combination of Scottish, French and Aboriginal influences. Métis depend on oral tradition to pass on knowledge, so songs were not recorded on paper, but rather passed through humming and singing. Lynn Whidden notes the similarities between Métis and Aboriginal musical traditions, such as the use of the “one beat pulse” throughout a composition. The origin of the fiddle and the Red River Jig in Métis culture, argued by Whidden, can be traced in particular to the Desjarlais family, part of the Red River Settlement (2001: 169). The songs of the Métis draw on French, English, Cree and Michif traditions. (2001:174).
Artifacts, conceptions of space
In the first module, the sculpture of Louis Riel, artifact # A 2670, CMC, will be a visual for people to identify with the man and the myth. We would also like to include a piece of rope that hung Riel, artifact # 996.2.3 a-c, people may be interested in the historical aspect. A projection of a swinging noose that moves across the space may also add to the sense of sadness conveyed by the death of Riel, as well as a sense of “urgency.” The sound of the “Red River Jig” will also be playing in this first section to convey the vibrancy of Métis today. In addition, the voice of Louis Riel, either through a phone or projected into the space will be reading his plans to convey a sense of his vision for the Métis people. We could also have some example of Métis beadwork as an example of artistic production. The Métis were identified by Ted Brasser, former curator at the Canadian Museum of Civilization, as the “flower-beadwork people.”