North-West Rebellion

The North-West Rebellion (or the North-West Resistance, Saskatchewan Rebellion, Northwest Uprising, or Second Riel Rebellion) of 1885 was a brief and unsuccessful uprising by the Métis people under Louis Riel, and an associated uprising by First Nations Cree and Assiniboine, of the District of Saskatchewan against the government of Canada. During a time of great social change in Western Canada, the Métis believed that the Canadians had failed to address the protection of their rights, their land and their survival as a distinct people. Despite some notable early victories at Duck Lake, Fish Creek and Cut Knife, the rebellion ended when the Métis were defeated at the siege of Batoche, Saskatchewan, which led to the eventual scattering of their allied Aboriginal forces and the trial and hanging of Louis Riel and eight First Nations leaders. Tensions between French Canada and English Canada increased for some time. Due to the role that the Canadian Pacific Railway played in transporting troops, political support for it increased and Parliament authorized funds to complete the country's first transcontinental railway.