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Red River Rebellion
The 1869–70 uprising in the Red River Colony (also known as the Red River Resistance) was sparked by the transfer of the vast territory of Rupert's Land to the new nation of Canada. The colony of farmers and hunters, many of them Métis, occupied a corner of Rupert's Land and feared for their culture and land rights under Canadian control.
Due to the Government causing this, it was hard for any officials to come in and control the rebellion.
(Source: The Canadian Encyclopedia) -
Manitoba Act Legislation
The Manitoba Act, or simply the Act, is an act of the Parliament of Canada that is defined by the Constitution Act, 1982 as forming a part of the Constitution of Canada. The Manitoba Act received royal assent on May 12, 1870. This Act formed Manitoba, but it was much smaller than it is today, about the area centered around Winnipeg. (Sources: Wikipedia, Canadian Encyclopedia)
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Failure of the Manitoba Act
Many of the Manitoba Act promised benefits were short-lived. Ottawa moved 1,500 troops into the province, and white settlers began to arrive in large numbers. Protestant Ontarians regarded Manitoba as a ‘half-breed’ province, and this spiteful attitude was reflected in future actions.
The Métis were not able to acquire their land rights until proper surveying of the land was performed. This took up to three years to complete. (Source: The Canadian Encyclopedia) -
Dominions Land Act of 1872
The federal government also passed a number of laws affecting how the Métis land distribution was to take place. An example is the Dominion Lands Act of 1872 which favoured the occupation of land by newly arrived (non-Métis) settlers. Little as 15 per cent of the original 1.4 million acres promised under the Act were ever distributed to Métis. The government might not have intended this to happen, but nevertheless, it did. The Métis would not appreciate this. -
The Aftermath of the Manitoba Act
Although the bilingual merits of the Manitoba Act would be extended to the remainder of the North-West Territories in 1875, most of these bilingual and bicultural provisions would be abolished between 1890 and 1905, creating a unilingual West. Ultimately, many Metis found themselves migrating further westward in order to pursue and maintain their traditional lifestyle. Many settled in the area of Batoche, in what is today Saskatchewan. The government most likely did not intend to cause this.