In 1885, Louis Riel and Métis rebels would stun the fledgeling Canadian government with a violent uprising. In 1870 immigrants from Europe headed west to settle in Canada’s newly purchased prairie territories.  Indigenous nations who had lived here for generations were not consulted. The Métis, a fusion of indigenous and European societies, both hunters and farmers, experienced discrimination and dispossession.

In 1870 Louis Riel returned home to the Red River Settlement and led the Red River Resistance with a volunteer militia to defend their territory. The resulting Manitoba Act created Canada’s fifth province and promised the land, language and faith of the Métis would be respected, but Riel became an exile in the United States. He was brought back by Gabriel Dumont in 1884 to help the Métis militia fight the NWMP in the Northwest Rebellion in Saskatchewan. They were finally defeated at the Battle of Batoche in 1885. Louis Riel, once considered a dangerous rebel, is now recognised as one of the Fathers of Confederation for his role in shaping the West we know today.