Cmaéiana
LOUIS RIEL and the People of Sa^atdíieSv^
By Bmi Swttnkey
RtEL UNITES THE PEOPU
Q^CKl«T jiizing: 19 th(yaltuaticm. Kiél realixed that the main tfikft conírantinir him weré to unitfr all séettons of th» pppulation ar«und ft eosttmon platform aítd to áertAop majimum actlón -alown below ~ amoiHP tiie people thenuKlMsl
To Uüy'end a/^rge me^tínit^M on July Űth at tfté JBogliah-•peak&ij^ MtfleméAt of Red D«er ÜUl, Rlél. Ackaon and otiter» add-résáed the gathcrinc. A piait of aktion wa» dráwn'up oalUng for local méetints In each diotriot, thé elecUon of delégates to a céntraí body, and the drawing, up of Uáta of local irrie^cea later to he em1)odied intő one generál petiűon,
Soon after, Riel waa ii\vited (hy'a petition jtígned by repres^ta-tive dtizena) to q>eak at Priiica Albertj ir íáigfely Bngliate spealdng town with a p<^mlation of somé 700; llie Ug meeting líeld on Jüly 19th was a complefe aucceu; áU were greatly impl^saed by Riel.
Jsckson foúowed up this success on July 28th. by addressin||i a manifeato to tbc people of Prince Albert, in wliich he'^d in l«irt:;;.
**We glve the^ (completc Hst of oor grievaneea but lostea^ 9$ aaldnlr the redreaa of eaoh of them aeparately, aak tha remedy tb the root of the eril, Ia. Provinciai Le^^alatares vvltti toll control over cfur own reeourcea aad Internál admlnlatimtten, and pbwer to send a jnst ümi-ber of répreaentatives to tlie Federal Lcglalatare."
.Riel establlahed contact with the varioua Indián tribeá, ~ meeting with somé of their leaders, and inehided thdr demanda in the lista of grievances being drawn up. Re also set about the organization of a Metis soclety, formally establiihing it on September 24th as "L'Union Metisse de Saint Joseph".
The meetings continued with Riel and Jackson spealclng at many of them and with delegates being elected to the Central Committee of the Settlers'. Union, The main centrea of poiitical activity were Prince Albert and St Laurent. although action and organization were.canried on in practlcally every settled area of the Weat, from Qu'Appelle in aouthem Saaitatchewan-; to St Albert, near Edmonton.
On December 16th, 1884, .Jackson forwarded a petition to Ottawa containing the grievances and demanda of the peoples of the North-Weat. These included: better treatment of the Indians, acrtp and land titles for the Metls, vote by aiecret ballot. roeponslble govemment and representation In the Dominion Paiilament and caMnet». provinciai control of natural reaoarces. a raliwmy to hodsotp's Bay, reductlOD In tariffi. It also included- crltfcian of the go\«rwnent for tbe way It handled the amnesty queetlon altér.tbe Red RIver events of 1869—-lO.
On February 24th, 1885, Riel propösed to a public meetíng at Batochc that. hia taak of uniting the population and drawlng up'a Bili df Rigbts now completed. he would retum to the U.S. But the Metis were unanimous in their pleaa that he 8tay,_ which he agreed to da
On the following day. February 25th, at a large meeüng at Collea-ton school house, a platforih waa adopted that contained the demands mentioned in the December 16th petition including opposition to tim-ber dues and the obnoxiotts land regiilation.
It mlght be added bere that Riel also had & personal indemnity claim of $100,000 against the Canadian govemment arising out of ■ its treatment of him during and after the eatablishment of Manitoba ms a provlnce. Ue offer«d to aettle for |35,000 and characterlstically enough, even though he Uved In poTerty and collecUons had to be taken for,hlm to live on and a hoosé aupplied rent free, he proposcd to tise the money to buy a printing press and iMue a ncwspaper ao that the pcople's movement mlght have a prínted volce.
It ahöuld be further added that more than once the government tried to bribe RieU offering hím among other thlngs a aeat on the l^orth-West Oouncil (a favorité method of Macdonald'b of bribing Metis Iádéra) but these offera were aU angrily tumed down by Riel.
The Prince Albert Tímea until Riel'a retum had supported the re-íoroi movement, representlng the viewpoint of the local, riaing, and ambitlous business tnterests. On llarch 21at, 1884. it wamed the govemment that:
mw stfok« of tbe axe vdilcii deprtved Ktag Charlea I of hU bead, ended tbe tbeoiy of the Dlvine Rlgbt of Kinga tn our fathers' laad, aad tb« attempt to tax witboat a Parllament, (and) It Is not Uke(y we wUt long sulaait to taxatlon wltbout repmteotatloii.'*
On May lOth it called the govemment a "greedy. grasping. over-bearing bully who has, however. totally mlsjudged the fighting powcr of the subjcct it has chosen to_ opprcss".
Control of it ^.-as now sccured by the Ottawa Tory máchine. and the paper became an open Toiy ahcel viciously attacking the reforméin ajs "cranka "and rebels**. The Saskatchewan Herald at Battleford took a aimilar position. I^ittle wonder that Jackson tn hia manlfesto to the people of Prince Albert charg^d that the local press was **in •Ihe hands of a few fovemmmtal favorites who insi^re its editoriaW, and that:
What 18 the Histofic Role of the Ady and Hamiltoii Yoüth Grottps?
Hy István SiSice
CATURDAY ernung, Wíay 28th the Tbronto Kossuth Branch. of the I.MLB.p.^ heM a ^ Unquet «t tbo Hnncariáá HaH in honour cí tho ADY YOUTH flONÍS: ANQ DANCÉ FOLK ENSEMBLÉ which gamed fama tiná admiratMii with ila Soathm CNitario Od-tárai TW. It .waf at diia.occásiopi that Ao hiticafic rölo and polilicat éignificiUíco of tha Toronto Ady To«ithGmp« tho HaniltoÉ KcÁMoth Yetitlk^ GroB^> Mid.fho other youth gmp«..that.niM he organixed in tha neai- Intwrowari hróúght into Öió o^oh mol'O.éon. crotelyvthaa over. before;
yvtítá tbe proipresaiye Hunffar-
jan-Canadian moTeaíknit'was.^Uia makiag. zeanr ^go,/#fr~ád^té wa» not mácÁ: bidér than thoae; whosa paal^ yesr; of .]«márka1^e áctiviüeá^ w oh May
izStáí We bavér aíwly tumed g»y aincer thén, .weakeúedr l^yidca$|r^ and ioot aomé' of our revp apirlh That so few'- pewons werí isterested enough In the áaecusoi tb& A4y ToiÁh: Ör^p to ccm« -to thé banquet wbíchr ptdk tribute tó their. hard:wórk and endurance iá á plty. It'lMroyed that we áre not fvúly awaxeí of the acbtevemente of the yoüth,' that i» py them we cwe tlüúika for the ÚÍM^^ oithuaiasm, actiyiQr and new epl* rti in bur móvemént during the past year,.that it is they who wül cany fortJi the . wbrk ' wé have sacrificed the better part of our life for.
Building our movement among the Hnngarians in Canáda tpok on á significance of historical impor-tance. While we were contributing to the building of Canada — which the aoldiiéra of Kossuth's 1848 People's Army began 90 years ago here In Eastem Canada and the Kaposvár and other Hungárián ploneers out West 70.years ago — we played ain active role in de-veloplng and streugthening thfe peoples* and workera' movements. But as we were aging in the struggles, we did not succeed in the taak df continually tralning the next generation who waa to take OUT places. However, we did have periodical youth movements, every 5 or 6 years there seemed to flare up one. but we cannot
apeak óf a steadily grdwíng ánd .űev^opixif, toatinual reserve ÓX CQoaclouB youth. We have failed in. rlíáaiiiing an4 prguüaáng a. youth íeaerve for the bujlding of v better. future for Ifungarian-Canad^ iaxwi and Ouia^ans in generál.
^.Thia.' does not mean, bowéver, :tteit We'ara to underestiihate the at^evementv of oür youth, tenv* poraj?- though they> may be. Bá-i aides^ the fact that we too were youth at the birth.of our ■movement, there were timea — early jthlrües, laté thirtíéa and- mid^or-ties — whon we had strong, active youth groups. ;Remember the To^ rönto A<^, the Hamilton Pet<)fi, tie Windsor József Attfla,' the Cfiatham, tobacCo-district, - Bfant-foird, WeUand, St..Cáthírines, Niagara Falls, ' Montreal,. Calgaiy, East. Couíee and oUiér . youth groups^? Let US not fosget the dig-ging df the Ady Cianal in Picker-ing. the building of the Hamilton Kossuth Park, the impressive 1848-1948 Centenial GelebraÜon and the 300 youth who made it án unforgetable experience!
For the purpose of finding the best solution, it ía neicessary tö analyse why, in the long mn, we were not able to tacfcle tíie diffi« culties that stood ih the way- of CQnsolidating our youth rcserVes. What were thé difficulties we were not able to conquer? What could have we conquered? What can we now, must and will conquer?*^
And now, when we are con-fronted with the tasks of saving mankind and creating a new. era we realize our shorticomlngs and deficiencies more clearly than ever before, her« again Ic a new Ady Youth Oroop, whó in the past, but cspecially In the past year not oíjly brought so much happiness and pride to the hearts of parents
with its herdlcí work, is not on^y inatigatíng tha adult»- oX; our movement wltli new hope aná .qpárit, l;|ut^fia áfiio aé.tiyi3dLDg> ^^^B^ C^Miaditttí jyo^
and Buc^eaáékshté^ aa:
weU iuí 'tó^;b^ Wide ]^x^r(«S8i^^ nMU»íE|fl i^^^^^ tb <and' thrbughb^Í;^.8c^tlKi^ tario, >the Ady- -TóűthtóOí^ ia caatini^r a ^ewxllghj;: öri "Huii^ ga^ian -nam^j^oh-rttiff^g^ name bf the'lám^^^
their 'pi»>gi^^ JnbV'Molerit and on iprbgrea^Ve Him£^«m '«últi^ . Tbjí gr^p:'Tii ián. te Ih our' progpreísaive,^ but tbday atag-nat^'a^'d: rbBtín'S'<m pld íaurela, lethafgic bi^ra;^izatibn^ üid ao-
0ár life/..
The l}olding ctf tliis: bancrQet in their hccLour p^vés that, w!e' do realize* thé ti^^úúcajxc^^ achieveméiits- ijf jhii^^ Yoüth Grbup aiKl"we íwDÍ íend^assistance tb their herolc work with a^^^ our hearts. The mpte^ active membera of.^e Kossuth Branch are not only familiar with. theír perfor-mances through' the Munkás and thróugh other progressive: news-papers, they are not-only aware of the heayy íinancial sacrifices of the bran(?h, parents and the youth themselves: and df the fa-tigue that goes-iiito the pioneer work of thia group, ; but there is not one of us^ whó besides all this, has not seen their ^performances several timea and who has not shed tears of happiness for their success. However; that the full realization of their importance did not result in. a jam-packed bcm-qüet . of uni>aralled enthusiasm and success, proves, that.the app-reciation and evahiatioti la only moraentary and reveals Itself more In the hearts and cyes'- rather than in the intellect and in poiitical understanding. That Is why. it is important to deaí- with ütía question more. fully.
(To be continued)
Great Peace Gatíiering in Niagara Falls Ttós Sundáy!
•It la. aocordlngly. circuUitlng wild reporta about. impending re-belUon and Bullán trowblea, aeeklng a pr«text for piacing the countvy under martlal tew and 00 goad the pe<9l« tnto a falae atep."
The attackS' by the local press did reveal. howevtur, the feár ol •ntrenchcd prtvilege of U» rlalng movement of tlwí people.
ram AJDíZ. TOÜTO SONO and DAI^CE FCH* ENSEMBUB win atoo nefform m ih^^i vU^ Gatfc.
^^'i^t^í^L^Il^J^L^ f^l^-lVlr flrat perfomMmce ^ tiio hSdINO ATBC8EB Toetk DMm. tbeCMfcfa^, Da«» tiroop «f Braacb I2 and ladtvtditml mmimtL
mnl^mJ^vl^ I^^^^T^^^ «V íbe Adty Ya«tfc 8oi^r nmé mMc »««iMo
Wtttmta at WeOni doriag Ita 8o«tbeni Oataria Cultutml Tma tm k^eMu^, |fW.