Manitoba and Canada's North-West: FOUNDERS AND BUILDERS SPRING/SUMMER 2021 ROBERT WARDHAUGH FRANK J. TOUGH NATHALIE KERMOAL GERALD FRIESEN JAMES MOCHORUK DAVID CHARTRAND NICOLE ST-ONGE PHILIPPE MAILHOT BARRY FERGUSON KARINE DUHAMEL JEAN TEILLET SARAH CARTER William George Richardson Hind, Red River Cart, 1862. Image Courtesy of Library and Archives Canada. TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 44 MÉTIS LANDS IN WESTERN CANADA: 3 LAMENT TO MANITOBA AN UNRESOLVED ISSUE Nathalie Kermoal Robert Wardhaugh 49 OF MÉTIS WOMEN AND HUNTING BRIGADES: IMPERIAL MACHINATIONS REIMAGINING RED RIVER HISTORIES 9 CANADA OBTAINS AN EMPIRE Nicole St-Onge James Mochoruk FOUNDERS, BUILDERS AND TRAILBLAZERS 16 THE FORMATION OF MANITOBA IN 1870 Barry Ferguson 56 LOUIS RIEL AND CANADA: A NEW RELATIONSHIP, 150 YEARS IN THE MAKING 24 “A GREAT INHERITANCE AND A GREAT Jean Teillet PROPERTY”: THE HUDSON’S BAY COMPANY, ENGLISH FINANCE CAPITAL 61 THE POLITICAL THOUGHT OF LOUIS RIEL AND THE FERTILE BELT AND JOHN NORQUAY Frank J. Tough Gerald Friesen MÉTIS PERSPECTIVES AND HISTORIES RECLAIMED 66 IN HIS OWN WORDS: ABBÉ NOËL RITCHOT AND THE CAUSES OF THE RED RIVER RESISTANCE 33 THE MÉTIS PEOPLE: Philippe Mailhot AN INCONVENIENT NATION David Chartrand 74 GLIMPSES OF THE LIFE OF CATHERINE MOIGNON PATENAUDE SIMPSON 1832-1906 38 TREATY 1 IN CONTEXT: Sarah Carter UNDERSTANDING SPIRIT AND INTENT Karine Duhamel CANADIAN ISSUES IS PUBLISHED BY ASSOCIATION FOR CANADIAN STUDIES BOARD OF DIRECTORS Canadian Issues is a biannual publication of the Association Elected November 23, 2019 for Canadian Studies (ACS). Opinions expressed in articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the DR. JULIE PERRONE Chairperson of the Board of Directors, Director, Communications opinion of the ACS. The Association for Canadian Studies is and Marketing, Finance Montréal, Montreal, Quebec a voluntary non-profit organization. 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STUDIO CRÉATIF Managing Editor LAURA COMBOÏGO Design and Layout Translators INTRODUCTION A LAMENT TO MANITOBA ROBERT WARDHAUGH Robert Wardhaugh is Professor of History at Western University. He is an expert in Canadian regional (the Prairie West) and political (late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century) history. Professor Wardhaugh is author of Mackenzie King and the Prairie West (2000), Behind the Scenes: The Life and Work of William Clifford Clark (2010), and The Rowell-Sirois Commission and the Remaking of Canadian Federalism (2021) with Barry Ferguson. He is editor of three collections on the Prairie West, including Manitoba Premiers of the 19th and 20th Centuries (along with Barry Ferguson). Professor Wardhaugh is also co-author of the widely-used university textbooks on Canadian history, Origins and Destinies (with Alan MacEachern). Over the past few decades, Canadians have heard In 2020 Manitoba turned 150 years old. To be more much about historical anniversaries. We have been precise, the political creation of the province of told that as a country it is important to commemor- Manitoba occurred a century and a half ago. While ate and celebrate our past achievements. Without debate continues over whether Confederation these historic milestones, our sense of nationhood should be celebrated or whether statues of Canada’s will weaken and fragment. From the War of 1812 first prime minister, John A. Macdonald, should be to the First World War of 1914-18, there have been removed, there should be less debate over whether no shortage of nationalistic, self-congratulatory Manitoba’s entry into Confederation as the fifth commemorations. However, being aware of our province in 1870 is a cause of celebration. To be histories is not the same as celebrating them. blunt, it isn’t. The articles presented here by a selec- This point became only too apparent during the tion of Manitoba’s academic story-tellers make that attempts to celebrate Canada’s 150th anniversary fact abundantly clear. of Confederation and its birth as a nation in 1867. For those old enough to remember the Centennial In 1957, Manitoba’s most eminent historian, W.L. of 1967, and the surge of English-Canadian nation- Morton, wrote a provincial history that still holds alism at the time, the celebrations of 2017 seemed up to this day. Morton was raised in the small town a pale comparison. Perhaps Canadians are indeed of Gladstone, Manitoba and his interpretation of beginning to grapple with the lessons our histories the province’s history was predicated on Red River have to teach us. as a dual society that struck a balance between 3 A LAMENT TO MANITOBA – ROBERT WARDHAUGH French-Catholic Métis and British-Protestant set- the British purchase and transfer of Rupert’s Land tlers. The Manitoba Act of 1870 that created the from Hudson’s Bay Company control to Canada, province was portrayed as the successful embodi- what Gerry Friesen dubbed “the largest real estate ment of this dual character. For Morton, the struggle deal in Canadian history.” The arrival of settler for Manitoba was a microcosm of the struggle for colonialism (the process and structure of dispos- Canada. While the flood of Ontario settlers following sessing indigenous peoples of their land base and the 1870 accord threatened this duality, the west- replacing them with invasive settlers who assert ern immigration boom of 1896 to 1911 brought a their own narratives of belonging) led rapidly to diversity of peoples. In Morton’s mind, Manitoba the signing of the Numbered Treaties to extinguish was a British-Canadian province but immigration aboriginal title to the lands of the Prairie West. The patterns ensured a culturally-pluralistic society. treaty process led to broken promises and relocation, There was much to celebrate. In the second edition famine and disease, segregation onto reserves, and of Manitoba: A History, published in 1967 to com- the residential school system. memorate Canada’s centennial, Morton lamented the decline of rural life and the weakening of the British connection, but maintained a dualistic The treaty process led to broken interpretation. “ promises and relocation, famine and disease, segregation onto reserves, How times change and historical interpretations along with them. Many Canadians today want and the residential school system.” something to celebrate when they think about their histories. While they generally understand that we should not “white wash” our past and omit more The Métis were successful in the Red River Resist- negative and darker chapters, they also reject the ance. At least this is how it appeared for a brief idea that history is more bad than good. Unfortu- instant in 1870. Led by Louis Riel, the dominant nately, it is often the case, whether it fits into our group in Red River successfully negotiated the desired construction of the past or not. And while Manitoba Act that brought the Settlement into political polarization only exacerbates and obscures Canada as a province. The Act promised protections the issues, the truth is that while some may celebrate for the French language and schools, and a land Manitoba as the province it eventually became, grant for the Métis. Like the Treaties, however, there was little if anything to celebrate after 1870. these promises were broken almost as quickly as they were made. Manitoba’s “Father of Confed- A quick glance at the various actors involved in eration,” Louis Riel, was chased from the prov- Manitoba’s entry into Confederation makes this ince and into exile by the raping and murdering point obvious. Were there any winners in 1870? Wolseley Expedition recently arrived from Canada The Indigenous nations surrounding Red River, to “restore” law and order. As Ontarians moved in, such as the Anishinabe and Swampy Cree, were many Métis abandoned their Red River homeland completely ignored in the negotiations that led to and moved further into the Northwest, where they 4 A LAMENT TO MANITOBA – ROBERT WARDHAUGH would find themselves in an even more devastating Manitoba,