Martyr or Madman?
Was our “holiday hero” better suited for a mental institution than a seat in parliament?
Leah Werier, Staff
When the province announced that there would be a new holiday introduced to the slow and blustery month of February, warm thoughts of ice-skating and sipping hot chocolate while sparkling snowflakes cascaded down from the sky entered my mind. While these thoughts were incredibly enticing, reality set in and, like most overworked students, I was simply excited about the prospect of having a day off to sleep in and to attempt to dig out of the mound of reading material that has been piling up around me. For those of you with similar reading concerns, this holiday falls inconveniently on the first day of reading week — a break already designed for this purpose — leaving us university students feeling more than a little short-changed.
When this holiday was first proposed, the idea was that Manitoba would follow in the footsteps of other provinces that had introduced family-themed holidays in February. A new provincial holiday calls for a new name, and Manitoba schools were charged with the task of deciding on a name for this newfound February gem. Among the assortment of suggestions were my personal favourites: “Spirited Energy Day,” “Chill-Lax” and “Purification Day.” While these entries and several others are much more charismatic than the chosen title, 11 schools submitted “Louis Riel Day” which resulted in its being chosen by the MB4Youth Council.
It is interesting that so many youngsters felt that Riel should have a holiday named after him, when he already has a plethora of Manitoban namesakes, including: a bridge, a library, a school, a mural and two sculptural monuments. Adding a holiday to the list of namesakes does seem quite fitting, seeing as Riel was the founder of Manitoba. As a leader of the Métis people, Riel led two resistance movements while fighting for Métis rights. Although Riel accomplished great things, he was forced into exile due to the controversial execution of Thomas Scott. Up until his exile, Riel was considered a martyr for the cause of the Métis people. However, while in exile, some of his actions led many people to believe that he had gone insane. He was considered a martyr by some and a madman by others. Both interpretations of Riel’s character are currently represented in two different sculptural monuments created in Manitoba.
The first statue of Riel, created by sculptors Marcien Lemay and Etienne Gaboury, was unveiled in 1970 at its original location on the legislative grounds. The statue casts Riel as a tortured and naked figure looking out between two cement walls that encircled him. For 23 years it stood symbolically between the Assiniboine River (the life blood of the Métis people) and the legislative buildings, where Riel fought so hard to gain entrance, though the institution kept its doors closed to him. The statue was the cause of public uproar, especially from Métis representatives, who viewed it as an undignified version of the revolutionary figure. This statue was moved to College Universitaire de Saint-Boniface.
The statue that we see today at the Manitoba Legislature is the replacement designed by Miguel Joyal, who chose to depict a dignified and clothed Riel. Formal and imposing, Joyal’s version of Riel is larger than both the statue of the queen and the Golden Boy, which are found on the same grounds. The first statue of Riel interpreted him as a tormented and grief-stricken individual while the replacement piece shows the calm and self-aware version of Riel that we celebrate today. Could these two differing interpretations of Louis Riel both be correct? Is our “holiday hero” also a madman?
After Louis Riel’s first rebellion and occupation of Fort Garry in 1869 he was granted amnesty, meaning a pardon for his offences. Despite this decision, Riel was exiled for a period of five years. It was during this time that his odd behaviour began to be documented. Some of his reported actions due to his ailment included: crying and shouting in public, contradicting a priest during mass, grunting like a bull, and tearing off his clothes on repeated occasions. Friends of Riel saw the latter two symptoms very often and it caused them to worry. They discretely moved him to Quebec where his uncle had him committed to a mental institution, oddly under the name “Louis R. David.” After having numerous religious visions, Riel began to call himself Louis “David” Riel, prophet of the new world. He became obsessed, believing that he had religious missions to fulfill. These missions included establishing a new North America and a new form of religion. In this proposed religion his mentor, Bishop Bourget of Montréal, would be the pope of the New World.
While in the mental institution, Riel continued his irrational outbursts and was reported to have destroyed ornaments and candles in the chapel. Staff members were forced to constrain Riel in a straight jacket because of his uncontrollable behaviour. He still believed that he was a prophet and would pray, sometimes for hours while standing, getting servants to aid him by holding up his arms in the shape of the cross. Riel’s character had taken a dramatic turn.
The doctors were eventually satisfied that Riel had been cured, so they released him in 1878, two years after he had been committed. Historians, however, disagree over whether or not Riel was really cured of his ailments. Thomas Flanagan, author of Louis ‘David’ Riel: Prophet of the New World writes that Riel had “learned how to conduct himself externally, not that he had undergone a deep internal transformation.” Some historians even question whether Riel had been faking all of his manic episodes in the first place.
On the CBC morning show Morningside in 1994, Maggie Siggins, a Riel biographer, disagreed completely with the assertion that Riel had faked his wild behaviour. However, Siggins did find it odd that Riel could recover in such a short period of time — only to be embraced yet again as a hero of the Métis people. Siggins suggests that Riel’s mental collapse was largely due to the upset of watching the politics of Manitoba unfold while he was no longer a part of it. After being released from the institution, Riel seemed to have turned around, but his sanity would come into question again later, when he was arrested a second time and tried for high treason.
Riel’s trial began on July 28,1885 and lasted for five days, after which the jury of six men found him guilty of high treason. Although the jury did make recommendations for mercy, Judge Hugh Richardson sentenced him to death. One juror is quoted as having said 50 years after the trial that “Riel was tried for treason but hanged for the execution of Thomas Scott.” The country had not forgotten the ill-advised execution of Scott during Riel’s earlier occupation of Fort Garry. Going against his lawyer’s recommendations, Riel refused to give evidence on his own behalf that would prove he was mentally unstable. Riel’s lawyers were forced to make out the defence of not guilty by reason of insanity through expert and witness testimonials. The question put to the court was whether or not Riel was legally insane and therefore no longer accountable for his actions.
Justice Richardson charged the jury with the task of determining the answer to the above question, stipulating: “to establish a defense on the ground of insanity, it must be clearly proved that at the time he committed the act, the party accused was laboring under such defective reasoning from a diseased mind as not to know the nature and quality of the act he was committing, or that if he did know it, that he did not know that he was doing wrong. That I propound to you as the law.”
By modern standards, the judge’s charge to the jury is considered correct. Even though Riel had documented manic episodes that required institutionalization, his legal sanity was judged against whether or not he understood that his actions had been wrong. This was a widely accepted test of insanity at the time, established in 1843 by the British House of Lords in a previous case. The defence of “not guilty by reason of insanity” prevented conviction of any accused who, because of a “disease of the mind,” had become “incapable of appreciating the nature and quality of the act or omission,” being unaware that what they had done was wrong.
At Riel’s trial, Dr. Daniel Clark, a medical doctor who had previously given evidence in other trials, testified on behalf of Riel. Unfortunately, his statements did not work in Riel’s favour. Clark claimed that a man who said and did such strange things must certainly be of insane mind; however, when asked about the second part of the insanity test, Clark’s words worked against Riel. Clark commented that Riel was aware that his actions were morally wrong and therefore Riel was not insane in the eyes of the law.
There is some debate today between biographers, historians and medical professionals over what sort of mental condition Riel actually suffered from. One dominant belief at the time was that Riel suffered from a condition called “megalomania.” Megalomania is characterized by an obsession with oneself as well as with delusional fantasies of power, wealth and exceptional talent. Today this condition is commonly referred to as narcissistic personality disorder. The treatment for someone with narcissistic personality disorder is debated, since this personality disorder usually appears while the patient is suffering from other psychological ailments. Riel was said to have suffered from megalomania since he believed that he was a prophet and could see the future.
In his closing remarks to the court during his trial for treason, Riel said:
“I will perhaps be one day acknowledged as more than a leader of the half-breeds; and if I am, I will have an opportunity of being acknowledged as a leader of good in this great country.” This prophesy of Riel’s has proved to be true. Despite hospitalization for his mental ailments, Louis Riel was a revolutionary figure in Canadian history who paved the way for the establishment of Manitoba and fought for Métis rights. He may have been a madman, but his accomplishments are well-deserving of this holiday namesake. Happy Louis Riel Day.
