Louis Riel / Hero Or Villain?

There was a period of rapid change in western Canada in the 1870s and 1880s: buffalo herds were exterminated, treaties were signed with the Indians, the Canadian Pacific Railway was built and a wave of immigrants flooded the prairies. Indian and Metis people found it hard to give up their freedom and settle into a lifestyle dependent on agriculture when they had been accustomed to a semi-nomadic lifestyle. The Canadian government seemed unresponsive to the …

…leader of a people and the founder of a province. November 16, 1885 at around 8:30 AM. Louis was led to the gallows – the trap door snapped open – and Riel was dead. In my opinion, he fought for what he believed in, just as you and I would fight for our rights and liberty. It has been that way for centuries and will continue to be so. Today his name is a symbol of native independence. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ **Bibliography**