Louis Riel, justice, and Métis self-identification : literary politics for survival in the evolution of Canadian nationhood

Abstract

This thesis explores Metis identity in the context of the ambiguous nature of the Canadian national identity, and in particular, how the Louis Riel ‘Rebellions’ of 1869-70 and 1885, continue to resonate in contemporary Metis literature. While it is the case that the Metis have self-identified within their own communities since the seventeenth century, it is also the case that the legal definition and recognition of the Metis were not realized until 1982. Indeed, the fine points of law in the Canadian Constitution are still in dispute, not least because the Metis were not included in the initial signing of treaties with the Dominion of Canada. For the purposes of this thesis, it is first necessary to engage in a thorough examination of historical accounts of the resistance of the Metis against expansionist encroachment of the Dominion of Canada in the Northwest in order to trace the source and evolution of contemporary Metis literature. I consider the ways in which the literary texts of Metis authors confront racial and cultural prejudice that are the direct result of Constitutional law, charters of rights, legislation in the judicial system, and the eleven Confederation numbered treaties, drafted before, during and after the Riel Resistances. The introductory and first chapters include contemporary Metis historical and legal academic analyses of the ‘Rebellions’ and an exploration of how the Government of Canada’s response in 1885 to the Metis uprising continues to inform its legal positions concerning Metis land rights and self-identification, while striving to maintain an international reputation as politically, and ethically, just. In the following chapters, this thesis analyses the literary texts of Maria Campbell, Beatrice Culleton Mosionier, and Gregory Scofield, all of who write of the complexities of defining Metis self-identification and maintaining sovereignty in light of the effects on their generations of Euro-Canadian historical accounts of the Riel ‘Rebellions’.