is Riel, Patriot and Rebel

Amy five times as large under the
/ Ommand of General Middleton. Pro-
‘ected by an ingenious system of tren-
“thes dug into the river hillside, they

fought off all attacks for three days

Without a casualty. Only when they ran

Out of ammunition on the fourth day

did they retreat.and disperse into the

sh. Dumont made his way safely to

the U.S.

The Indian bands limited their ac-
tions to raiding and seizing supplies
from government and Hudson’s Bay
| \Ompany warehouses to feed their star-

Ving families. Their two chiefs, Pound-
Maker and Big Bear, defeated every
Metachment of soldiers and_ police
Sent against them. Both finally

‘Surrendered and were sent to prison.

hey died shortly after their release.
} Eight Indians were hanged for their
| Part in the rebellion. With their dying
| & eaths’ they shouted defiance. at the
Authorities who had stolen their lands
| #hd interned them to starve on reserva-
| tions. They urged the Indians, assmbled
/ by the governments to watch the exe-
| Cution, never to forgive or forget.

Louis Riel surrendered to.carry on
the battle in the courts. Charged with
| treason, he rejected all pressures to
Save his life by pleading insanity. He
_ Was hanged on Nov. 16, 1885. in
| Regina. “Do not fear”, were his last

:

| {nd Roman Catholic hierarchy in
| Quebec playing the “divide and rule”
Same to befuddle the masses.

This was the class that immediately
| 4fter. 1867 undertook to’ annex and
Use as its own private preserve all of

the northwestern territory up to the

Pacific. The native, Métis and white

Settlers of the prairies sought to have

the vast expanses of the west opened

Up in a democratic manner — and
_ took up arms in that just cause. The
' Name of Louis Riel is enshrined in
history.as the main leader and mar-
tyr in that struggle. The similar effort
for the democratic establishment of
British Columbia at a later date is
tied with the name of Amor de Cos-
Mos. :

The people were defeated. Riel was
; hanged. The development of Canada

Was held back and distorted to allow
the old plutocrats and the new capi-

talists to gobble up the lands and na-

tural resources. The heirs of those
looters of Canada today have no

Scruples about selling our country to

the U.S. billionaires for a fast

buck...

History will not be denied, however.
The Confederation established on

xf

_ Louis Riel addressing the jury in the Court House, Regina, 1885.

Ab etn mmmmmnnmmmmmmomennmnniimmnmninniasieciinaaai

MTL UL A a svcuyapepeeencceaeneeaerezuannniaeageranenna

“THEIRS IS THE TREASON ...”

(Excerpt from Louis Riel’s
speech in his own defense)

By the testimony laid before you
during my trial, witnesses on both
sides made it certain that petition
after petition has been sent to the
Federal Government, and so irres-
ponsible is that Government to the
North-West, that in the course of
several years, besides doing noth-
ing to satisfy the people of this
great land, it has even hardly been
able to answer once or to give a
single response. That fact would
indicate absolute lack of responsi-.
bility and therefore insanity com-
plicated with paralysis .. .

| have acted reasonably and in
self-defence, while the Govern-
ment, my accuser, being irrespon-
sible and consequently insane,
cannot but have acted wrong, and
if high treason there is, it must be
on its side and not on my part.

denial of full national rights to
French Canada, on the robbery and
oppression of the native peoples, on
the submerging of the interests of
the Maritimes, on the rape and plun-
der of the natural resources and the
land of the west—and on the perpe-
tuation of the rule of the big capi-
talist exploiters at the expense of
the people in a hundred different
ways — this edifice built on blood,
robbery and oppression is crumbling.

All the unsolved problems from the
past’ and the new problems arising
from the present stage of a dying and
putrefying capitalist system,are crying
for solution as Canada enters the
1970's. Defeated and denied in times
past, the new forces of Canadian
democracy, headed by the most con-
sistently democratic class in history—
the workers—are engaging ina mul-
titude of battles, marching toward the
establishment of people's power and
building of a truly democratic, social-
ist. way of life.

The memory of those who fought
and died for the ideals of a finer
Canada in previous times is with us
as we fight, and high on that list is
the name of Louis Riel.

= ,
“MANNUAOANSOUDOEOAUUSOOOOUDODOOORELOUOORECHOCOOOOEROOOOONDOOUCAEOEEOLOGEL

. words, “I shall not shame my friends

nor rejoice my enemies by dying a
coward.”

Riel’s execution was an act of politi-
cal revenge. It was a calculated deci-
sion arrived at by measuring the votes
of an aroused and chauvinistic English
majority in Orange Order-ridden Pro-
testant Ontario against the votes of
Catholic French Canadians in Quebec.

“He shall hang!” said Prime Minister
Macdonald, “though every dog in Que-
bec bark in his favor.”

When the trap was sprung that fate-

ful morning and Riel’s body hurtled to

its death, one of the Royal North West

_ Mounted Police was heard to say:

“Well, the God damned son of a bitch
is gone at last.”

“Yes,” another Mountie replied
laughing, “the son of a bitch is gone for
certain now.”

Macdonald’s Conservative govern-
ment paid a heavy political price for the
execution of Riel. Public feeling in Que-
bec against the Tories rgn so high that
in subsequent elections they were con-
tinually defeated and it was not until
the Diefenbaker sweep of 1957 that
they again secured a majority of the
popular vote.

—

Louis Riel was a sincere, courageous,
honest, incorruptible and exceedingly
capable political leader. He was com-
pletely devoted to his people. More than
once he contemptuously rejected gov-
ernment bribes. But to this day histo-
rians depict him as insane, while more
enlightened playwrights still portray
him as some sort of mystic.

Riel was devoutly religious. This re-
flected his training for the priesthood.
This aspect of his convictions and his
character came strongly to the fore, al-
most to the point of an obsession, dur-
ing the difficult days following the est-

ablishment of the provisional govern-

ment in Saskatchewan. But the basis of

his religion was always selfless service

to his people.
6

The slander that Riel was insane had
several sources. :

One was among the hierarchy of the
Catholic Church who had acted as spies
for the police, who betrayed the Métis
at Batoche by conveying vital informa-
tion to General Middleton, and who had
been rejected by Riel and the Métis.

Another source was among rigkt-
wing elements in Quebec French Cana-
dian society who wanted to capitalize
on French Canadian support for Riel
while undermining support for the pro-
gressive reforms that Riel advocated.
These were the “friends” who sent
three lawyers to Regina to “defend”
Riel, insisting that the plea be insanity
and that Riel not testify on his own be-
half. .

The third source came from the Esta-
blishment of the day (and its suppor-
ters today too) who equate rebellion
against established authority with
insanity.

Some refer also to the fact that Riel

‘had spent some time in an asylum in
Quebec. He’ was sent there to hide by
his friends when the government had a
price on his head.

e

Despite all slanders, past and present,
the name of Riel ‘lives on, becoming
more meaningful with every year that
passes. And the Indian and Métis peo-
ple, ‘silent and suppressed for so long,
today proudly raise the name of Riel in
their fight for equality and their rights
as a people. .

Riel, Dumont, Poundmaker ‘and Big
Bear are part of the democratic and '
revolutionary traditions of our past,
helping to inspire this generation in the
struggle for social justice.

Riel a prisoner. Photo taken by Captain James Peters. Collection: Public Ar-

chives of ‘Canada. - weve

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—DECEMBER 19,.1969—Page 7
ee el é a? t weer ‘3