Louis Riel and the Manitoba Act-1870
Louis Riel was a brilliant Metis leader
extraordinaire
He listed Metis rights for the Manitoba
Act with care
His provisional government projected
strength and solidarity
Province, local government and land
titles took on clarity.
In 1870, the Manitoba Act was given
Royal Assent
Queen Victoria was interested in this
special event.
Victory; Metis guaranteed land titles
for River Lots.
1,400,000 acres of land for generations
now got!
Metis victory “on hold” as
land grants in arrears-
White settlers poured into the province
adding fear…
Victory short lived as British military
arrived,
The Manitoba Act a Canadian Statute;
was it contrived?
Truth eventually surfaces, giving
clarity to all-
Skillful presentation obscured the
facts not known to all
Provincial status made Manitoba
one-hundred miles square
-The vast territory to be administered
for profit by Ottawa.
Frustration, mistrust, negotiations
gone with a stroke,
The once proud, powerful Nation of
Metis now broke.
Living in wilderness, buffalo in
deplete, hard to stay alive
Only one choice remains, we must fight
to survive…
Sources:
Alberta Online Encyclopedia
L’Encyclopedie de l’histoire
du Quebec/ The Quebec History Encyclopedia: Manitoba Act
The Salon Law Archive: Manitoba Act
1870
Written By Carol Howard Vulliamy- Metis
Elder- 2010