KAMLOOPS — It’s been 133 years since Louis Riel, a political leader of the Metis people, was executed for treason.
On Friday (Nov. 16), the Metis flag was raised outside of Kamloops City Hall.
The Metis have had a long struggle to be recognized as a people group, but that changed two years ago with a Supreme Court of Canada ruling.
People gathered at the flag pole to celebrate the progress that Louis Riel had fought for.
“Instead of a day of mourning, let’s turn it into a day of celebration saying he didn’t die in vain,” said Dean Gladue, president of the local Two Rivers Metis Society.
“He died for a reason, he died for a cause and here we are celebrating even two years ago what happened when we became a part of the Canadian Constitution. That was a significant day in our history that we finally got recognized as a peoples rather than a threat of peoples in this country.”
