FEBRUARY 19, ANNUAL

MANITOBA CELEBRATES LOUIS RIEL DAY

The first “Louis Riel Day” in Manitoba was celebrated in 2008. Oddly, the date has no special connection to any particular event in Riel’s life. It was chosen simply because there was a long period between New Year’s Day and Good Friday when there were no holidays. In a competition among school children to name the day, the winning name was chosen to commemorate the famed leader of the Métis people of the Canadian prairies. The ancestral homeland of the Métis once covered all or part of the Canadian prairie provinces, as well as parts of Ontario, British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, and parts of the northwest of the United States. Riel was a founder of the Manitoba province. “Louis Riel Day” is also observed in Ontario, but on November 16–the date on which Riel was executed.

Source: “Louis Riel Day in Canada,” Time and Date.  Retrieved 10/18/2022, Louis Riel Day in Canada (timeanddate.com)

Engraving: Octave-Henri Julien (1852-1908), likely 1884; Photographer:  Israel Bennetto (1860-1946), pre-1906. Public Domain in Canada:  First publication prior to January 1, 1949. Public Domain in the United States:  First publication prior to January 1, 1928. Public Domain elsewhere where copyright term is author’s life plus 70 years or less.