Gabriel Dumont, the Last of Great Métis Leaders

par Combet, Denis

NorthAmerica's Métis nation was born out of the meeting of the First Nations and Europeansettlers between the 17^th and the 18^th centuries. GabrielDumont, along with his friend Louis Riel, are emblematic figures for thisunique people group. He took up arms to fight for their rights at the battle ofBatoche in 1885. He also spoke for them in New England and in Quebec, where, in1888, he sought to present the French Canadian Métis as the civilisers of thePrairies. Even today, hisleadership skills, his loyalty, his ability to make decisions and hisexceptional determination are an inspiration to the many Métis community organisationsin Canada and the United-States. Gabriel Dumont's actions have helped give theMétis people their rightful place at the heart of French cultural heritage ofNorth America.

Article disponible en français : Gabriel Dumont, le dernier des Métis

Sommaire

Gabriel Dumont, Emblematic Figure of the Saskatchewan Métis
The Dumont Clan: from Quebec to Alberta (1790-1880)
On the Warpath: the North-West Rebellion of 1885
Gabriel Dumont, or The Defender of Métis Rights 1886-1892
Gabriel Dumont:The Last of the Métis (1888-1906)
NOTES

DOCUMENTS COMPLÉMENTAIRES

GabrielDumont, Emblematic Figure of the Saskatchewan Métis

On September 23^rd 2006, at the Collège Universitaire deSaint-Boniface, a conference was held to commemorate the centennial of thedeath of one of the Métis' important historical figures: Gabriel Dumont(1838-1906). The bilingual conference not only brought together researchers fromCanada and the United-States and Europe-many of them Métis-but it alsodemonstrated the growing interest in this French Canadian Métis, great buffalohunter, trapper, guide, interpreter, fur trader, businessman, performer, andextraordinary activist ^{(NOTE 1)}. Although this leader of the Métis forces that fought againstCanadian troops during the North-West Rebellion in 1885 remains in the shadowof Louis Riel, he is nonetheless considered as a symbol of the Métis cause-particularlyin Saskatchewan and in Western Canada. The Gabriel Dumont Institute(Saskatchewan), created in 1980, is a community organisation that aims topreserve the Métis' unique culture and to support the various Métis communitygroups and their initiatives in the fields of education, the arts and socialservices. The existence of such an institute testifies of the importanceGabriel Dumont has for this people group ^{(NOTE 2)}.

Of all the Canadian provinces, Saskatchewan has the strongest historicaland cultural ties with the Dumont name. Through its various exhibitions and commemorativeevents, the Batoche Museum honours Métis who fought in the 1885 resistance leadby Gabriel Dumont. There, visitors will have the chance to visit his grave, aswell as peruse objects that once belonged to him. Among those relics is thegold watch he received from French Canadians of New York in 1887 in honour ofhis courage. Visitors can also see Dumont's famous pool table, which was movedfrom the Stoney Mountain Penitentiary (Manitoba) to the Batoche Museum(Saskatchewan) in 2007 ^{(NOTE 3)}.

More recent monuments and constructions also commemorate his memory.There is the Gabriel Dumont Bridge that spans the South-Saskatchewan River,west of Rosther (Saskatchewan) and another location named after him is a parkin Saskatoon on the east bank of the South-Saskatchewan River. The memory ofthe man born in Saint-Boniface (1837) is also present throughout the country.The École Secondaire Gabriel-Dumont,a French high school (for native speakers) in London (Ontario), was founded inhis honour in 1998. Lastly, being of French Canadian Métis stock, he is notforgotten in the land of his ancestors. On February 6^th, 2006,Quebec City named a street after him. It was done to honour the memory of thenumerous voyageurs from Lower-Canadawho, after 1763, kept moving westward to trade further west in the Prairies, asfar as the Rockies, mingling with the Native peoples and giving birth to theMétis people ^{(NOTE 4)}.

If Gabriel Dumont is a symbol of the strength of a people born from themeeting of Europeans and North America's First Nations, he also embodies the ongoingstruggle minorities must carry on in order keep their freedom and defend theirrights. A historic figure in North America, he personifies the dedicatedfighter, both daring and calm, on whom rests the future of any minoritymarginalised by the dominant culture. He also holds a special place in Canadianhistory for the part he played at Louis Riel's side during the North-WestRebellion in the spring of 1885 ^{(NOTE 5)}.

TheDumont Clan: from Quebec to Alberta (1790-1880)

The Dumont: Voyageurs and Buffalo Hunters of the Prairies (1793-1864)

Thoughout 17^th and the 18^th century, the fur tradeindustry that was developed in the Pays-d'en-Hautever advancing towards the legendary Western Sea, made it possible for variouscultures to interact and mingle, which eventually gave rise to a new people:the Métis ^{(NOTE 6)}.In the years following the end of the French rule (after 1763), many FrenchCanadian voyageurs worked in the trading posts of the North West Company orthose of the Hudson's Bay Company. It was in these times of bustling commercialactivities in Western Canada that this new people became a distinct political entity^{(NOTE 7)}.

The Dumont clan, recognised for its role in the Métis community in thelands that are now known as the provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta, wasoriginally from Quebec. Jean-Baptiste Dumont, a voyageur, left Montreal aroundthe year 1793 to settle in the Saskatchewan valley, near Fort Edmonton, wherehe worked for the Hudson's Bay Company. There, he married a woman from theBlackfoot nation, Josephte Sarcis. They had three children, Gabriel(1801-1880), the hero of Batoche' uncle, Jean-Baptiste (1805-1885) and Isidore(1810-1885), all hunters and guides respected for their vast knowledge of theland. In 1853, Gabriel founded the community of Lac Sainte-Anne (nearEdmonton). Along with his brothers and many members of the clan, he was hiredto guide the famous Palliser expedition over the Rockies. They had beendescribed as a group living as the Natives did. Dressed in the European style,most spoke French, but preferred to converse in Cree ^{(NOTE 8)}. The eldest of the Dumont finallysettled in Battle River, while his two brothers chose Saskatchewan and Manitobaas their home. At the time, such blending of cultural identities was rathercommon among the French colonists that moved West and it confirms that theevolution of French culture in North America largely came to be defined by the veryselfsame custom of cultural and genetic mingling that has become the foundationof Canadian identity.

Gabriel Dumont, Warrior of the Prairies

Isodore Dumont, also known as Eskapo, and his wife, Louise Laframboies,moved to Saint-Boniface where they lived from 1843 to 1840, selling pemmicanand farming their land. Their son Gabriel (named after his uncle) was likely bornin December of 1837 in Saint-Boniface during the couple's short stay in the RedRiver region. Little is known about Gabriel Dumont's childhood and teenageyears other than that he lived a semi-nomadic life with his parents between theRed River and Fort Pitt, at the border of what is now known as Saskatchewan andAlberta. It was during the many trips of his clan through the Prairies that,very early in his life, he developed fighting skills, as well as an acute senseof danger. He had his first taste of battle during the battle of River Coteau(1851) in which a Sioux war party engaged a convoy of Métis hunters fromSaint-François Xavier ^{(NOTE 9)}.

Although he fought for the Cree, allies of the Métis, he was also abrilliant diplomat. It was a quality for which members of the Dumont clan werefamous. In 1862, at Devil's Lake, they had negotiated with the Dakotas Sioux thathad been fleeing nearby American troops. A few years later they negotiated withthe Blackfoot. They were also hired as interpreters for the famous Treaty no 6,signed in 1876 at Battleford by the lieutenant governor Alexander Morris,between Canada and the Cree, Assiniboine and Chippaya tribes of the region.Negotiations lead by the Dumont clan with the various First Nations populationsfacilitated the Métis' passage through the lands of their enemies andconsolidated long-lasting political alliances. Dumont once again demonstratedhis power and influence over the Native nations in 1870, when he offered tocome to the aide of Riel with more than 500 Natives to stop Colonel Wolseley'stoops, who were marching towards the Red River settlement. It is this image ofGabriel Dumont, as a traditional Métis, prairie buffalo hunter and as someonewho had chosen to lead a life close to the one of the First Nations tribes thatmade him so symbolic for today's Western Métis people, as they stake theirclaims, regardless of whether they be French or English-speaking.

Gabriel Dumont: Leader of the Hunt and President of the Saint-Laurent deGrandin Council

Gabriel Dumont's image is associated with the welfare and development ofthe Métis communities for whom he dedicated his whole life. Dumont wasconscious of the role that the Métis people played as civilisers for thevarious societies of Western Canada. A renowned leader of the hunt (an honour he held from 1863 to 1880), hedisplayed firmness and a sense of justice when it came to respecting theenvironment at a time when the buffalo population had already started growingscarce. John Kerr, who had lived with the Dumonts as their apprentice, recalledan event wherein the eldest of the clan, Jean and Gabriel Dumont, who had alltaken part in a hunt with their Cree allies, stood up to condemn Big Bear, whohad broken the hunting law ^(NOTE10).

Furthermore, in 1873, while president of the Saint-Laurent de Grandincommunity founded by father Alexis André, Gabriel Dumont took part in theestablishment of a form of autonomous government that was primarily concernedwith hunting regulations. This sort of governance was later abolished byCanadian authorities in 1875. Over the following years, tensions between theMétis communities of the South Saskatchewan River and the Canadian government grew.At that time, Gabriel Dumont played an important military role in protectinghis people. His feats of arms and courage have won him an important place inWestern Canada's history.

On theWarpath: the North-West Rebellion of 1885

Demands of the South Saskatchewan River Métis

The Red River Métis resistance, lead by Louis Riel in 1870, resulted inthe adoption of the Manitoba Act by Sir John Mac Donald's government. This lawgave the Métis the right to own land. Unfortunately, the lands were poorlydistributed. The Red River Métis sold them at a very cheap price to speculatorsand moved to the United-States and to regions of Saskatchewan and Alberta. Theyhad expected the lands would be divided into the long, rectangular swaths oftraditional riverfront tracts, as the French did, and not in the concessionarytracts in accordance with the British grid system. Misunderstanding andsetbacks prevented Canadian authorities from meeting their demands. Aftertwelve years of peaceful demands, a group led by Gabriel Dumont went to Montanain order to convince Riel to come help them. His arrival among them brought togetherall the South Saskatchewan River Métis. However, the peaceful measures, mainlysending petitions to Ottawa, went unheeded. On March 1885, with the support ofGabriel Dumont and his clan, Louis Riel decided it was time to try a newapproach.

Battles of Duck Lake, Fish Creek and Batoche (1885)

The names of the three places will always bear great significance in theMétis and Canadian collective memory. If Louis Riel remains a martyr for hispeople, Gabriel Dumont embodies the fighting spirit still present in the Métispeople.

On March 26^th1885, Louis Riel established the Exovedate, acouncil of 12 representatives. Gabriel Dumont was chosen as the adjutant-generalof the Métis forces. He arrangedthem in the same way hunting parties were arranged when hunting buffalos. Inattempt to avoid bloodshed, Riel stifled many of his Dumont's militaryinitiatives. Nonetheless, Dumont proved to be a formidable and courageousfighter. He would defeat the Canadian troops at Fish Creek only a month afterhaving suffered a severe wound to the head while leading his men to victory atDuck Lake. A brilliant tactician, he was able to set up defences around Batochethat, for many days, would delay the victory of Canadian troops, whooutnumbered and outgunned the Métis. ^{(NOTE 11)} For many days after this last battle,Gabriel Dumont roamed the hills and plains looking, in vain, for Louis Riel.Finally learning Riel was held in Regina, he would ride to Montana. There, hewould try to organise the escape of his friend and leader, but without success.

GabrielDumont, or The Defender of Métis Rights 1886-1892

The months following the defeat at Batoche were hard for Dumont, whoalso had to cope with the death of his father in 1885 and of his wife thefollowing year. For a few months Gabriel joined Buffalo Bill's Wild West Showas a marksman. At that time he was introduced to New Jersey's French-speakingcommunities who were interested in his stories and invited him to give conferences.This is how he met Edmond Riboulet, a businessman from New York, who agreed tocommit his story to writing. Having someone to put his words down in writingwould enable him to continue what Riel had started, which was to fight for therights of the Métis. From 1887 to 1892, Gabriel Dumont travelled through NorthAmerica, in order to make the general population aware of the Métis' harshliving conditions ^(NOTE12).

No where else was Dumont ever as politically active as when he was inQuebec, the land of his ancestors ^{(NOTE 13)}. In 1887, Honoré Mercier,founder of the Parti National, offered Dumont an official pardon. Not longafter, he was invited by members of patriotic and nationalist clubs of Quebecto deliver a series of conferences that were very popular in the province'smain cities, as many newspaper articles reveal. There, he was in contact withmembers of parliament such as Raymond Préfontaine, Fabien Vanasse andLaurent-Olivier David. ^{(NOTE 14)}.

In his conferences and his letters, Dumont proved to have a greatpolitical mind, trying to bring people's attention on the Métis demands, allthe while presenting them as the brothers of the French Canadians ^{(NOTE 15)}.He also fought to restore Louis Riel's dignity, who had been accused of madnessduring his trial in Regina. Having inherited the political role of Riel, thefather of Manitoba, Dumont himself would become one of the great leaders of hispeople, as he too would strive to demonstrate the importance of the Métis as anintegral part of society and of Canadian history.

GabrielDumont: The Last of the Métis (1888-1906)

Unfortunately, Gabriel Dumont was not able to influence the publicopinion or any of the political figures who were nonetheless sympathetic to theMétis cause. It is true that he alienated many of Ultramontane persuasion [those holding the belief that papal creedreigned supreme over all matters in the lives of Roman Catholics], by blamingthe clergy who had gone against Riel's plans at Batoche. They had giveninformation to Canadian troops and refused to hear the confession of the Métis.In 1888, Dumont went to Montreal in order to tell his story for the benefit offuture generations, as well as to challenge the veracity of the officialreports of Canadian general Frederick Dobson Middleton on the events of 1885. LawyersAdolphe Ouimet and Benjamin-Antoine Testard of Montigny, recorded his words inwriting. In 1889, they would publish his version of the story in their book: Louis Riel, la Vérité sur la QuestionMétisse au Nord-Ouest [Louis Riel, the Truth on the Matter of the Métis inthe Northwest], an important document asserting that the 1885 rebellion of theFirst Nations and Métis had been justified ^{(NOTE 16)}.

Afterwards, Gabriel Dumont went back to live in the West. He onlybriefly came back to Quebec in 1892 to take care of a trust fund that had beenraised for the widow and children of Louis Riel, executed in 1885 for treason.This fund indicates that there still existed ties between the French Canadiansfrom Quebec and their Métis "cousins" from the West ^{(NOTE 17)}. At theend of his life, Dumont lived on the lands of one of his nephews, AlexisDumont, where he continued to live just as his Métis ancestors had. Before hedied, he had his memoires written down by an anonymous author. Therein, he wouldjustify his actions, as well as those of his people, thereby seeking to gainthe understanding of generations to come. His wish to pass on his version ofthe events in which he played a role puts him on par with many a great historicfigure who told their stories, in order to redeem themselves in the eyes of theofficial version of history-which is often so unsympathetic to the defeated.This "last of the great Métis leaders" died on May 19^th, 1906 atBellevue, near Batoche (Saskatchewan) from a heart attack.

DenisCombet

Professor, Brandon University

NOTES

Note 1. Colloque Gabriel Dumont, Histoire et Identité Métisses, September 21^st,22^nd and 23^rd, 2006, Collège Universitaire deSaint-Boniface, Manitoba, organised jointly in collaboration with Brandon University,under the supervision of Denis Gagnon, Denis Combet and Lise Gaboury-Diallo.

Note 2. Quebec City. "Inauguration of Gabriel-Dumont Street in Quebec City(Sainte-Foy-Sillery neighbourhood)" Quebec City, Le Regroupement Municipal,February 6^th, 2006, http://www.ville.quebec.qc.ca/fr/ma-ville/toponymies/rues/gab-dumont.html.

Note 3. The Gabriel Dumont Institute offers community programs and a publishingservice that includes pedagogical and historic documents. On January 10^th,2007 the Canadian Government signed a $22.1 million aboriginal human resourcesdevelopment agreement with the institute.

Note 4. This pool table is a symbol of the restitution of objects stolen fromthe Métis in 1885.

Note 5.For a biography on Gabriel Dumont see George Woodcock, Gabriel Dumontle Chef Métis et sa Patrie Perdu, Montreal VLB editor, 1986 (translated fromEnglish by Pierre Desruissaux and François Lanctôt; the original editionappeared under the title Gabriel Dumont, The Métis Chief and his Lost World,Edmonton Hurtig Publisher, 1975, reprinted by J. R. Miller, Broadview Press,Peterborough, 2003). See also, Roderick Charles Macleod, "Gabriel Dumont",Québec, Dictionnaire Biographique du Canada, vol. 13, 190-191, Quebec City andToronto, Presses de l'Université Laval/ University of Toronto, 1994, p.327-333; taken up in Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online, Library andArchives Canada, Ottawa, 2000, 5 p.

Note 6.On the question of cultural mingling and indigenisation see,Gilles Havard, Empire et Métissages, Indiens et Français dans le Pays d'enHaut, 1660-1715, Montreal and Paris, Éditions Septentrion/Presses del'Université de Paris-Sorbonne, 2003; Philippe Jacquin, Les Indiens Blancs, Françaiset Indiens en Amérique du Nord (XVIe-XVIIe siècles), Paris, Payot, 1987;Jennifer Brown, Strangers in Blood: Fur Trade Company Families in IndianCountry, Vancouver, University of British Columbia, 1980; Jennifer Brown andJacqueline Paterson, The New People. Being and Becoming Métis in North America,Winnipeg, University of Manitoba Press, 1985.

Note 7. Two events are generally considered to be key moments that would givebirth to the Métis nation and shape the political influence it would have inthe Prairies. The first is the battle of Grenouillère or Seven Oaks that tookplace on June 19^th, 1816 between Robert Semple's Scottish settlersand a band of Métis lead by Cuberth Grant. The second is the trial of GuillaumeSayer at Fort Garry (Manitoba), headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC),May 17^th, 1849. Accused of illegally trading fur with the Americans,the Métis trader was saved by some hundred Métis lead by Jean-Louis Riel (LouisRiel's father).

Note 8. See The Papers of the Palliser Expedition 1857-1860, Edited with anintroduction and notes by Irene M, Spry, The Publication of the ChamplainSociety, Toronto, The Champlain Society, 1968, p: 221-222.

Note 9. This battle took place on July 13^th and 14^th,1851 in Missouri, where three hundred Lakotas Sioux attacked a Métis convoyfrom Saint-François-Xavier (Manitoba). The Métis' clear victory over theirhereditary enemies enabled them to travel more freely to the United-States toestablish pemmican trade.

Note 10. See "Chapter XIX: Chief Big Bear and the Bison", Constance,Kerr-Sissons, John Kerr, Toronto, Oxford University Press, 1946, p: 152-161.

Note 11. For military details of the Duck Lake, Fish Creek and Batochebattles (1885), see Walker, Hildebrandt, La Bataille de Batoche: une PetiteGuerre Britannique contre des Métis Retranchés, Ottawa, Environment Canada andParks Canada, coll. "Études en Archéologie, Architecture et Histoire", 1985;Bob Beal and Roderick Charles Macleaod, Prairie Fire. The 1885 North-WestRebellion, Edmonton, Hurtig Publishers, 1984.

Note 12. For details on Dumont's political initiatives for the defence of theMétis' rights after Batoche, see Diane Paulette Payment, "Les Gens Libres -Otipemisiwak", Batoche, Saskatchewan, 1870-1930, Ottawa, Environment Canada andParks Canada, 1990, p: 170-173.

Note 13. In 1885, citizens of the province of Quebec had reacted stronglyagainst the hanging of Louis Riel and they greeted the hero of Batoche withopen arms.

Note 14. See Gabriel Dumont, Mémoires - Les Mémoires Dictés par GabrielDumont et le Récit Gabriel Dumont (texts prepared and annotated by Denis Combetand translated into English by Lise Gaboury-Diallo) , Saint-Boniface, Éditionsdu Blé, 2006.

Note 15. Among other things he dealt with issues such as amnesty, propertytitles (or writs), and compensations the Métis would have after the financiallosses due to the events at Batoche.

Note 16. For details on Gabriel Dumont's visits to Quebec, his conferences,his correspondence with various religious and political figures of the provinceand newspaper articles that mentioned his visits to Montreal and Quebec City,see Gabriel Dumont, Souvenirs de Résistance d'un Immortel de l'Ouest,Presentation and notes Denis Combet and Ismène Toussaint, Quebec City, ÉditionsCornac, 2009, "Chapter V: Gabriel Dumont au Québec", p: 197-271; and "Articlesde Journaux sur Gabriel Dumont", p: 274-308.

Note 17. According to the Riel and Dumont families, His Lordship Tasché, Bishop of Saint-Boniface, would have keptthe money collected for his diocese instead of giving it to the Riel family;that is why Gabriel Dumont came to Quebec City in 1892. See the letter of L.A.Fortier (doctor), "Lettre à Joseph Riel" Saint-Boniface, Société Historique deSaint-Boniface and Heritage Center, Louis Riel Foundation, document 446, 1092.