[1] Still this article's challenge is to discover Riel as a human being and to "appreciate the pathos and tragedy" of his life and of Métis history, not to "create, debunk, or venerate" an icon.
[1] Dissatisfaction with Morice's book on the part of the Métis comité historique of the Union Nationale Métisse led to Auguste-Henri Trémaudan being commissioned to write Histoire de la nation métisse dans l'Ouest canadien published in 1936, which provided a more favorable account of the two resistances and which portrayed Riel as 'a nationalist and a leader of a small group of people oppressed by English Canada'.
[5] However, these mid-century efforts by Stanley, Giraud and other historians had little impact and it was not until after World War II that Riel was progressively transformed into a national hero.
Morton's Manitoba: A History portrays the Red River Colony as "a microcosm of the struggle for Canada" with "a balance between French-Catholic Métis and British-Protestant settlers".
[9] Published in 2003, Albert Braz's study The False Traitor was a landmark in investigating dimensions of Riel's life that served to "create an "other" against which Canadian can define themselves".
[18] In 2021, the RCMP Heritage Centre hosted the 55th anniversary of the production of John Coulter's stage play Trial of Louis Riel, in which production announcement and program archives George Goulet is cited in issues he raises about Riel's mistreatment at the hands of his own seriously deficient counsel, improper trial-related correspondence between John A. Macdonald and Justice Minister Alexander Campbell, John A. Macdonald's handling and rejection of jury's unanimous recommendation for mercy, and "Macdonald's blatant attempts of manipulation, deception, and mendacity" within the medical commission's reports prior to execution.
As a result, he has been presented and re-presented for different interests: Catholic martyr to Protestant violence, a French patriot crushed by English fanatics, a spiritual leader, a deranged lunatic, the father of a nation, and an Indigenous hero.