1. All settlers to retire immediately from this river, and no appearance of a colony to remain.    

2. Peace and amity to subsist between all parties, traders, Indians, and freemen, in future, throughout these two rivers, and on no account any person to be molested in his lawful pursuits.    

3. The honorable Hudson's Bay Company will, as customary, enter this river with, if they think proper, three to four of their former trading boats, and with four to five men per boat as usual.     

4. Whatever former disturbance has taken place between both parties, that is to say, the honorable Hudson's Bay Company and the Half-breeds of the Indian territory, to be totally forgot and not to be recalled by either party.    

5. Every person retiring peaceable from this river immediately, shall not be molested in their passage out.    

Oh, people do you wish to listen     
To a song that tells a true story?     
How on June 19 a band of brave Bois Brulé     
Advanced like brave warriors towards the English?     
When we met two of our men yelled a warning:     
"There are the English who wish to attack us."     
We stopped immediately and like honourable men     
Sent a messenger saying:     
"Englishmen stop for a moment we want to talk to you!"     
The English leader, like a madman, ordered his soldiers to fire.     
The first shot came from English pistols -- they missed the messenger.     
We shot the English captain first, then killed nearly all his army,     
Only four or five escaped.     
Do you know who wrote this song?     

To ALEXANDER CHRIS TIE, Esq.,     
Governor of Red River Settlement. 

During the period of the Hudson's Bay Company rule of Rupert's Land, Metis merchants and traders clashed with the Company and its trading monopoly. In 1845 Metis traders challenged the right of the Company to impose restrictions on them and demanded a definition of their special status as Natives of the Red River settlement.     

Red River Settlement, August 29th, 1845.    

Sir, Having at this moment a very strong belief that we, as natives of this country, and as half-breeds, having the right to hunt furs in the Hudson's Bay Company's territories whenever we think proper, and again sell those furs to the highest bidder; likewise having a doubt that natives of this country can be prevented from trading and trafficking with one another; we would wish to have your opinion on the subject, least we should commit ourselves by doing anything in opposition, either to the laws of England, or the honorable company's privileges, and, therefore, lay before you, as Governor of Red River Settlement, a few queries, which we beg you will answer in course.    

1. Has a half-breed, a settler, the right to hunt furs in this country?    

2. Has a native of this country (not an Indian) a right to hunt furs?    

3. If a half-breed has the right to hunt furs, can he hire other half-breeds for the purpose of hunting furs?    

4. Can a half-breed sell his furs to any person he pleases?    

5. Is a half-breed obliged to sell his furs to the Hudson's Bay Company at whatever the price the company may think proper to give him?    

6. Can a half-breed receive any furs as a present from an Indian, a relative of his?    

7. Can a half-breed hire any of his Indian relatives to hunt furs for him?    

8. Can a half-breed trade furs from another half-breed, in or out of the settlement?    

9. Can a half-breed trade furs from an Indian in or out of the settlement?    

10. With regard to trading, or hunting furs, have the half-breeds, or natives of European origin, any rights or privileges over other Europeans?    

11. A settler having purchased land from Lord Selkirk, or even from the Hudson's Bay Company, without any conditions attached to them, or without having signed and bond, deed, or instrument whatever whereby he might have willed away his right to trade furs, can he be prevented from trading furs in the settlement with settlers, or even out of the settlement?    

12. Are the limits of the settlement defined by the municipal law, Selkirk grant, or Indian sale?    

13. If a person cannot trade furs, either in or out of the settlement, can he purchase them for his own and family use, and in what quantity?     

14. Having never seen any official statements, nor known, but by report, that the Hudson's Bay Company has peculiar privileges over British subjects, natives, and half-breeds, resident in the settlement, we would wish to know what those privileges are, and the penalties attached to the infringement of the same?    

1. THAT the Territories heretofore known as Rupert's Land and North- West, shall not enter into the Confederation of the Dominion of Canada,   except as a Province; to be styled and known as the Province of Assiniboia, and with all the rights and privileges common to the different Provinces of the Dominion.    

11. THAT we have two Representatives in the Senate, and four in the House of Commons of Canada, until such time as an increase of population entitle the Province to a greater Representation.     

111. THAT the Province of Assiniboia shall not be held liable at any time for any portion of the Public debt of the Dominion contracted before the date the said Province shall have entered the Confederation, unless the said Province shall have first received from the Dominion the full amount for which the said Province is to be held liable.    

IV. THAT the sum of Eighty Thousand (80,000) dollars be paid annually by the Dominion Government to the local Legislature of this Province.     

V. THAT all properties, rights and privileges engaged by the people of this Province, up to the date of our entering into the Confederation, be respected; and that the arrangement and confirmation of all customs, usages and privileges be left exclusively to the local Legislature.    

Vl. THAT during the term of five years, the Province of Assiniboia shall not be subjected to any direct taxation, except such as may be imposed by the local Legislature, for municipal or local purposes.    

Vll. THAT a sum of money equal to eighty cents per head of the population of this Province, be paid annually by the Canadian Government to the local Legislature of the said Province; until such time as the said population shall have reached six hundred thousand.    

Vlll. THAT the local Legislature shall have the right to determine the qualification of members to represent this Province in the Parliament of Canada and in the local Legislature.    

IX. THAT in this Province, with the exception of uncivilized and unsettled Indians, every male native citizen who has attained the age of twenty-one years, and every foreigner being a British subject, who has attained the same age and has resided three years in the Province, and is a householder; and ever foreigner, other than a British subject, who has resided here during the same period, being a householder and having taken the oath of allegiance, shall be entitled to vote at the election of members for the local Legislature and for the Canadian Parliament. It being understood  that this article be subject to amendment exclusively by the local Legislature.    

X. THAT the bargain of the Hudson's Bay Company with respect to the transfer of the Government of this country to the Dominion of Canada, be annulled; so far as it interferes with the rights of the people of Assiniboia, and so far as it would affect our future relations with Canada.    

Xl. THAT the local Legislature of the Province of Assiniboia shall have full control over all the public lands of the Province, and the right to annul all acts or arrangements, made, or entered into, with reference to the public lands of Rupert's Land, and the North West now called the Province of Assiniboia.    

Xll. THAT the Government of Canada appoint a Commission of Engineers to explore the various districts of the Province of Assiniboia, and to lay before the local Legislature a report of the mineral wealth of the Province, within five years from the date of our entering into Confederation.    

XIII. THAT treaties be concluded between Canada and the different Indian tribes of the Province of Assiniboia, by and with the advice and cooperation of the local Legislature of this Province.    

XIV. THAT an uninterrupted steam communication from Lake Superior to Fort Garry be guaranteed, to be completed within the space of five years.    

XV. THAT all public buildings, bridges, roads and other public works, be at the cost of the Dominion Treasury.    

XVI. THAT the English and French languages be common in the Legislature and in the Courts, and that all public documents, as well as all acts of  the Legislature be published in both languages.    

XVII. THAT whereas the French and English speaking people of Assiniboia are so equally divided as to number, yet so united in their interests and so connected by commerce, family connections and other political and social relations, that it has, happily, been found impossible to bring them into hostile collision, - although repeated attempts have been made by designing strangers, for reasons known to themselves, to bring about so ruinous and disastrous an event; - and whereas after all the troubles and apparent dissentions of the past, - the result of misunderstanding among themselves; they have - as soon as the evil agencies referred to above were removed, - become as united and friendly as ever; - therefore, as a means to strengthen this union and friendly feeling among all classes, we deem it expedient and advisable, - That the Lieutenant-Governor, who may be appointed for the Province of Assiniboia, should be familiar with both the French and English languages.    

XVIII. THAT the Judge of the Supreme Court speak the English and French Languages.    

XIX. THAT all debts contracted by the Provisional Government of the Territory of the North-West, now called Assiniboia, in consequence of the  illegal and inconsiderate measures adopted by Canadian officials to bring about a civil war in our midst, be paid out of the Dominion Treasury; and  that none of the members of the Provisional Government, or any of those acting under them, be in any way held liable or responsible with regard to  the movement, or any of the actions which led to the present negotiations.     

3. Manitoba Act, 1870, 33 Victoria, c.3 (Canada)     

A substantial portion of the List of Rights presented by Louis Riel's Provisional Government to the Canadian Government in 1870 was accepted  and legislated into effect by this Act.    

Section I provides for the entry of Manitoba into Confederation as a Province;    

1. On, from and after the day upon which the Queen, by and with the advice and consent of Her Majesty's Most Honorable Privy Council, under the authority of the 146th Section of the British North America Act, 1867. shall. by Order in Council in that behalf; admit Rupert's Land and the  North-Western Territory into the Union or Dominion of Canada. there shall he formed out of the same a Province, which shall be one of the Provinces of the Dominion of Canada, and which shall be called the Province of Manitoba, . . .    

Sections 3 & 4 provide for the representation of Manitoba in the Senate by two Members and in the House of Commons by four Members;    

3. The said Province shall be represented in the Senate of Canada by two Members, until it shall have, according to decennial census, a population of fifty thousand souls, and from thenceforth it shall be represented therein by three Members, until it shall have, according to decennial census, a population of seventy-five thousand souls, and from thenceforth it shall be represented therein by four Members.    

4. The said Province shall be represented, in the first instance, in the House of Commons of Canada, by four Members, and for that purpose shall be divided by proclamation of the Governor General, into four Electoral Districts, each of which shall be represented by one Member: Provided that on the completion of the census in the year 1881, and of each decennial census afterwards, the representation of the said Province shall be re-adjusted according to the provisions of the fifty-first section of the British North America Act, 1867.     

Section 23 guarantees English and French language rights in the Province;    

23. Either the English or the French language may be used by any person in the debates of the houses of the Legislature, and both those languages shall be used in the respective Records and Journals of those houses; and either of those languages may be used by any person, or in any Pleading or Process, in or issuing from any Court of Canada established under the British North America Act, 1867, or in or from all or any of the Courts of the Province. The Acts of the Legislature shall be printed and published in both those languages.    

Section 31 provides for the allotment of one million four hundred thousand acres to halfbreed or Metis residents of the Province. This grant was given to the Metis in return for the loss of provincial control over public lands and resources. The Metis had requested many times that Manitoba be placed on equal footing with all the other provinces in this regard.    

4. An Act respecting the appropriation of certain Dominion Lands in Manitoba (1874), 37 Victoria, c.20, Preamble and section 1.     

After realizing that a strict interpretation of section 31 of the Manitoba Act excluded halfbreed heads of families from participating in the land grant, this legislation was passed in order to correct the problem.    

Whereas by the thirty-first section of the Act thirty-third Victoria, chapter three, it was enacted as expedient towards the extinguishment of the Indian title to the lands in the Province of Manitoba to appropriate one     
million four hundred thousand acres of such lands for the benefit of the     children of the half-breed heads of families residing in the Province at the  time of the transfer thereof to Canada;    

And whereas no provision has been made for extinguishing the Indian title to such lands as respects the said halfbreed heads of families residing in the Province at the period named; And whereas it is expedient to make such provision, and it is deemed advisable to effect the same by grants of land or by an issue of scrip redeemable in Dominion Lands;    

Therefore Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:-    

5. Dominion Lands Act, 1879, 42 Victoria, c.31, section 125(e)     

This Act extended the recognition of Metis land rights to the Metis residents of what is now Alberta, Saskatchewan, Northern Manitoba and the North-West Territories.    

125. The following powers are hereby delegated to the Governor in Council:-    

The history of our country shows that we have given service and sacrificed much in the upbuilding of the West. We have suffered as a result, but we do not forget that we are a responsible race and are prepared to play our part in the upbuilding of this country, Canada.     

The mere fact of scrip issuance, the word of the government of the Dominion of Canada, on paper, to redeem the said transferable note, did not guarantee justice. Today we are all too familiar with the story, lack of education, inexperience of the ways and lives of the white speculators, investors in syndicates formed for the wholesale acquisition of scrip notes. The age old story of exploitation. So today we find many of our Metis people reduced to pitiable circumstances.    

Our hope lies in voluntary organization. Our provisional branches comprise a larger number of men, who with their families and friends can do much to improve our condition by giving their support to the Metis movement. For through co-operation and solidarity we shall find the right  road for the solution of our problems.    

Felice Callihoo:    

Our first objective and the one in which we have our deepest interest the one which more than anything else called our movement into being, is to see that adequate provision is made for homeless and destitute families, so for those who find it difficult to get along and support families and homes, to see that proper provision is made for the education of our children, also provision of a better system of medical attention.    

No day passes but what we are not asked to help in these matters. Every day brings new pleas for help to overcome present hardships and to see that our children are given equitable and fair chances. In my experience I know the experiences of all of you and when we consider that the total of these necessities are, we are amazed that after so many years in the North West, we are compelled, by necessity to ask for justice and the fulfillment of promises so freely given, when our land was opened to settlement.     

Our aim is to see that no one he permitted to suffer, because of maladministration of the Metis question. The word "maladministration" brings forcibly to my mind one of the great difficulties. Many of our Metis people are suffering in circumstances which authorities refuse to admit arise from mishandling of the Metis problems.     

Malcolm Norris:    

The Native Council of Canada takes this position: that the federal government has the responsibility to recognize all the native people as having a special claim on the Government of Canada. The Metis and Indian people outside of the Indian Act number about l,000,000 persons whose native ancestry, self-identity, cultural and social values and lifestyle clearly differentiate us from the non-native dominant society.    

The Metis Halfbreed and Indian groups whom we represent have the   common experience that successive federal and provincial governments   have failed them miserably. No province or territory has either the will or the resources to deal effectively with our group. Attempts to meet our     
needs through federal/provincial cost sharing schemes have failed because they have not recognized either the firmly entrenched sense of Metis nationalism on the one hand or the deeply felt sense of Indianness of the "non-recognized" native people on the other hand.     

It is beyond the capacity of an one provincial or territorial authority to resolve these obstacles which typify the native condition everywhere in this country. The need for the federal government to accept the validity of the claims of the Metis and Indians outside the Indian Act for special federal recognition is therefore not only a question of will or resources, it is a question of "equity."   

The present strength of the Metis and Indian people represented by the Native Council of Canada lies in our ability to define ourselves historically and culturally and in our attempts to improve our position in modern Canadian society. Our belief that we have a special claim on the Government of Canada is based both on our national needs and on our Aboriginal rights.    

For the Metis, the formation of a Provisional Government in 1869 to negotiate the Metis Nation's entry into Confederation was the climax in the growth of a national awareness stemming from the unique lifestyles, culture and economic roles adopted by the Metis in their opening of the Canadian West. The Manitoba Act of l870 appeared to signify the federal government's willingness to extend political, cultural and economic guarantees to the Metis people. Failing to fulfill these promises, the federal government policy of the time and ever since has contributed to the exclusion of the Metis just as enfranchisement has to the exclusion of Indians.     

The Native Council of Canada is thus an alliance of Metis with those identifying themselves as Indians who either cannot come, or do no wish to come, under the Indian Act. Research reveals that legislation regarding the enfranchisement of Indians has for the last century aimed, one way or another, to systematically reduce or eliminate the Indian population through assimilation. Enfranchisement, both arbitrary and voluntary, has produced a large "non-status" population but has not eliminated the Indian. Instead new and more formidable problems have beset Native people outside the Indian Act who continue to identify closely with their Indian heritage and lifestyle.     

Divorced from treaty, reserve and other institutions by which government identifies Indianness, the Indians outside the Indian Act constitute a diverse group whose common denominators are our exclusion on a national scale from the larger society; the persistence of our special national problems; and our Aboriginal identity. These constitute a special claim on the federal government which alone possesses the jurisdictional powers under the British North America Act to tackle our problems.     

The Native Council of Canada (NCC) is the national organization of the close to one million Metis and non-status Indian people in Canada. Founded in 1971, the Native Council is a federation of the provincial and territorial associations of Metis and non-status Indians. Its board of directors consists of the executive of the NCC and the president and vice-president of each affiliated organization.