Sara Riel
[2] Born in 1848 in the Red River settlement to parents Jean-Louis Riel and Julie Lagimodière, she was raised in a religious household.
Given that her brother was leading the rebellion against the government, in 1869 the congregation feared for her safety and she was moved several times within a few years.
[5] Even though she took no active part in the rebellion, she provided support to her brother and acted on behalf of the Métis to local Catholic Churches.
[7] Sara Riel was born on October 11, 1848, in Red River, a small community settled via the fur trade and later expanded by the colonization of Lord Selkirk.
Red River eventually became inhabited primarily by retired fur traders and their families, this demographic shift in the settlement produced a generation of mixed European-indigenous children (Métis) who maintained a unique culture.
[1] Her parents chose the marriage to Jean-Louis Riel for the purposes of financial and social security for their daughter.
The Riel family were respected members of Red River, and the children lived a more privileged life which was tied to the Catholic Church.
The Grey Nuns believed that orderliness and cleanliness of Métis were a representation of the schooling provided by the Church, therefore they encouraged the young girls to perfect their skills in household chores.
[4] After the death of her father in 1864, Louis became the head of the family and therefore responsible for his mother and younger siblings including Sara Riel.
a kind heart, keen intelligence, and inexhaustible charity distinguished this new missionary, her departure is a sacrifice for her family and the entire population, but at the same time it is an honour and a blessing for us”.
[12] The Hudson Bay Company sold Rupert's Land to the Canadian Government without thinking about the people who occupied it or had claims over it.
[12] Louis Riel and the other Métis believed that the creation of the Canadian state was not only a political issue but also a religious and cultural one.
I must also mend and was the community linen-- a job that occupies me continuously without fatigues”[5] With all the stress and chaos that the rebellion brought at home, Sister Riel still wrote actively to her brother.
It was God’s will that you should be overthrown, it overthrew in order to better your success”[16] In another letter she sent she described the heartache felt by the Métis following his departure.
She wrote: '' Louis let us bury our sorrows in the wounds of his (God) sacred heart...to love and pray, these are the arms with which we must fight to vanquish the conqueror''.
[18] Following the resistance, the people of Red River elected Louis Riel to a seat in Parliament in 1873 but he was a wanted man in Canada.
[13] The Canadian Government wanted him for the murder of Scott, which prevented him from taking his seat and delayed his return to Red River.
[20] On April 27, 1885, the day after the Green Lake Post was looted during the North-West Rebellion, the Grey Nuns of Île-à-la-Crosse were terrified that Louis Riel, who had accused them of letting his younger sister die in misery would seek revenge.
They fled the village along with most of the personnel and dependents of the Hudson's Bay Company Post and the Roman Catholic Mission.
The large group camped on a small wooded island north of Patuanak until the crisis was over and returned to Île-à-la-Crosse on May 29, 1885.
Sara Riel is seen as an important figure in the history of the Métis woman, of Red River and in the Catholic Missionary.
She was an active writer, which left a larger paper trail allowing historians and scholars an insight into her life, family and the people at the time of the resistance.
[23] Although in the 1970s Sara was looked at in a more negative way, she was declared a pale representation of her brother[4] her letters left important information in Canadian history, allowing an alternate view into many aspects of life of the 1800s.
