Discussions

Not many characters in Canadian history have aroused such depth and bitterness of feeling as that of the Metis Chieftain, Louis ‘?’ Riel. The mere mention of his name bares those latent religious and racial animosities, which seem to lie so close to the surface of Canadian politics.  
 
Despite the fact that he identified himself, not with the French Canadians of Quebec, but with the mixed blood population of the western plains, Riel became, for a few years, the symbol of the national aspirations of French Canada, and the storm centre of political Orangeism.  
 
French speaking Canadians elevated him to the pedestal of martyrdom, and English-speaking Canadians damned him as a Rebel. In Riel, the people of Quebec professed to see another Papineau, a heroic patriot defending on the far away prairies the cause of Canadians living in the valley of the St. Lawrence: the people of Ontario saw in him the dastard murderer of an Ontario Protestant.  
 
Even today the racial controversies which emerged from Riel’s actions in Manitoba in 1869-70 and the political turmoil’s stirred up by his trial and execution in Saskatchewan fifteen years later, make it difficult to asses fairly the contribution of this strange and rather pathetic person, whose remains now lie but a few steps from those of his grandparents, in a peaceful Cathedral yard of St. Boniface.  
 
Source: The Canadian Historical Association, by G. F. G. Stanley.  
 
What do you know about Louis Riel on this his Day of Honour?  
 
Louis Riel Day, Quiz.  
 
1. When was Riel Born?  
2. Where was he born?  
3. What was his middle name?  
4. Where was Riel educated?  
5. When was he married?  
6. What was his wife’s name?  
7. How many children did he have?  
8. When did Riel occupy Fort Garry?  
9. On what date did Riel become the titular President, (in name only) of The National Committee?  
10. How did Riel make Canada respect him and his group?  
11. What date did the North West territories formally become the fifth province of the Canadian federation?  
12. What was the name of the American Spy appointed by the State Department to cause the Red River Settlement to join in Full Union with the U.S?  
13. What were the years of Riel’s Exile?  
14. What Asylum was Riel discharged from in January 1878?  
15. When was Riel (Independent) first elected to the House of Commons?  
16. When was the first Volunteer Ambulance Brigade in Canada formed?  
17. What was the name of the steam ship used in the Battle at Batoche?  
18. What was the name of the gun that was smuggled up from the states and used against the Riel forces?  
19. Who was in charge of Brandon’s “Home Guard” during the Saskatchewan Rebellion?  
20. Which Brandon organization supplied young women to serve coffee during the Riel Rebellion to the Soldiers on the Troop trains as they passed through Brandon?  
 
Answerers to follow.