An Act Respecting Louis Riel

Many efforts have been made to clear Louis Riel of his charge of treason in 1885. One of the first bills introduced to the House of Commons pertaining to the exoneration of Louis Riel was the Private Members Bill C-417 in the 36th parliament called, “An Act Respecting Louis Riel” Read more…

Red River Carts

Many Métis people were hired by the Hudson’s Bay Company as freighters, tripmen or buffalo hunters. They manned the York boats that took supplies to and from the Hudson Bay as well as other locations serviced by the HBC. Gradually, due to increased rail lines in their territory, the HBC Read more…

La Barriere

On the 19th of October, 1869, a meeting was held at the St. Norbert parish that elected the Comité national des Métis with Louis Riel as the secretary. On October 20th, 1869, the Métis learned that Govenor McDougall from Canada was heading to them with arms and men. The Métis Read more…

Grey Nuns

The grey nuns were started by Marie-Marguerite d’Youville, a young widow, who founded the Sisters of Charity of Montreal. Mother d’Youville opened a house for the poor in Montreal and later took over the administration of the Hopital Général of Montréal. The general population of Montreal resented the change of Read more…

Asile Ritchot

Les Soeurs de Misericorde (Sisters of Mercy), who arrived in Winnipeg in 1898, built a small hospital and a home for single mothers and infants. This hospital later became the Misericordia Hospital. In 1904, with assistance from Father Noël-Joseph Ritchot, the sisters founded an orphanage in St. Norbert and called Read more…

Jean-Baptiste Tourond

Jean-Baptiste Tourond was born in St. Boniface in 1838. He married a Métis woman, Angelique Delorme, daughter of Joseph Delorme. They lived and farmed in St. Norbert on lot 42 and had 10 children, two of whom died before their first birthday. On August 20, 1869, a survey party headed Read more…

Father Noël-Joseph Ritchot

Father Noël-Joseph Ritchot was ordained as a Roman Catholic priest at Collège de L’Assomption on the 22nd of December, 1855. In 1861, Ritchot volunteered to serve under Bishop Alexandre-Antonin Taché of the diocese of St Boniface and in early June, 1862, he was sent to the Red River Settlement in Read more…

Trappist Monastery

Father Ritchot had long hoped to establish a monastery on a secluded piece of parish land along the La Salle River. In 1891, Ritchot’s hopes were realized. He and Archbishop Taché of St. Boniface persuaded the Abbot of Bellefontaine, France, to establish a home for Trappist monks in St. Norbert. Read more…

McDougall House

The McDougall family was among many Metis who relocated from the St. Boniface-St. Vital area to Lorette and other areas in Tache during the troubled years of 1868-70. Daniel McDougall, 27, found property to his liking south of the Sein River in 1869, staked his claim , and began ploughing Read more…

The First People

The region near the mouth of the La Salle river has been home to people since at least 6000 BCE. Hunters would travel from the forest to the grassland to hunt buffalo. The meeting of the La Salle and Red River was likely a meeting place for trade and social Read more…