Louis Riel and Gabriel Dumont Read Online Free PDF Page A

settlers, and a number of Indian tribes that they must stand up in unity if they are to hold any sway on their own land. Louis understands that this newly minted country of Canada is just two years old, and it acts like a bully who’s going to have trouble backing up its aggressive tactics. And Louis knows that this resistance doesn’t just end with stepping on a chain.
    To organize themselves better, the Métis create what they call the “Métis National Committee,” and it is in place just five days after the disruption of the surveyors. Louis agrees to become secretary and continues his policy of inclusion, inviting two representatives from each parish to help the Métis and other Red River settlers create an organized stand. The Hudson’s Bay Company, fearing its very fruitful deal with Canada might be in jeopardy, becomes involved, asking to meet with the committee to explain itself. It mustn’t come as a surprise to the council that the Métis oppose the placement of the anti-French McDougall to the powerful position of lieutenant governor of the whole area, and they warn the council that he will not be welcome to take up his position on their land. McDougall represents all the dangers the Métis face, and all their fears. He represents an encroaching government, the Métis believe, that frowns upon their hunting and subsistence-farming lifestyle, their religious beliefs, and their language. None of the Métis ways will be protected if the Canadians take control of Red River as planned. Simply put, McDougall will be turned back if he attempts to come here without the Canadians first negotiating a fair deal that includes protection of the Métis lifestyle and of the population in general.
    The Hudson’s Bay Company can’t directly control John A.’s political choices, they claim, and William McDougall and entourage arrive in the area in early November. Louis recognizes that the Hudson’s Bay Company and the Canadian government work in such unison that it will take a strike against both of them for the two powerhouse entities to listen. As promised, the Métis show up in force on November 2, 1869, and physically prevent McDougall from coming any farther, actually scaring him enough that he retreats to North Dakota. It is about this time that the Métis, their sense of humour intact, give McDougall the nickname Wandering Willie.
    Louis’s call for the Métis to stand up for themselves has worked in the last brief months, and the number of resisters has swelled. This day that Riel turns away McDougall becomes truly monumental when Riel makes the boldest move of his life. With four hundred followers behind him, he strikes at the Hudson’s Bay Company’s physical symbol of authority in this country, Fort Garry, and takes it over in a bloodless coup. There’s no turning back now.
    Both John A. and the Hudson’s Bay Company are forced to recognize that the Red River Métis are suddenly a force to be reckoned with. Maybe it’s just luck, but the Métis’ timing is impeccable. The Canadian government isn’t to take over control of this area for close to another month, and the Hudson’s Bay Company doesn’t have a standing army that can dislodge the Métis. Besides, for either the government or the Company to attempt to react with physical force is far too politically dangerous, time-consuming, and expensive a proposal.
    Now that Riel and the Métis find themselves in a rare position of power, they know that in order to succeed they need to centre it on a governing body that’s not just representative of the Métis but of all settlers. By late November they propose a provisional government consisting equally of English settlers and Métis that will negotiate directly with the Canadian government. But not all of the English are happy. Some are upset with how Riel has treated McDougall by turning him away, others don’t believe that Métis and English views dovetail, and others are simply so racist that the idea