Third Grade
Worksheets
The North-West Rebellion
Changing times can be good for some people. Change can bring wealth and new inventions. Change can also bring hardship to others. As the world changed, the Metis and First Nations were left behind.
After the trouble at Red River, many Metis moved on. They lived by hunting and trapping. They needed large open spaces. However, many new people were moving into Red River. The Metis could not live as they had and stay.
It was getting harder to find open land in Canada's North-West. It was getting harder to find food, too. Most of the bison had been killed by hunters. Bison were the main food for Metis. They were the main food for the First Nations, too. Without bison to eat, they began to starve. The people tried to tell Canada's government they needed help. The men in Ottawa did not hurry to help them.
The leaders of the Metis people needed help. They went to see Louis Riel. He had helped lead the people at Red River. Maybe he would help again. Riel lived in Montana. He had become an American. Even so, he wanted to help his people. Some of the men wanted to fight. One of those was a friend of Riel's, Gabriel Dumont. Some of the First Nations and many English settlers wanted peace. They did not want to be part of a rebellion.
