To this day, Louis Riel remains one of Canadian history's most complex yet captivating figures. This is due to the multitude of ways he was seen and portrayed by others over the course of his life - varying from hero, to murderer. On one hand, he was regarded as both a founding father and a key component in the Metis' fight for rights. On the other, he was perceived as a criminal and a traitor. Overall, Louis Riel should be remembered as a murderer and traitor for his actions, and religious extremist for his warped views. Both the Canadian government and a large number of the population categorized Riel as a murderer and traitor. People felt this way about him mainly due to the death of Thomas Scott, (seen as an act to add more wood to the fire), for which he was considered to be responsible for. However, Scott's death wasn’t the first time Riel had been accused of causing a death. Riel was also accused of having lead many of his followers into unnecessary battles, resulting in the deaths of both Metis and members of the …show more content…
During this time, he became increasingly difficult to manage and care for. Riel claimed that he had heard voices that told him he was a prophet of god sent to save the Metis. Despite such strong hallucinations, he never acted upon his supposed revelations. One example of this would be his departure from the Catholic church to create his own sub-sect, going on to ordain many of his supporters to become priests. Additionally, during many of the battles he supposedly 'led', not once did he himself fight. Instead, he spent most of his time on horseback going around the battlefield praying. When Riel had finally been captured and taken to court it was suggested that his insanity was to blame for his actions, yet Riel said otherwise. As a result, he was tried as having been fully competent during his culpable