Saturday, Nov. 16 members of the Mid-Island Métis community, along with members of Ladysmith council and others, braved the wind and rain to commemorate Louis Riel and the continuing strength of the Métis peoples of Canada with the raising of the Métis flag at the town’s city hall.
Nov. 16 is the anniversary of Riel’s execution in 1885. Riel led the Métis people in the Northwest Resistance in 1885, which was a stand against the Canadian government of the day. The Métis said Ottawa was encroaching on Métis rights, culture and way of life. The Métis were defeated in 1885 at the siege of Batoche, in Saskatchewan, and the Canadian government captured Riel. He was eventually put on trial where he was convicted of treason and executed. To this day the Métis people believe that the hanging of Riel was murder. In 1992 the Canadian government acknowledged Riel as the founder of the province of Manitoba by a resolution in the House of Commons.
The Métis are a distinct Indigenous people with a unique culture, language and way of life. The Métis Nation is comprised of descendants of people born of First Nations women and European men. The children of united couples were of mixed ancestry.
“Riel got involved in Métis rights and their struggles against the colonization by the Canadian government,” said Tim Low, vice president of the Mid-Island Métis. “Returning to the Red River area, of Manitoba, from his schooling in Montreal, he led two resistance movements, the Red River Resistance in Manitoba from 1869 to 1870 and the 1885 Northwest Resistance.”
Ladysmith acting mayor, Tricia McKay, greeted the group.
“I’ve been to these events in the past and have been struck by how many people in the community are really unaware of the Métis community and the significance of the event,” McKay said. “That the group here today, and the other communities across the country that are doing the same thing is a truly important moment and recognizing a very significant part of Canadian history.”
McKay went on to thank and congratulate the members for their efforts in keeping the Métis visible and their struggle to keep their culture and language alive.
Nanaimo Ladysmith member of parliament Lisa-Marie Barron was also present at the event and she noted how the Métis peoples, all across Canada, have been endeavouring to not just keep their language alive but also their culture and expand the knowledge of their people to the rest of Canada.
“As the representative of the people of this area I fully understand the need for the federal government to fully understand the rights of the Métis people," Barron said.
After the acknowledgments the group raised the Métis flag, among the others flags in front of Ladysmith city hall. The Métis flag consists of a horizontal figure or infinity symbol and the flag is either blue or red. The Métis flag was originally carried by French people of mixed race with pride and the infinity symbol representing the immortality of the nation, in the centre of a blue field, represents the joining of two cultures. Many of the Métis peoples wear a colourful sash which is viewed as more than just a piece of clothing but as a symbol of pride and tradition. The sashes are woven by hand and each sash is unique and tells the story of the Métis culture.
