THE NORTH-WEST REBELLION
The North-West Rebellion was a crazy, five-month defiance against the Canadian government, fought mostly by Métis militants and their Aboriginal allies in what is now Saskatchewan and Alberta. It was caused by fear among the Métis and Aboriginal peoples and also the white settlers of the quickly changing West. Battles and other violence in 1885 left hundreds of people dead, but the rebels were eventually defeated by federal troops. The result was the enforcement of Canadian law in the West, the subjection of the Métis and the Plains tribes, and the conviction and hanging of rebel leader Louis Riel.