Editing North-West Rebellion (section)

==Aftermath==
[[File:RielAtTrial.jpg|thumb|The end of the conflict led to the [[trial of Louis Riel]], a trial that sparked national controversy between [[English Canada|English]] and [[French Canada]].]]The conflict was Canada's first independent military action. It cost about $5&nbsp;million. Although it lost the Conservative Party most of its support in Quebec, it guaranteed Anglophone control of the Prairies and demonstrated the national government was capable of decisive action.<ref name="Flanagan_1985_2000" />{{rp|4–8}}

For reason perhaps outside the context of the rebellion, the Liberal party remained popular on the Prairies at least among Métis and among the wave of immigrants that soon came to the Prairies.  (Treaty Indians did not get the vote until much later.)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mardon and Mardon |title=Alberta Election Results}}</ref>

The [[trial of Louis Riel]] occurred shortly after the conflict, where he was found guilty of high treason, and hanged. His trial and execution sparked a national controversy between [[English Canada|English]] and [[French Canada]].<ref name="The Resistance of 1885" />

Poundmaker and Big Bear were sentenced to prison.

[[1885 hangings at Battleford|Eight others were hanged]] in the largest mass hanging in Canadian history.<ref>{{Citation |author=William Bleasdell Cameron |title=The war trail of Big Bear (The Indian Trials) |publication-date=1926 |year=1888 |url=http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/bibliography/1360/240.html |access-date=2013-10-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029204034/http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/bibliography/1360/240.html |archive-date=2013-10-29 |url-status=live |location=Toronto |publisher=Ryerson Press}}</ref> These men, found guilty of killing outside of the military conflict, were Wandering Spirit, (Kapapamahchakwew) a Plains Cree war chief, Little Bear (Apaschiskoos), Walking the Sky (AKA Round the Sky), Bad Arrow, Miserable Man, Iron Body, Ika (AKA Crooked Leg) and Man Without Blood, for murders committed at Frog Lake and at Battleford (the murders of Farm Instructor Payne and Battleford farmer Barney Tremont).

The [[Canadian Pacific Railway]] (CPR) played a key role in the government's response to the conflict, as it was able to transport federal troops to the area quickly. While it had taken three months to get troops to the Red River Rebellion, the government was able to move forces in nine days by train in response to events in the North-West Territories. The successful operation increased political support for the floundering and incomplete railway, which had been close to financial collapse. The government authorized enough funds to finish the line. Thus, Prime Minister [[John A. Macdonald]] realized his National Dream of linking Canada across the continent.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}}

The government addressed the critical food shortage of the Cree and Assiniboine by sending food and other supplies.

After the fighting, new Territorial Council ridings were created, although still only covering specific areas of concentrated settlement. The [[1885 Northwest Territories election|North-West Territories election of 1885]] was held. The Scrip Commission was dispatched to the District of Saskatchewan and to present-day Alberta to address Métis land claims.<ref>{{cite web|title= Northwest "Half-breed" Scrip
 |publisher   = Métis National Council Historical Database |url= http://metisnationdatabase.ualberta.ca/MNC/scrip1.jsp |access-date= 2013-11-21|url-status= dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141203185449/http://metisnationdatabase.ualberta.ca/MNC/scrip1.jsp|archive-date = 2014-12-03}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| title =Our Legacy (Metis Scrip)| publisher =University of Saskatchewan| url =http://scaa.sk.ca/ourlegacy/exhibit_scrip| access-date =2013-11-21| archive-date =2015-07-01| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20150701172447/http://scaa.sk.ca/ourlegacy/exhibit_scrip| url-status =dead}}</ref>

The Saskatchewan Métis requested land grants; the government granted these to all by the end of 1887. The government resurveyed the official surveys to allow pre-existing Métis riverlots in accordance with their wishes. In 1888 Dominion Land Survey officials resurveyed townships in Range 42, 43, 44, and 45, land along the South Saskatchewan River that was historically Métis land. Portions of these townships were divided into riverlots. This new survey recognized the Métis' long-standing land use and addressed a key grievance of the local Métis.[https://gladue.usask.ca/node/2623] The Métis did not understand the long term value of their new land, however, and sold much of it to speculators who later resold it to farmers.

Those who served with the Militia and NWMP during the conflict received the [[North West Canada Medal]], established in September 1885.<ref>{{cite book|last=Joslin, Litherland and Simpkin|title=British Battles and Medals|year=1988|publisher=Spink|location=London|isbn=0907605257|pages=165–166}}</ref>

The cause of the rebellion was soon subject of debate. Macdonald's government came in for heavy criticism.

During the 1887 federal election, members of [[Wilfrid Laurier|Sir Wilfrid Laurier]]'s Liberal Party told the House of Commons that federal surveyors had "mishandled western settlement" and blamed the "poor administration of Metis land claims" for the 1885 rebellion.<ref>{{Cite book |title="William Pearce Fonds Finding Aid". University of Alberta. Retrieved September 15, 2019.}}</ref> The federal Minister of the Interior investigated and had land surveyor [[William Pearce (civil engineer)|William Pearce]] submit a report explaining the work of the surveyors.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pearce, William |title=Detailed report upon all claims to land and right to participate in the North-West half-breed grant by settlers along the South Saskatchewan and vicinity west of range 26, W. 2nd meridian: Being the settlements commonly known as St. Louis de Langevin, St. Laurent or Batoche, and Duck Lake Printed by MacLean, Roger & Co.}}</ref>

===International reaction===
While the conflict was ongoing, the American and British press took note of the actions of both the Métis and the Canadian Government. Some newspapers, such as the ''[[The Times|Times]]'' and ''[[The Guardian|Guardian]]'', wrote approvingly of the actions taken by the Canadian government.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Read|first1=Geoff|last2=Webb|first2=Todd|title=The Catholic Mahdi of the North West': Louis Riel and the Metis Resistance in Transatlantic and Imperial Context|journal=Canadian Historical Review|date=2012|volume=93|issue=2|pages=171–195|doi=10.3138/chr.93.2.171|s2cid=159632535|url=https://www.utpjournals.press/doi/abs/10.3138/chr.93.2.171|access-date=2020-05-28|archive-date=2020-08-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805080436/https://www.utpjournals.press/doi/abs/10.3138/chr.93.2.171|url-status=live}}</ref>