The Manitoba Act received royal assent on May 12, 1870, ending a period of conflict in the Red River Settlement and formally creating the Province of Manitoba. However, the form of negotiations and the terms and obligations set out under the Act are the subject of a claim brought against the federal government by the Manitoba Métis Federation.
In the ruling on March 8, 2013 that ended the thirty-year claim, the Supreme Court of Canada determined that the federal government failed in its obligations to the Métis people under the Manitoba Act.
Philippe Mailhot, historian and director of the Saint Boniface Museum, provides a historical perspective of the claim and the Supreme Court’s ruling.
You might also like...
The original diary was thought to have been destroyed by fire, and thankfully it wasn’t. Without it, Father Ritchot’s central role in the negotiations of Métis rights to land and language would have been lost forever.
In this podcast, Philippe Mailhot explains how understandings of the Red River Resistance are changing.
Neither European nor First Nations, but a distinctive blend of both, the Métis were beset on all sides. With the HBC and the government in London ignoring their claims, some Métis considered another alliance—with the Americans.
A distinctive people, a distinctive language. Is it any wonder the Métis also built distinctive homes?
The rediscovery of a historic Canadian artifact has prompted the release of a CBC documentary.
Visit St. Boniface, the heart of Métis history and culture in Winnipeg.
Was it a bang-up job or a bungle? A fresh look at the response to the 1885 North-West Rebellion.