The Metis

The Metis were descendants of Aboriginal peoples and Europeans who had intermarried. Fur traders relied on the Metis to supply them with pemmican. Metis men hunted buffalo, farmed, trapped and traded furs. By the mid-1800's, 10,000 Metis lived in the area near what is now Winnipeg.

In 1869, the Canadian government made plans to offer land to English settlers, but did not consult the Metis people who's land it was. Prime Minister John A. Macdonald sent surveyors to divide land into plots but they were sent packing by Metis leader Louis Riel. Macdonald appointed a governor to manage Fort Garry, the heart of the Red River settlement. A rebellion broke out and Riel and his men took over. They formed their own government, but because they executed a prisoner named Thomas Scott, the Canadian government saw them as hostile people who needed to be captured.

In 1885 Riel led his people in a second rebellion with another leader named Gabriel Dumont. Battles took place at Duck Lake and Batoche, but the Metis were defeated. Two Cree chiefs, Poundmaker and Big Bear, tried to stop their warriors from joining the rebellion. Despite that fact, they were tried and found guilty of felony and treason and sentenced to a term in jail. Louis Riel was convicted of treason and in 1885 he was hanged.

Today there are many Metis all over Canada and some live on settlements. For more information go to:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%A9tis_people_(Canada)