Editing Louis Riel (section)

==North-West Rebellion==
{{Main|North-West Rebellion}}
[[File:LouisRiel1885.jpg|thumb|upright|Riel in 1882]]
Following the Red River Resistance, Métis travelled west and settled in the [[Saskatchewan Valley]]. But by the 1880s, the rapid collapse of the buffalo herd was causing near starvation among the First Nations. This was exacerbated by a reduction in government assistance, and by a general failure of Ottawa to live up to its treaty obligations. The Métis were likewise obliged to give up the hunt and take up agriculture—but this transition was accompanied by complex issues surrounding land claims similar to those that had previously arisen in Manitoba. Moreover, settlers from Europe and the eastern provinces were also moving into the Saskatchewan territories, and they too had complaints related to the administration of the territories. Virtually all parties therefore had grievances, and by 1884 Anglophone settlers, [[Anglo-Métis]] and Métis communities were holding meetings and petitioning a largely unresponsive government for redress.<ref name=beal/><ref name=atlas>{{cite web|url=https://indigenouspeoplesatlasofcanada.ca/article/1885-northwest-resistance/|title=1885 Northwest Resistance|work=Indigenous Peoples Atlas of Canada|accessdate=6 March 2021}}</ref>

In the electoral district of [[Lorne (N.W.T. electoral district)|Lorne]], a meeting of the south branch Métis was held in the village of [[Batoche, Saskatchewan|Batoche]] on 24 March, and representatives voted to ask Riel to return and represent their cause. On 6 May a joint "Settler's Union" meeting was attended by both the Métis and English-speaking representatives from [[Prince Albert, Saskatchewan|Prince Albert]], including [[Honoré Jackson|William Henry Jackson]], an Ontario settler sympathetic to the Métis and known to them as Honoré Jackson, and [[James Isbister]] of the Anglo-Métis.<ref>{{cite journal|last =Flanagan |first =Thomas |title =Louis Riel's Land Claims |journal=Manitoba History |year=1991 |volume=21 |issue= Spring |url =http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/mb_history/21/riellandclaims.shtml }}</ref> It was here resolved to send a delegation to ask Riel to return.<ref name=atlas/>

===Return of Riel===
The head of the delegation to Riel was [[Gabriel Dumont (Métis leader)|Gabriel Dumont]], a respected buffalo hunter and leader of the Saint-Laurent Métis who had known Riel in Manitoba.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |first=Adam |last=Gaudry | encyclopedia=The Canadian Encyclopedia | title =Gabriel Dumont | date=9 September 2019 | url =http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/dumont-gabriel/}}</ref> James Isbister<ref>{{cite encyclopedia | first=David |last=Smyth |year=1998 | title = Isbister, James |encyclopedia=Dictionary of Canadian Biography | url = http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/isbister_james_14E.html | volume = 14 }}</ref> was the lone Anglo-Métis delegate. Riel was easily swayed to support their cause. Riel also intended to use the new position of influence to pursue his own land claims in Manitoba.<ref name=Thomas-1982/>

Upon his arrival Métis and Anglophone settlers alike formed an initially favourable impression of Riel following a series of speeches in which he advocated moderation and a reasoned approach. During June 1884, the Plains Cree leaders [[Big Bear]] and [[Poundmaker]] were independently formulating their complaints, and subsequently held meetings with Riel. However, the Native grievances were quite different from those of the settlers, and nothing was resolved.<ref name=Thomas-1982/>

Honoré Jackson and representatives of other communities set about drafting a petition to be sent to Ottawa. In the interim, Riel's support began to waver. As Riel's religious pronouncements became increasingly heretical, the clergy distanced themselves, and father [[Alexis André]] cautioned Riel against mixing religion and politics. In response to bribes by territorial [[lieutenant-governor]] and Indian commissioner [[Edgar Dewdney]], local English-language newspapers adopted an editorial stance critical of Riel.<ref name=Thomas-1982/>

Nevertheless, Riel's campaign for better treatment continued, and on 16 December Riel forwarded the committee's petition to the government, along with the suggestion that delegates be sent to Ottawa to engage in direct negotiation. Receipt of the petition was acknowledged by [[Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau]], Macdonald's Secretary of State, although Macdonald himself would later deny having ever seen it.<ref name=Thomas-1982/> By then many original followers had left; only 250 remained at Batoche when it fell in May 1885.<ref>{{harvnb|Miller|2004|page=[https://archive.org/details/reflectionsonnat0000mill/page/44 44]}}</ref>

While Riel awaited response from Ottawa he considered returning to Montana, but had by February resolved to stay. Without a productive course of action, Riel began to engage in obsessive prayer, and was experiencing a significant relapse of his mental agitations. He publicly espoused an increasingly [[Christian heresy|heretical]] doctrine, causing a deterioration in his relationship with the Catholic clergy.<ref name=Thomas-1982/>

On 11 February 1885, the Métis received a response to their petition. The government proposed to take a census of the North-West Territories, and to form a commission to investigate grievances. This angered a faction of the Métis who saw it as a mere delaying tactic; they favoured taking up arms at once. Riel became the leader of this faction, but he lost the support of almost all Anglophones and Anglo-Métis, and the Catholic Church.<ref name=shsba/> He also lost the support of the Métis faction supporting local leader [[Charles Nolin]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |first=Diane P. |last=Payment |title =Nolin, Charles |volume=13 |url =http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/nolin_charles_13E.html |encyclopedia= Dictionary of Canadian Biography |year=1994 }}</ref> But Riel, undoubtedly influenced by his messianic delusions,<ref>{{Cite journal |last= Dumontet |first= Monique |year=1994 |title= Essay 16 Controversy in the Commemoration of Louis Riel |url=http://canadianpoetry.org/mnemographia_canadensis/volume2/essay_16.html |journal=Mnemographia Canadensis |volume=2 }}</ref> became increasingly supportive of this course of action. Disenchanted with the status quo, and swayed by Riel's charisma and eloquent rhetoric, hundreds of Métis remained loyal to Riel, despite his proclamations that Bishop Ignace Bourget should be accepted as pope, and that "Rome has fallen".<ref name=Thomas-1982/><ref name=cbc-rethinking-lr/>

===Open rebellion===
The [[Provisional Government of Saskatchewan]] was declared at Batoche on 19 March. Riel was the political and spiritual leader and Dumont assumed responsibility for military affairs.<ref name=atlas/><ref name=falcon>{{cite journal|url=http://www.journal.forces.gc.ca/vol14/no4/PDF/CMJ144Ep54.pdf|last=Ouellette|first=Robert-Falcon|title=The Second Métis War of 1885: A Case Study of Non-Commissioned Member Training and the Intermediate Leadership Program|journal=Canadian Military Journal|volume=14|issue=4|date=Autumn 2014|pages=54–65}}</ref><ref name=Thomas-1982/> Riel formed a council called the [[Exovedate]] (a [[neologism]] meaning "those who picked from the flock").<ref name=Thomas-1982/> On 21 March, Riel's emissaries demanded that Crozier surrender [[Fort Carlton]].<ref name=falcon/> Scouting near Duck Lake on 26 March, a force led by Gabriel Dumont unexpectedly chanced upon a party from Fort Carlton. In the ensuing [[Battle of Duck Lake]], the police were routed and the [[North-West Rebellion]] was begun in earnest.<ref name=falcon/><ref name=shsba/>

The near-completion of the [[Canadian Pacific Railway]] allowed troops from eastern Canada to quickly arrive in the territory.<ref name=oosterom>{{cite web|url=https://www.canadashistory.ca/explore/first-nations-inuit-metis/shifting-riel-ity-the-1885-north-west-rebellion|website=Canada's History|title=Shifting Riel-ity: The 1885 North-West Rebellion|first1=Keith |last1=Foster|first2=Nelle|last2= Oosterom|date=13 February 2014}}</ref> Knowing that he could not defeat the Canadians in direct confrontation, Dumont had hoped to force the Canadians to negotiate by engaging in a sustained campaign of [[guerrilla warfare]]; Dumont realized a modest success along these lines at the [[Battle of Fish Creek]] on 24 April 1885.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Virtual Museum|url=http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/sgc-cms/expositions-exhibitions/batoche/docs/proof_en_battle_of_fish_creek.pdf|title= The Battle of Fish Creek (April 23, 1885)|accessdate=6 March 2021}}</ref> 

Riel, however, insisted on concentrating forces at Batoche to defend his "city of God".<ref name=Thomas-1982/> The outcome of the ensuing [[Battle of Batoche]] which took place from 9 to 12 May<ref name=beal>{{cite encyclopedia |first1=Bob |last1=Beal |first2=Rod |last2=MacLeod |first3=Richard |last3=Foot | title =North-West Rebellion | encyclopedia=The Canadian Encyclopedia | date=30 July 2019 | url =http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/north-west-rebellion }}</ref> was never in doubt, and on 15 May a disheveled Riel surrendered to Canadian forces.<ref name=Thomas-1982/> Although Big Bear's forces managed to hold out until the [[Battle of Loon Lake]] on 3 June,<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |first=Stewart |last=Mein |title=North-West Resistance |encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan |year=2006 |url=https://esask.uregina.ca/entry/north-west_resistance.jsp |archive-date=13 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210613020711/https://esask.uregina.ca/entry/north-west_resistance.jsp |url-status=dead }}</ref> the Rebellion was a dismal failure for Indigenous communities.<ref name=beal/>