Manitoba History: Red River Resistance. Number 29, Spring 1995 The following text is taken from a brochure recently published by the Historic Resources Branch of Manitoba Culture, Heritage and Citizenship. The brochure, which marks the 125th anniversary of Manitoba’s entry into Confederation, summarizes the pivotal events of 1869-1970 and provides information on a number of sites in and around Winnipeg associated with the Resistance. It is reproduced here with the kind permission of Culture, Heritage and Citizenship.
On a snowy day in October 1869, a group of nineteen unarmed Métis riders took a major step in changing the course of Manitoba’s history. For the previous year the residents of the Red River Settlement had been apprehensive as the Hudson’s Bay Company prepared to transfer control of present-day western Canada to the Canadian Government. Louis Riel, circa 1873 (note misspelling of his surname) Source: Archives of Manitoba Louis Riel was born in the Red River Settlement in 1844 and educated in St. St. View of St. St. Gabriel Dumont. Métis Military Leader Gabriel Dumont was born in the Red River area in 1837. When he was two, the family moved to Fort Pitt-where his father worked as a trader. Gabriel's education consisted of learning the ways of the prairie and by age ten he was fluent in six Indian languages as well as French.
The Dumont family returned to the Red River in 1848. During this trip Gabriel received his first gun in honour of an act of bravery and he named this gun "Le Petit". Dumont took part in the battle of Grand Coteau against the Dakota at age fourteen. Gabriel Dumont became the military leader of the Métis people in the Batoche area. Dumont, meanwhile, became something of a folk-hero: admired and sought after by others.
He arrived in Philadelphia on July 7 by train (ironically that beast that was fast robbing his people of their livelihood as the transporters of goods). While in Quebec, he learned that Riel had been executed and was a martyr-hero. Www.vcn.bc.ca/michif/dumont.html. The Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan | Details. Gabriel Dumont. Saskatchewan Archives Board R-A6277 Gabriel Dumont—the name conjures up a host of images: the diminutive but courageous chef métis who led his people in armed struggle against the Dominion of Canada; the 19th-century Che Guevara passionately concerned with his people’s self-governance; the quintessential homme de prairie who lived freely as a bison hunter and entrepreneur; and the humanitarian who shared his bounty with the less fortunate.
Gabriel Dumont was a man of action, whose many admirable qualities, including his selflessness, courage, sense of duty and love of his people, have inspired generations of Métis. Despite being so lionized, little is known of Gabriel Dumont prior to the 1870s. He was born in December 1837 in St. Boniface, Red River Settlement, the third child of Isadore Dumont and Louise Laframboise. Dumont’s life as a young adult was typical of other Métis. Darren R. Print Entry Barnholden, M. 1993. Gabriel Dumont. Gabriel Dumont, Métis leader (born December 1837 at Red River Settlement; died 19 May 1906 at Bellevue, SK).
Dumont rose to political prominence in an age of declining buffalo herds and was concerned about the ongoing economic prosperity and political independence of his people. Gabriel Dumont, Métis leader (born December 1837 at Red River Settlement; died 19 May 1906 at Bellevue, SK). Dumont rose to political prominence in an age of declining buffalo herds and was concerned about the ongoing economic prosperity and political independence of his people. He was a prominent hunt chief and warrior, but is best known for his role in the 1885 North-West Resistance as a key Métis military commander and ally of Louis Riel. Dumont remains a popular Métis folk hero, remembered for his selflessness and bravery during the conflict of 1885 and for his unrivaled skill as a Métis hunt chief.
Early Life Rise to Political Prominence Dumont, Riel and the Provisional Government of Saskatchewan Later Life. DUMONT, GABRIEL – Volume XIII (1901-1910) DUMONT, GABRIEL, Métis hunter, merchant, ferryman, and political and military leader; b. December 1837 in the Red River settlement (Man.), second son of Isidore Dumont, known as Ekapow, and Louise Laframboise; m. 1858 Madeleine Wilkie at St Joseph (Walhalla, N.Dak.); they had no children but adopted a son and daughter; d. 19 May 1906 in Bellevue (St-Isidore-de-Bellevue), Sask. Gabriel Dumont is remembered principally for his role as Louis Riel*’s military commander during the North-West rebellion of 1885.
Although some historians have endeavoured to portray him as a leader of broader scope, there is not much evidence to support such a view. He was the last and in some ways the greatest of the traditional Métis chiefs whose status was based upon prowess as hunters and fighters and extensive kinship networks. The founders of the numerous and powerful Dumont clan were Gabriel’s grandparents, a Montreal fur trader named Jean-Baptiste Dumont and a Sarcee woman called Josette “Sarcisse.”
Gabriel Dumont. Gabriel Dumont is best known as the man who led the small Métis military forces during the Northwest Resistance of 1885. He was born in the Red River area in 1837, the son of Isidore Dumont, a Métis hunter, and Louise Laframboise. Although unable to read or write, Dumont could speak six languages and was highly adept at the essential skills of the plains: horseback riding and marksmanship. These abilities made Dumont a natural leader in the large annual Buffalo hunts that were an important part of Métis culture.
At the age of fourteen Dumont received his initiation in plains warfare when he took part in a Métis skirmish with a large group of Sioux at the Grand Coteau of the Missouri River. By the 1860s, Dumont was the leader of a group of hunters living in the Fort Carlton area. In 1872, he took advantage of the growing traffic on the Carlton trail and opened a ferry across the South Saskatchewan River and a small store upstream from Batoche. Photo courtesy Glenbow Alberta Institute. Canada in the Making - Specific Events & Topics. PDF Version | Word Version | Rich Text Format | Text Format The period immediately following Confederation was a particularly volatile one on the Canadian Prairies, particularly in the old Red River Settlement region that would soon come to be known as Manitoba.
The leader of two major rebellions in the Canadian West was a Métis named Louis Riel, who encouraged his fellow mixed-bloods to stand up for their rights through armed conflict. His tactics would work during one rebellion, but fail miserably in another - leading to both his downfall and, indirectly, the downfall of Aboriginal leaders who sided with him. Red River Rebellion, 1869 - 1870 North-West Rebellion, 1885 Red River Rebellion, 1869 - 1870 Many Ontarians wanted to push settlement west after Confederation and began to pressure the federal government to take the steps to make that possible. The first step, the purchase of the Hudson's Bay Company territories in 1868, raised many hopes. Copyright/Source. Birth of Manitoba : Digital Resources on Manitoba History.
Birth of Manitoba Page 4 of 7 The resistance at Red River The Red River Resistance lasted from November 1869, when the Métis blocked William McDougall's entrance, to August 1870 when the British military expedition arrived at Red River. During that period Louis Riel tried with varying levels of success to bring the English and French speaking portions of the community together in a single government that would negotiate terms of entry with the Canadian government. While the Métis had originally formed a National Committee of the Métis of Red River to turn back McDougall and seize Upper Fort Garry, one of Riel's first acts was to call on the English-speaking portion of the community to send 12 delegates to meet with 12 French-speaking residents to debate the community's future.
This Convention of 24 was able to agree on a list of rights that they wanted to see Canada recognize, but were unable to agree on a common strategy. Red River Rebellion. The 1869–70 uprising in the Red River Colony was sparked by the transfer of the vast territory of Rupert's Land to the new nation of Canada. The colony of farmers and hunters, many of them Métis, occupied a corner of Rupert's Land and feared for their culture and land rights under Canadian control. Riel, Louis and the Provisional Government Riel's (centre), first provisional government, 1869 (courtesy Glenbow Archives/NA-1039-1). The 1869–70 uprising in the Red River Colony was sparked by the transfer of the vast territory of Rupert's Land to the new nation of Canada.
The colony of farmers and hunters, many of them Métis, occupied a corner of Rupert's Land and feared for their culture and land rights under Canadian control. The Métis mounted a rebellion and declared a provisional government to negotiate terms for entering Confederation. Hudson's Bay Company Departs The Red River inhabitants were continually in conflict with the HBC, particularly over trading privileges. Riel Steps Forward.