Due toLouis Riel's ubiquity as one of the most studied figures in Canadian history, thehistoriography of Louis Riel naturally leads to several interpretations and understandings of actions and reactions depending on the scholar in question. One of the reasons the rebellion or resistance paradigm is so deeply ingrained in the Canadian historical tradition is because Riel has been studied so much.[1] Still this article's challenge is to discover Riel as a human being and to "appreciate the pathos and tragedy" of his life and of Métis history, not to "create, debunk, or venerate" an icon.[2][3]
The first history, entitledA critical history of the Red River Insurrection, after official documents and non-Catholic sources by the ReverendA. G. Morice, was published in 1935, the main purpose of which was the defence ofBishop Taché.[1] Dissatisfaction with Morice's book on the part of theMétis comité historique of the Union Nationale Métisse led to Auguste-Henri Trémaudan being commissioned to writeHistoire de la nation métisse dans l'Ouest canadien published in 1936, which provided a more favorable account of the two resistances and which portrayed Riel as 'a nationalist and a leader of a small group of people oppressed by English Canada'.[1][4]
In 1936 also,George Stanley publishedThe Birth of Western Canada: A History of the Riel Rebellions, which rebellions were not manifestations of the "western battle ground of the traditional hostilities of French Catholic Quebec and English Protestant Ontario" but of the problem of the frontier, of the primitive versus the civilized, of Riel versus the West.[5] In 1945, the French author Marcel Giraud published the massive brilliantly researchedLe Métis canadien, son rôle dans l'histoire des prairies de l'Ouest, which "further cemented the idea that the Métis nation was born of conflict and war".[5] However, these mid-century efforts by Stanley, Giraud and other historians had little impact and it was not until after World War II that Riel was progressively transformed into a national hero.[6] It was especially when historians de-emphasized representing him as a French Catholic Canadian that Riel gained prestige among anglophones.[7]
Published in 1957, W.L. Morton'sManitoba: A History portrays the Red River Colony as "a microcosm of the struggle for Canada" with "a balance between French-Catholic Métis and British-Protestant settlers".[8] Stanley'sLouis Riel published in 1963 is considered to be the benchmark among Riel studies and sets Riel "up to fight a losing battle against the Canadian state."[5]
In the 1960s and 1970s, regional studies increasingly displaced and fragmented the earlier generation of sweeping studies with authors such asFlanagan and Martel arguing, for example, that Riel should be "understood as a messianic prophet struggling against modernity".[5] While revisiting Riel's motivations, these studies left Stanley's more sweeping tenets of conflict between savage and civilized intact such that Riel "remained a figure of resistance".[9]
In the 1980s, historians appeared to be less interested in 'great man' aspects of Riel and more interested in Métis history, probing the "Red River myopia",[10] and viewing Riel "as the leader of a much broader social movement across Canada".[9] For example, the 1996 publication ofHomeland to Hinterland: The Changing World of the Red River Métis is remarkable for situating Red River Métis between the social and political.[9] Published in 2003, Albert Braz's studyThe False Traitor was a landmark in investigating dimensions of Riel's life that served to "create an "other" against which Canadian can define themselves".[9] Yet some recent biographies such asMaggie Siggins's liberal-humanisticRiel: A Life of Revolution and J. M. Bumsted'sRiel vs. Canada: The Making of a Rebel still paint Riel as Canada's other whereby Riel and the resistance remains fixed in a politico-military framework largely devoid of intellectual and cultural dynamics.[9] For such recent theorists as Adam Gaudry, Darren O'Toole and Chris Andersen, "the resistance is a central element of Métis nationhood".[9][11]
In 1988, Stanley referred to Riel as a "Canadian legend" and “our Hamlet, the personification of the great themes of our human history.”[12][13]
In his 2008 paperNon Compos Mentis:[14] A Meta-Historical Survey of the Historiographic Narratives of Louis Riel's 'Insanity, Gregory Betts's analyzes Riel's high treason trial and related mental health issue in the context of Stanley's four proposed Riel critical perspective categories, "Defender of French language and religious rights, Half-breed patriot, Riel, First western Canadian leader, and Prophet and visionary", these four ideological boundaries representing "one of the first meta-historical gestures at elevating Riel histories to a self-conscious awareness of how historians participate in determining the meaning of events".[15] Betts concludes that two constants persist in all interpretations of Louis Riel's insanity, his insanity is morally repugnant and had he been conclusively proven insane, the moral integrity of his life and politics would have suffered.[16] Betts cites Siggins and Stanley to the effect that Riel was not insane. Betts ends his paper's conclusion thus:A harrowing silence intermingled with doubt pervades all those touched by the asylum: regardless of the people they might have been or heroes they might become.[17]
Published in 1975, Brown's articleThe Meaning of Treason in 1885 raises a number of probing questions.Was the charge of treason properly applicable to Riel's crime? Was it legal to lay such a charge against a citizen of the United States? Was the 1352 Statute of Treason's the law in the Northwest Territories at the time of Riel's trial?[18] He concludes that "at law it was a proper charge to lay against Riel", that Riel's U. S. citizenship did not matter since "he was a British subject till his death", and "he was legally chargeable as alien under the doctrine of local allegiance".[18]
In 2021, theRCMP Heritage Centre hosted the 55th anniversary of the production ofJohn Coulter's stage playTrial of Louis Riel, in which production announcement and program archivesGeorge Goulet is cited in issues he raises about Riel's mistreatment at the hands of his own seriously deficient counsel, improper trial-related correspondence between John A. Macdonald and Justice Minister Alexander Campbell, John A. Macdonald's handling and rejection of jury's unanimous recommendation for mercy, and "Macdonald's blatant attempts of manipulation, deception, and mendacity" within the medical commission's reports prior to execution.[19]
Linked to national crises, particularly the Resistances (previously called Rebellions) of 1869 and 1885, Riel is probably the most written about person in Canadian history. As a result, he has been presented and re-presented for different interests: Catholic martyr to Protestant violence, a French patriot crushed by English fanatics, a spiritual leader, a deranged lunatic, the father of a nation, and an Indigenous hero. This introduction reflects on the significance of Riel for Canadian historical research and writing over the hundred years of existence of the Canadian Historical Review (CHR). It argues that the CHR has been an important vehicle for the professionalization of historical practice in Canada, and Riel has played an important part in that process. This introductory essay provides context and a discussion of the shifting approaches and interpretations of Riel in the CHR, identifying four phases: Civilizing and un-Civilizing Riel; Americanizing and un-Americanizing Riel; Mystifying and De-Mystifying Riel; and Provincializing Canada. It concludes that the history of Louis Riel is entwined with the emergence of professional history in Canada.[20]
^Gaudry, Welch & Gallant 2019, The term 'Métis' is defined for this article's purpose as normally being capitalized and as describing "people of the Métis Nation, who trace their origins to the Red River Valley and the prairies beyond."
^Term used by historians such as Arthur J. Ray, which derives from an unbalanced academic focus on Métis communities in the Red River region, as cited inIndigenous Foundations website.
^On p. 56 of Stanley, George F. 1988 "The Last Word on Louis Riel – the Man of Several Faces" pp. 42-60, InLouis Riel : Selected Reading, edited by Hartwell Bowsfield, cited by Kelly L. Saunders on p. 77 of "Métis Political Identity and the Symbolism of Louis Riel" inNieguth 2015, also cited in RCMP Heritage Centre's 2021 production announcement archive of the playTrial of Louis RielArchived 2022-01-14 at theWayback Machine.
^Riel defence counsel's plea:non compos mentis; that is, not guilty by reason of insanity.
Beyer, Peter (1981).The religious beliefs of Louis Riel : an analysis using the sociological theory of Niklas Luhmann. School of Theology. Canadian theses on microfiche 52708. Toronto: University of St. Michael's College.|
Bruyneel, Kevin (2010). "Exiled, Executed, Exalted: Louis Riel, "Homo Sacer" and the Production of Canadian Sovereignty".Canadian Journal of Political Science.43 (3):711–32.doi:10.1017/S0008423910000612.JSTOR40983515.S2CID231894384.
Bumsted, J. M. (1987). "The 'Mahdi' of Western Canada: Louis Riel and His Papers".The Beaver.67 (4):47–54.
Gaudry, Adam; Welch, Mary Agnes; Gallant, David (September 11, 2019) [January 7, 2009]."Métis".The Canadian Encyclopedia.
Giraud, Marcel (1945),Le Métis canadien, son rôle dans l'histoire des prairies de l'Ouest, Paris, Institut d'ethnographie, 1 296 p.. Reprinted in 2 vols., with introduction by J.E. Foster with Louise Zuk, Saint-Boniface, Man.: Éditions du Blé, 1984. Translated by George Woodcock as,The Metis in the Canadian West, Edmonton: University of Alberta Press, 1986 (631pp.; 729 pages
Goulet, George R. D. (1999).The Trial of Louis Riel: Justice and Mercy Denied: A Critical Legal and Political Analysis. Calgary: Tellwell Publishing.ISBN0-9685489-0-3.
Owram, Doug, ed. (1994).Canadian History: Confederation to the present. Canadian History: A Reader's Guide. Vol. 2. University of Toronto Press. pp. 18, 168,191–95,347–50.ISBN9780802076762.
Nieguth, Tim, ed. (2015).The politics of popular culture: negotiating power, identity, and place. Montreal Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press.ISBN978-0-7735-4471-0.
Read, Geoff; Webb, Todd (June 2012). "The Catholic Mahdi of the North West': Louis Riel and the Metis Resistance in Transatlantic and Imperial Context".Canadian Historical Review.93 (2):171–195.doi:10.3138/chr.93.2.171.S2CID159632535.
Thomas, Lewis H. (2016) [1982]."Riel, Louis (1844-85)".Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. 11. University of Toronto / Université Laval. RetrievedFebruary 11, 2022. Notable general bibliography.
