Louis Riel’s execution by Canada on November 16, 1885, cast a long shadow over Métis communities throughout the Métis Homeland, including Métis communities in the Upper Great Lakes and northern Ontario.
Since the Red River Resistance of 1869/70, southern Ontario had been an epicentre for anti-Métis racism. Like Prime Minister John A. Macdonald’s federal government, the Ontario provincial government—led by Premier Edward Blake—was dominated by English-speaking Protestants that viewed the predominately French-speaking and Catholic Métis as obstacles rather than partners in Canada’s nation-building process and expansion westward.
Following the execution of anti-Métis Orangeman, Thomas Scott, by Louis Riel’s government, Premier Blake and his Ontario legislature issued a $5,000 bounty for Louis Riel’s capture, under the charge of murder.
An issue of the Winnipeg-based Le Métis from March 2, 1872, originally printed in French, highlights the Ontario government’s deep anti-Métis sentiments surrounding the event and willingness to overlook the profound violence imposed upon the Métis by Canadian expansionists through Canada’s Reign of Terror:
“And the infamous murder of [Métis] Elzéar Goulet, later committed in broad daylight, a few steps from Fort Garry, by the soldiers of Wolseley, the restorer of the regular government: why don't Mr. Blake and the Globe mention it? Ontario offers $5000 reward for arresting Scott's executioners; why not offer as much for the arrest of the murderers of Parisien and Elzéar Goulet?”
Ontario settlers’ deep systemic racism left enduring scars on Métis families and communities for generations. The overt hostility within the province, symbolized by Ontario’s $5,000 bounty on Riel, pressured many Métis families across the Homeland to “go underground”, concealing their traditions and way of life for generations.
As recognized by the Supreme Court of Canada in the landmark R. v. Powley decision:
“The [Sault Ste. Marie Métis] community’s lack of visibility was explained and does not negate the existence of the contemporary community. There was never a lapse; the Métis community went underground, so to speak, but it continued.”
Like Métis communities further westward, this enforced invisibility—of language, pride, and public recognition—left Métis communities in the Upper Great Lakes and northern Ontario to endure the pain of being the “forgotten people” for generations.
Yet, Métis resilience and pride have persisted. The survival of Métis culture, upheld through hidden practices and quiet resistance, has given way to a public resurgence of community pride, standing as a testament to Métis communities’ strength and perseverance.
Raising the Métis flag on November 16, at places like Ontario’s Legislature, not only honours Louis Riel’s legacy and confronts the deep discrimination of the past, but also serves to further reclaim the Métis Nation’s proud and rightful place within Canadian society.