Louis David Riel (, ; 22 October 1844 – 16 November 1885) was a Canadian politician, a founder of the province of
Manitoba, and a political leader of the
Métis people of the
Canadian prairies. He led two resistance movements against the
Canadian government and its first post-Confederation prime minister,
Sir John A. Macdonald. Riel sought to preserve Métis rights and culture as their homelands in the Northwest came progressively under the Canadian sphere of influence. Over the decades, he has been made a folk hero by the Francophones, the Catholic nationalists, the native rights movement, and the
New Left student movement. Riel has received more scholarly attention than practically any other figure in Canadian history.