The Northwest Resistance
The Northwest Resistance (also referred to as the Northwest Rebellion, the
Saskatchewan Rebellion, and the second Riel Rebellion) of 1885 was a notable, brief,
and unsuccessful attempt by the dissatisfied peoples of the Northwest Territories to
establish their own nation independent of the Dominion of Canada. An armed uprising,
the resistance occurred along the North Saskatchewan River, and was the result of Métis,
First Nations and white settlers’ discontent over land and other rights not accorded
them by the government.
After the Red River Resistance of 1869-1870, many of the Métis moved from Manitoba to present-day Saskatchewan, where
they founded the settlement of Batoche on the South Saskatchewan River. However, here they found
themselves once again facing the arrival of settlers from Ontario. The government’s reaction was
minimal, and in 1884 the Métis requested that Louis Riel return from the United States — where
he had fled in self-imposed exile after the Red River Resistance — and appeal to the government
on their behalf.
In 1885, a group of men including Louis Riel and Gabriel Dumont, set up a provisional
government and mobilized their armed forces, believing that they could influence the federal
government as they had done in 1869. However, now they had the North West Mounted Police to
contend with and a railway line running across Canada. The Canadian Pacific Railway played
a key role in stopping the Resistance by transporting government troops to the area in a
fraction of the time that it had taken to send troops in response to Riel's previous uprising.
Riel lacked support from both the English settlers of the area and many of the non-Métis Aboriginals;
and because of his belief that God had sent him back to Canada as a prophet, the Catholic Church no
longer supported him either. The government’s reaction was astonishingly swift, and in less than a
month’s time, almost three thousand troops had been transported west. Gabriel Dumont fled to the
United States, while Riel stood trial and was hanged for treason on November 16, 1885, in Regina.
Many of the other participants in the Resistance, many of them First Nations, were also found
guilty of treason and sentenced to prison terms or hanged.
The Battle of Duck Lake signaled the beginning
of the Northwest Resistance. A few First Nations were among Louis Riel and Gabriel Dumont’s group of
Métis who clashed with the NWMP, led by Superintendent Crozier. After only half an hour the NWMP were
forced to retreat. Key Métis events in the Northwest Resistance also included the successful Métis
victories at the Battle of Fish Creek,
as well as their defeat at the Battle of Batoche.
For further information about Métis life in the Northwest, see “The Métis in Alberta”
at www.albertasource.ca/metis/index.htm.)
The Northwest Resistance was significant, for it was the only time in Canadian history during
which there was open armed conflict between the First Nations and the Canadian government. The
following section explores the involvement of Treaty 6 First Nations in the Northwest Resistance,
including the fates of Big Bear and
Poundmaker, the
1884 Thirst and Hunger Dances,
the Sacking of Fort Battleford,
the Frog Lake Massacre,
the Siege of Fort Pitt,
the Battle of Cut Knife Hill,
the Battle of Frenchman's Butte,
the Battle of Loon Lake, and the
Executions of some of the participants in the Northwest Resistance.
Feature Article: "Indian Fall: Prelude to Resistance"
In this excerpt from D’Arcy Jenish’s Indian Fall: The Last Great Days of the Plains Cree and the
Blackfoot Confederacy by Viking Publishers, the author writes of the continued passivity of the
Canadian government in the years leading up to the Northwest Resistance as the First Nations tension
escalated to breaking point. READ MORE…
Feature Link: "Rebellion on the Red"
In this segment of Canada: A People's History from the archives of CBC television, learn more
about the Red River Resistance which preceded the Northwest Resistance. This clip dramatizes the
Métis uprising that came about as the long-time inhabitants of the Red River settlement struggled
to preserve their culture, their language and their land in the difficult years of 1869-70.
Feature Link: Duck Lake Regional Interpretive Centre
The Duck Lake Regional Interpretive Centre interprets the Willow Cree First Nation, Métis and Pioneer
cultures from 1870-1905. Within the gallery you will learn about the People, Religion, Education, Law
and Upheaval, Economics and Commerce. The Town of Duck Lake also boasts 12 murals about the cultural
heritage of the region, including the Northwest Resistance and Treaty 6. The Duck Lake Regional
Interpretive Centre is located on:
Highway #11(The Louis Riel Trail) between Prince Albert and Saskatoon
PO Box 328 Duck Lake SK S0K 1J0
Phone: (306) 467-2057
Sources:
www.canadianencyclopedia.ca
http://en.wikipedia.org