Louis Riel

Louis Riel (1844 to 1885) was a Canadian politician, a founder of the province of Manitoba and the political leader of the Metis people of the Canadian prairies. He led two resistance movements against the Government of Canada. The first, the Red River Resistance of 1869 and 1870, produced a provisional government that negotiated the terms on which Manitoba entered Confederation, although the execution of the Canadian nationalist Thomas Scott during it forced Riel into exile in the United States. He was elected three times to the House of Commons but never took his seat. In 1884 Metis leaders in Saskatchewan called him back, and he led the North-West Rebellion of 1885. After defeat at the Battle of Batoche he was convicted of high treason at Regina and hanged. His execution polarized Canada along linguistic and religious lines, and his reputation remains deeply contested.