Métis Accounts of the Battle of Fish Creek: The North-West Rebellion

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The Battle of Fish Creek , took place on 24 April 1885, at Fish Creek, Saskatchewan in western Canada. This battle was part of the North West Rebellion, an 1885 uprising of Métis and First Nations Cree and Assiniboine people against the Canadian government.

The rebellion had its origins in the grievances of some Métis and First Nations people against Canadian rule. The modern nation of Canada was formed in 1867, when 4 of the provinces of British North America united to form a new dominion within the British Empire. The Canadian government had its own elected parliament and prime minister. The Dominion of Canada was responsible for internal administration and domestic policies, while the British government handled foreign affairs and national defence.

In 1867 most of the vast expanses of western and northern Canada were administered by the Hudson’s Bay Company . The HBC was a British royal charter company that engaged in fur trading and other commercial enterprises. But like the British East India Company in India, the HBC also performed administrative functions within the British Empire. The East India Company administered India before the Indian Mutiny. The HBC loosely administered two vast territories in western and northern Canada known as Prince Rupert’s Land and North-West Territories.

Under HBC rule, the people of these regions- First Nations people and Métis- enjoyed a great deal of autonomy. The Métis were mixed-race descendants of white fur traders and First Nations people. Many of them were French-speaking Catholics because so many Francophone Canadian men had been involved in the fur trade in western Canada.

When HBC lands were turned over to the government of Canada in 1869, some of the Métis in a place called Red River Colony rebelled. Led by Louis Riel, the Métis set up a provisional government. In the end, the Canadians negotiated with the Métis. It was agreed that Red River would be incorporated into Canada as the province of Manitoba.

After the end of the Red River Rebellion, Riel went into exile in the USA. In 1884, a group of his former Métis comrades, now living in Saskatchewan, asked him to return to Canada. These Métis were discontented with Canadian rule and wanted Riel to negotiate with Canada again on their behalf.

Riel returned to Canada, and in 1885 formed a provisional government with its headquarters at the village of Batoche. Fighting quickly broke out between Riel’s provisional government and the Canadian government. The Métis and their First Nations allies won some early victories, but a railroad, built in 1883, allowed the Canadian government to rush hundreds of police and militia over to suppress the revolt.

The Métis won victories at Duck Lake and Fish Creek, but eventually the larger and better supplied Canadian militia, led by the British general Frederick Middleton, decisively defeated the rebels at Batoche. After this victory, Riel and the other Métis leaders were captured. Riel was subsequently executed for treason.

After the victory, the Canadian forces seized the papers belonging to the Provisional Government of Saskatchewan. Among these papers were descriptions of the Battle of Fish Creek, written in French by the Métis fighters who had been present during the battles.