Winnipeg Free Press: Riel acknowledgement called reconciliation milestone
November 24, 2023 —
Academics, educators and historians applauded the introduction of the Louis Riel Act Thursday and described the effort to recognize the Métis leader as Manitoba’s honorary first premier as an act of reconciliation.
“It’s a symbolic acknowledgement of Manitoba’s Indigenous roots, as well as a recognition of the role that Indigenous leaders such as Riel played in the making of Manitoba,” said Sean Carleton, assistant professor in the University of Manitoba department of history and Indigenous studies.
“These kind of commemorations and acts of honouring are a normal and natural process of the way in which societies determine what is important, and set the priorities for encouraging and inspiring people to think of what is possible.”