Editing North-West Rebellion (section)

==Demographics==
{{Location_map+
|Canada Saskatchewan|relief=yes
| width = 275
| float = right
| caption = The [[District of Saskatchewan]] in 1885 (within the black diamonds) included the central section of Saskatchewan and extended into present-day Alberta and Manitoba. The area of conflict is circled in black.
| places =
{{Location map~|Canada Saskatchewan| label=[[Duck Lake, Saskatchewan|Duck Lake]] | lat=52.8166 | long=-106.233 | label_size=75 | marksize=6|position=right}}
{{Location map~|Canada Saskatchewan| label=[[Battleford]] | lat=52.738| long=-108.315 | label_size=75 | marksize=6|position=bottom}}
{{Location map~|Canada Saskatchewan| label=[[Frog Lake Massacre|Frog Lake]] | lat=53.831 | long=-110.358| label_size=75 | marksize=6|position=left}}
  {{Location map~|Canada Saskatchewan| label=[[Battle of Fort Pitt|Fort Pitt]] | lat=53.65 | long=-109.751 | label_size=75 | marksize=6|position=right}}
  {{Location map~|Canada Saskatchewan| label=[[Battle of Fish Creek|Fish Creek]] | lat=52.60 | long=-105.947| label_size=75 | marksize=6|position=right}}
 {{Location map~|Canada Saskatchewan| label=[[Battle of Cut Knife|Cut Knife]] | lat=52.75 | long=-109.0166| label_size=75 | marksize=6|position=left}}
{{Location map~|Canada Saskatchewan| label=[[Battle of Batoche|Batoche]] | lat=52.755 | long=-106.116| label_size=75 | marksize=6|position=left}}
{{Location map~|Canada Saskatchewan| label=[[Battle of Frenchman's Butte|Butte]] | lat=53.627 | long=-109.575| label_size=75 | marksize=6|position=bottom}}
{{Location map~|Canada Saskatchewan| label=[[Battle of Loon Lake|Loon Lake]] | lat=54.04 | long=-109.0| label_size=75 | marksize=6|position=right}}
{{Location map~|Canada Saskatchewan| label= | lat=52.755 | long=-106.116| label_size=75 | marksize=30|mark=Cercle noir 50%.svg|position=left}}
{{Location map~|Canada Saskatchewan | lat=52 | long=-112| label_size=75 | marksize=10|mark=Diamond_sheer_black_20.png}}
{{Location map~|Canada Saskatchewan | lat=55 | long=-112| label_size=75 | marksize=10|mark=Diamond_sheer_black_20.png}}
{{Location map~|Canada Saskatchewan | lat=52 | long=-98| label_size=75 | marksize=10|mark=Diamond_sheer_black_20.png}}
{{Location map~|Canada Saskatchewan | lat=55 | long=-98| label_size=75 | marksize=10|mark=Diamond_sheer_black_20.png}}
 }}
The 1885 census of Assiniboia, Saskatchewan and Alberta reported a total population of 48,362. Of this, 20,170 people (about 40 percent) were Status Indians.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/north-west-territories-1870-1905 | title=North-West Territories (1870–1905) &#124; the Canadian Encyclopedia | access-date=2023-06-21 | archive-date=2023-06-21 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230621172924/https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/north-west-territories-1870-1905 | url-status=live }}</ref>

The District of Saskatchewan, part of the North-West Territories in 1885, was divided into three sub-districts and had a population of 10,595. To the east, the Carrot River sub-district with 1,770 people remained quiet. The Prince Albert sub-district in the centre of the district had a population of 5,373 which included the Southbranch settlements with about 1,300. The South branch settlement was the centre of Louis Riel's Provisional Government of Saskatchewan during the conflict. To the west, the Battleford sub-district where the Cree uprising of people in bands led by Poundmaker and Big Bear occurred, had 3,603 people.<ref name="encyc_sask_NWR_2006"/><ref>{{Citation|publisher = Henry Thomas McPhillips|location = Prince Albert, NWT|title = McPhillips' alphabetical and business directory of the district of Saskatchewan, N.W.T.: Together with brief historical sketches of Prince Albert, Battleford and the other settlements in the district |page =23|year = 1888|url = http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/bibliography/1740/23.html|author = Henry Thomas McPhillips|publication-date = 1888|access-date = 2014-04-10|archive-date = 2013-11-09|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131109100658/http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/bibliography/1740/23.html|url-status = live}}</ref>

The largest settlement and the capital of the district was [[Prince Albert, Saskatchewan|Prince Albert]] with about 800 people<ref>{{Citation|publisher = Henry Thomas McPhillips|location = Prince Albert, NWT|title = McPhillips' alphabetical and business directory of the district of Saskatchewan, N.W.T.: Together with brief historical sketches of Prince Albert, Battleford and the other settlements in the district |page= 65|year = 1888|url = http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/bibliography/1740/81.html|author = Henry Thomas McPhillips|publication-date = 1888|access-date = 2014-04-10|archive-date = 2013-12-11|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131211182250/http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/bibliography/1740/81.html|url-status = live}}</ref> followed by Battleford with about 500 people who were "divided about equally between French, Métis and English".<ref>{{Citation|publisher = Henry Thomas McPhillips|location = Prince Albert, NWT|title = McPhillips' alphabetical and business directory of the district of Saskatchewan, N.W.T.: Together with brief historical sketches of Prince Albert, Battleford and the other settlements in the district |page=53|year = 1888|url = http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/bibliography/1740/67.html|author = Henry Thomas McPhillips|publication-date = 1888|access-date = 2014-04-10|archive-date = 2013-12-12|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131212001656/http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/bibliography/1740/67.html|url-status = live}}</ref>

The Métis population in Saskatchewan in 1885 was about 5,400. A majority tried to stay neutral in the dispute with the national government, as the priests recommended. About 350 armed men supported Riel.<ref>{{cite book|author=D.N. Sprague|title=Canada and the Métis, 1869–1885|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D0BnHT9zHYIC&pg=PA173|year=1988|publisher=Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press|pages=164, 173|isbn=9780889209589}}</ref> A smaller number opposed him, led by [[Charles Nolin]]. In addition, he had the support of a small number of members of First Nations. Riel's supporters included the older, less assimilated Métis, often with close associations with the First Nations population. Many moved back and forth into First Nations communities and preferred to speak Indigenous languages more than French. Riel's opponents were younger, better educated Métis; they wanted to be more integrated into Canadian society, not to set up a separate domain as Riel promised.<ref>David Lee, "The Metis militant rebels of 1885." ''Canadian Ethnic Studies/ Etudes ethniques au Canada'' (1989) 21#3 pp 1+</ref>