North-West Rebellion

North-West Rebellion Rébellion du Nord-Ouest (French)
Part of the American Indian Wars
Top: Battle of Batoche Bottom: Battle of Cut Knife
Date March 26 – June 3, 1885 (2 months, 1 week and 1 day) Location Present-day Saskatchewan and Alberta Result Federal government victory Collapse of the Provisional Government of Saskatchewan Completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway Trial and execution of Louis Riel
Belligerents
Canada	Provisional Government of Saskatchewan (Métis) Cree–Assiniboine
Commanders and leaders
John A. Macdonald Leif Crozier Frederick Middleton John Wimburn Laurie William Dillon Otter Thomas Bland Strange Sam Steele Francis Dickens James J. Bremner	Louis Riel  Gabriel Dumont Honoré Jackson  Big Bear  Fine Day  Wandering Spirit  Poundmaker  White Cap
Strength
5,000 volunteers and militia[1] 500 NWMP[1][2]	280 Métis[3] 250 Cree–Assiniboine
Casualties and losses
38 dead[4] 141 wounded[4] 11 civilians killed[5]	33 Métis dead[4][6] 48 Métis wounded[4][6] 10–17 Cree dead 78–103 Cree wounded 1 Nez Perce death (at Cut Knife Hill) Total (military): 43–50 dead 126–151 wounded

The North-West Rebellion (French: Rébellion du Nord-Ouest), also known as the North-West Resistance, was an armed resistance movement by the Métis under Louis Riel and an associated uprising by Cree and Assiniboine of the District of Saskatchewan, North-West Territories, against the Canadian government. Many Métis felt that Canada was not protecting their rights, their land, and their survival as a distinct people. Fighting broke out in late March, and the conflict ended in June. About 91 people were killed in the fighting that occurred that spring before the conflict ended with the capture of Batoche in May 1885.

Louis Riel, the hero of a 1870 uprising at Winnipeg, had been invited to lead the movement of protest; he turned it into a military action with a heavily religious tone. That alienated Catholic clergy, Euro-Canadian settlers who had previously supported the protest against government policies, many Indigenous persons in the western Prairies, and even some Métis. Riel had the allegiance of about 250 armed Métis, 250 Indigenous fighters and at least one white man (Honoré Jackson). But his small force was up against 900 Canadian Militia (the nascent Canadian army), armed NWMP officers and armed local residents - 5500 government troops in all.^{[7][8]: 3–4 [9]}

Despite some notable early victories at Duck Lake, Fish Creek, and Cut Knife, the conflict was quashed when overwhelming government forces and a critical shortage of supplies brought about the Métis' defeat in the four-day Battle of Batoche. The remaining Aboriginal allies scattered. Several chiefs were captured, and some served prison time. Eight men were hanged in Canada's largest mass hanging, for murders performed outside the military conflict.

Riel was captured, put on trial, and convicted of treason. Despite many pleas across Canada for clemency, he was hanged. Riel became a heroic martyr to Francophone Canada. That was one cause for the rise of ethnic tensions into a deep division, whose repercussions continue to be felt. The suppression of the conflict contributed to the present reality of the Prairie Provinces being controlled by English speakers, who allowed only a very limited francophone presence, and helped cause the alienation of French Canadians, who were embittered by the repression of their countrymen.^[10][11][12] The key role that the Canadian Pacific Railway played in transporting troops caused support by the Conservative government to increase, and Parliament authorized funds to complete the country's first transcontinental railway.