Louis 'David' Riel: Prophet of the New World. Rev. ed

Gordon L. Barnhart teaches history at the University of Saskatchewan.

According to Thomas Flanagan, a political science professor at the
University of Calgary and the author of several books on Métis history,
Louis Riel was a prophet.

On December 8, 1875, Riel received a “Divine Commission” to save
his people, the Métis, and to reform the Roman Catholic Church. In this
provocative and intriguing book, Flanagan traces Riel’s psychological
history, as he left the priesthood, carried guilt over his father’s
death, and was admitted to an asylum in Montreal under the name “Louis
R. David.” Riel insisted on being naked while in the asylum, so as to
be ready for redemption. Flanagan interprets this as a sign of Riel’s
religious beliefs, not of insanity.

Less a biography of Riel than an analysis of his psychological state,
this book details how Riel set out to reform the Church. According to
Flanagan, Riel believed that he was a “human bridge” between the
aboriginal/Métis and the European, and between the divine and the
human. For Riel, the 1885 rebellion was both a religious and a political
cause. Riel was hanged for treason on November 16, 1885. On the question
of his sanity, the jury is still out.