Editing Louis Riel (section)

===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/>