The Many Worlds of Louis Riel: a Political Odyssey From
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
The Many Worlds of Louis Riel: A Political Odyssey from Red River to Montreal and back 1840-1875 M. Max Hamon August 2017 A thesis submitted to McGill University in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of History and Classical Studies Faculty of Arts McGill University Montreal, Quebec © Max Hamon, 2017 ii Abstract This dissertation is the product of fruitful new archival research into the life of Louis Riel, one of the best-known figures in Canadian history. His leadership of an armed Resistance in Red River in 1869, and his involvement in the violent events of 1885, which ultimately led to his execution, changed the course and definition of the Canadian state. New documents and new approaches to previously identified records overturn earlier interpretations of his life. This intellectual biography tracks Riel’s life across several “worlds,” Indigenous and non-Indigenous, that Riel occupied over the course of his life and considers his formative years through four key themes: family, education, political culture, and networking. The tensions and pressures between these worlds allowed Riel to develop the cultural expertise necessary to challenge Canadian state hegemony. The choice to end the biography in 1875, rather than with his death in 1885, affords an opportunity to present new arguments about the impact of his life. Using the cultural capital, social networks, and an intellectual “toolkit” he acquired over the course of his early years, Riel proposed a Confederation that would defend and represent the interests of the Métis. Résumé Le résultat d’une recherche archivistique fructueuse, cette thèse propose une nouvelle interprétation de la vie de Louis Riel, chef métis et figure incontournable de l’histoire canadienne. À la tête de la résistance des métis de la rivière Rouge en 1869 et de la confrontation violente qui a mené à son exécution à la Saskatchewan en 1885, Riel a changé le parcours et la définition de l’État canadien. À la suite d’un dépouillement de sources inusitées, et l’élaboration de nouvelles démarches historiques, nous proposons un nouveau regard sur sa vie et son œuvre. Cette biographie intellectuelle explore les espaces sociaux – soit autochtone et non autochtone – que Riel a su occuper lors de sa vie. Elle considère également ses années formatrices par le biais de quatre grands thèmes : la famille, l’éducation, la culture politique et le réseautage. En reconnaissant les tensions et les conflits entre ces « espaces », Riel a mis à l’épreuve l’hégémonie de l’État canadien. En terminant cette thèse en 1875 plutôt qu’avec sa mort en 1885, nous abordons de nouvelles problématiques concernant son influence et l’impact de ses actions. Son capital culturel, son réseau social, et les outils intellectuels qu’il a acquis lors de son cheminement personnel, a permis à Riel de proposer une vision de la Confédération canadienne qui reflète les intérêts du peuple métis. i Table of Contents Abstract/Résumé iii Table of Contents v Acknowledgements vii List of Abbreviations ix Introduction 1 Chapter 1 The Riel Lagimodière Family 31 Chapter 2 Riel at School: Sulpician Governance, Sulpician Capital 111 Chapter 3 The Transformation of the Red River Public Sphere 187 Chapter 4 The Amnesty Campaign: A network approach to Confederation 261 Conclusion 341 Appendix Plaidoyer sur l’influence des sciences et arts sur la société 351 Bibliography 367 iii Acknowledgements This thesis would not have been possible without the support, attention, humor, and faith of many good people. Foremost, I would like to thank my advisory committee. Throughout the planning and writing process Elizabeth Elbourne and Elsbeth Heaman have been wonderful supervisors. I wish to thank both of them for their belief in this project, their enthusiasm, and their time. My thanks also to Karl Hele and Allan Greer for carefully reading every page and for their insightful critiques and suggestions. Thanks to my Comprehensive Exam Fields Committee, Elizabeth Elbourne, Elsbeth Heaman and Jon Soske for starting this whole process. I would also like to thank the McGill History department for being such a stimulating community to work with and should particularly mention Jason Opal and Mitali Das for their help at the last minute. The research for this paper could not have been completed without the helpful attention and advice of numerous archivists. My particular thanks to David Émond and Marc Lacasse at the Sulpician Archives in Montreal; to Nora Hague, Celine Widmer, and Cynthia Cooper at the McCord Museum Archives; and to Michel Dahan at the Archives for the Archdiocese of Montreal. My thanks to the archivists at the BANQ in Quebec, Peter Gagné, and Sylvie Bedard for their efforts to track down obscure documents and objects. Thanks also to Chris Kotecki at the Provincial Archives in Manitoba for taking the time to introduce me to the collection; and to Gilles Lesage at the Saint Boniface Historical Association for help on site and through the electronic database. Thanks to Sophie Tellier and Gilles Betrand at the National Archives in Ottawa. And thanks to Jim Davis at the North Dakota State Historical Society, and to Tamara Splonskowski of the Fargo Parish Chancery for accommodating my requests. While writing I received the generous support of the Max Stern Foundation, the Media@McGill Institute, and the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada. I am also grateful for having received generous financial aid from the funds of Joseph Schull Lang, McCall-McBane, and other funds through the McGill History Department and Graduate Studies. This financial support made it possible for me to concentrate on and enjoy the research and writing involved in this dissertation. It has been a pleasure to work with the academic community around McGill. I benefitted from lectures and conversations with the members of the Montreal History Group, and from the opportunity to present my work. Sherry Olson’s advice and encouragement has been a constant source of inspiration. Thank-you to Brian Young for inviting me to the book launch at the Grand Seminary and always having the time to talk. I am also grateful to the Institute for the Public Life of Arts and Ideas at McGill, and to the History Department at the University of Manitoba where I presented my work. Without the encouragement from Suzanne Morton, I would not have published my first article, thank-you for that. Many thanks also to the members of the research project of “Unrest, Violence and the Search for Social Order” for including me in their discussions and particularly Elizabeth Manke for her careful consideration of my paper and to Emily Pigeon for insightful comments and explaining Zotero. Thanks to Ed McDonald for suggesting the idea of a paper at the Canadian Catholic Historical Association. My thanks also to the History Department at the University of Prince Edward Island where I presented some of my early ideas. I must especially thank Lisa Chilton and James Moran for their encouragement to start this project. The friends that I have made are too numerous to mention here and I beg v forgiveness for those that I omit. Thank-you to the writing group: Andrew Dial, Sonja Roy, Catherine Ulmer, Colin Gilmour, Veronika Helfert, and Raminder Sani, for laughs, good advice and comradery. Carolynn McNally read every page and painstakingly advised me on the French every step of the way, thank-you. Thanks to other readers, Colin Grittner, Matt Wyman- McCarthy, Martin McCallum, Anna Keenan and Daniel Simeone. Finally, thank-you to my family. My parents have always supported my work with a bemused humor and interest that has been edifying in its own way. I was so happy you could watch your grandchildren in the final stretch of my dissertation, thank-you for that gift. Thank-you to Robert, Anna and Oscar for your time and support also. Thank-you to my daughter, Emma, and to my sons, David and Felix, for their tolerance and patience and for reminding me of the importance of play. To my wife, and life partner, Engie, thank-you is not enough. The times you helped are innumerable and the ways you helped are beyond description. Not only did you read the entire dissertation, and offer helpful comments, your tolerance and wisdom has been a great gift. This has taken too long and you have shared in the worries and labors of this thesis as much as I have; I am so lucky. I dedicate this work to you. Szeretlek! Thank-you to everyone! vi List of Abbreviations APSSM – Archives des Prêtres de Saint-Sulpice de Montréal BANQ – Bibliothéque et Archives Nationale de Quebec CWLR – Collected Works of Louis Riel. Edited by George Stanley et al. 5 volumes. Edmonton: University of Alberta, 1985. DCB – Dictionary of Canadian Biography LAC – Library and Archives Canada MMA – McCord Museum Archives PAM – Provincial Archives of Manitoba SHSB – Société Historique de Saint Boniface vii viii Introduction Louis David Riel born at St. Boniface Oct 23, 1844,1 in the morning of a beautiful day, and went to confession at seven years old, according to the good advice of the Catholic Church. The Rev. Father [Raymond] was my first confessor, and after my confession gave me a lot of maple sugar, which pleased me greatly.2 Louis Riel made these autobiographical notes in 1885. Written largely in the third person, they hint at his own sense of the forces that animated his life; this was an era of converging worlds. While the buffalo hunt was declining, increasing numbers of Indigenous peoples, as well as Canadian and American settlers, were taking up permanent homes along the Red River. First and foremost, what follows is a story of colonization.