Louis Riel, 1885, by L’Abbé Joseph Chabert (1831-1894)

Louis Riel (1844-1885), leader of the Métis cause for over 15 years, was executed for treason in Regina on November 16, 1885.

Five days later, La Presse of Montreal offered for ten cents this commemorative life-size portrait drawn by Montreal’s eminent drawing instructor L’Abbé Chabert. Within a week, more than 50,000 copies had been ordered. Reflecting the outrage felt within Quebec, by December 31, 1886, the newspaper suggested that on voting day the image would be a reminder of the dark history of crimes of the government: the forced rebellion, the executions and the martyred chief.

The striking portrait of the handsome and resolute Riel with the noose around his neck recalls the volatile cultural struggles in Canadian history, and the events that determined the country’s future political course.

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