Louis “David” Riel: Hero and Villain? There are few more controversial figures in Canadian history than Louis Riel. This lecture will explore the life of this famous Metis leader who led his people into armed rebellion against the Canadian government, and was hanged amidst tremendous controversy on 16 November 1885. Was Riel a tragic hero who bravely led his people and fought valiantly for their rights? Was he a traitor who acted out of delusional self-interest? You will be given an opportunity to be the judge…. Back to Lecture Outline

Brief Chronology for Lecture Notes

PowerPoint Slides

Readings

L.H. Thomas, “Riel, Louis” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography

Further Sources:

Other relevant biographies in the DCB include:
Gabriel Dumont
Louis Riel (Sr.)
Thomas Scott

George F.G. Stanley’s brief biography of Riel in The Canadian Encyclopedia is also useful.

Famous Trials: Louis Riel Trial, 1885, contains some wonderful primary sources on the trial, including excerpts from the trial.

A basic introduction to Louis Riel and the Northwest Rebellion produced by Mount Allison University, which includes a brief annotated bibliography, can be downloaded in PDF format.

A creative version of the biography is available in Chester Brown, Louis Riel: A Comic-Strip Biography (2003)

Further Reading on Riel, the Metis, and the Rebellions:

Beal, B. and R. Macleod, Prairie Fire: The 1885 North-West Rebellion (1984)

Bowsfield, H., Louis Riel (1969).
Bowsfield, H., ed., Louis Riel. Selected Readings (1988).
Brown, J., Strangers in Blood (1980).
Enns, Gerhard J., Homeland to Hinterland. The Changing Worlds of the Red River Metis in the Nineteenth Century (1996)
Flanagan, T., Louis "David" Riel: Prophet of the New World rev ed. (1996).

Flanagan, T., Louis Riel. Canadian Historical Association Historical Booklet No. 50 (1992).

Flanagan, T., Metis Lands in Manitoba (1991)

Flanagan, T., Riel and the Rebellion: 1885 Reconsidered (1983).
Foster, John E., "The Origins of the Mixed Bloods in the Canadian West" in Essays on Western History, ed., L.H. Thomas, pp. 71-82.
Giraud, M., Le Metis Canadien: son role dans l'histoire des provinces de l'Ouest (1945). An English translation by George Woodcock appeared in 1986 under the title The Metis in the Canadian West, 2 volumes.
Hildebrant, W. The Battle of Batoche: British Small Warfare and the Entrenched Metis (1985).

Howard, J.K., Strange Empire, (1952).
Lussier, A.S. & D.B. Sealey, ed., The Other Natives: The Metis, volume 1 (1978).
Madill, D.F.K., "Riel, Red River and Beyond: New Developments in Metis History", in New Directions in American Indian History (1988), ed., Colin G. Calloway, pp. 49-78.
Miller, J.R., "From Riel to the Metis," Canadian Historical Review 69 (1988): 1-20.
Morton, Desmond. "Image of Riel in 1998." Canadian Speeches 12, no. 1 (1998): 18-22.

Morton, Desmond. The Last War Drum (1972).

Morton, W.L., "Agriculture in the Red River Colony," Canadian Historical Review 30 (1949): 315-321.
Morton, W.L., Manitoba: A History (1967).
Morton, W.L., ed., Alexander Begg's Red River Journal (1956).
Owram, D. "The Myth of Louis Riel." Canadian Historical Review 63, no. 3 (1982): 315-36.

Pannekoek, F., A Snug Little Flock. The Social Origins of the Riel Resistance, 1869-70 (1991)
Pritchett, J.P., The Red River Valley, 1811-1849.

Purich, D. The Metis (1988).

Ross, A., Red River Settlement (1956).

Sprague, D.M. and R.P. Frye, The Genealogy of the First Metis Nation: The Development and Dispersal of the Red River Settlement, 1820-1900 (1983).
Stanley, G.F.G., The Birth of Western Canada (1936).

Stanley, G.F.G., The Collected Writings of Louis Riel, 5 vols. (1985).

Stanley, G.F.G., Louis Riel (1963).
Stanley, G.F.G. Louis Riel: Patriot or Rebel?. Canadian Historical Association Historical Booklet No. 2 (1961).

Swainson, Donald. "Rieliana and the Structure of Canadian History," Journal of Popular Culture14 (1980), 286-97.

Back to Lecture Outline