Wikipedia:Today's featured article/May 13, 2005

Louis Riel was a Canadian politician and leader of the Métis people of western Canada. He led two resistance movements against the Canadian government that sought to preserve Métis rights and culture as their homelands came under the Canadian sphere of influence. During the first, the Red River Rebellion, the provisional government established by Riel ultimately negotiated the terms under which the modern province of Manitoba entered the Canadian Confederation. He was forced into exile as a result of the controversial execution of Thomas Scott, but in 1884 he returned to what is now the province of Saskatchewan to participate in the North-West Rebellion of 1885. It ended in his arrest, trial and eventual execution for treason. Riel was viewed sympathetically in francophone regions of Canada, and his execution has had a lasting influence on relations between the province of Quebec and English-speaking Canada. Whether he is seen as a de facto Father of Confederation or as a traitor, he remains one of the most complex, controversial and ultimately tragic figures in the history of Canada.

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