N O R T H W E S T R E S I S TA N C E

A Girl Called ECHO V OL . 3

By Katherena Vermette
Illustrated by Scott B. Henderson
Coloured by Donovan Yaciuk
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 TIMELINE OF THE
NORTHWEST RESISTANCE
Following the Red River Resistance of 1870, things continued to change in the North-West Territory to the
west. Many Métis had fled there from Red River, and settlers from Europe and the East were arriving daily. With
the disappearance of the bison, the First Nations faced the end of their traditional way of life, yet the treaties
that they signed with the Canadian government failed to deliver on their promises. They faced hunger and
uncertainty. The Métis feared that title to their lands would not be honoured, and increased Anglo-Canadian
settlement caused further unease. Many settlers had their own grievances with the government as well.
Out of this unrest came meetings, petitions, and delegations – all political actions designed to address these
wrongs and seek redress from the Canadian government. At a meeting in March 1884, the Métis decided to invite
Louis Riel back from exile. He and his family arrived in Batoche that summer.

1884
August 17 – Riel meets with Cree Chief Big Bear in Prince Albert to discuss coming together to present their
peoples’ concerns to the Canadian government.
Dec 16 – The first petition, outlining grievances and demands, is sent to the Secretary of State.

1885
March 17 – Chief One Arrow is invited to Batoche.
March 18 – While attempting to meet with Cree Chief One Arrow, Indian Agent John Lash is taken prisoner
by the Métis. This is often cited as “one of the first overt acts of rebellion.”
March 19 – Louis Riel petitions Métis, First Nations, and settlers to gather at Batoche on St. Joseph’s Day to
make a plan of action. Many wanted armed conflict. Those who don’t leave. Riel declares a Provisional
Government of Saskatchewan, with Batoche as its headquarters.
March 26 – At the Battle of Duck Lake, a force under the command of Gabriel Dumont outmaneuvers a newly
mobilized Canadian force, causing them to retreat.
April 2 – After hearing about the success of Duck Lake, Big Bear’s son Ayawasis and War Chief Wandering Spirit
lead a raid on the settlers at the Catholic Church in Frog Lake, killing nine men, including Indian Agent Thomas
Quinn.
April 13 – Ayawasis and Wandering Spirit’s forces capture Fort Pitt. No one is killed, as Big Bear had warned the
soldiers to flee before the attack.
April 24 – 200 Métis led by Dumont ambush the forces of General Middleton, commander of the North-West
Field Force, and slow the Canadian advance towards Batoche, in the Battle of Fish Creek.
May 2 – Poundmaker’s band overwhelms Colonel Otter’s troops in the Battle of Cut Knife. Otter and the
townspeople flee for Battleford.
–– Dumont’s men begin to dig rifle pits around Batoche, preparing to make a stand against Middleton’s forces.
May 7 – The steamer Northcote arrives at Gabriel’s crossing, near Batoche, carrying munitions including the
infamous Gatling Gun, and Middleton’s soldiers. They loot Dumont’s house, using materials as fortifications on
the boat.
May 9–12 – The Battle of Batoche:
May 9 – The first day of fighting.
–– The steamer Northcote is crippled when a ferry cable lowered across the river is raised by the Métis forces,
knocking down its smokestacks and sending the boat downriver, along with the precious Gatling Gun, and
away from the fighting.

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–– The Canadians advance on land. Dumont sets fire to the prairie to stop them. But the land is too wet
for the fires to go far enough. The soldiers outnumber the Métis four to one.
May 10 – Dumont builds a large half-moon trench in the middle of town.
May 11 – Middleton moves north to an open field at Jolie Prairie. Métis follow in rifle pits.
May 12 – Many Métis and Cree fighters are killed and wounded, leaving only 50 to 60 of the original force still
fighting. They are running low on ammunition and under persistent fire from advanced Canadian artillery.
–– Canadian forces charge Batoche, capturing the town.
–– Under the guard of the Métis fighters, women, children, and others begin to flee along the river.
May 15 – Louis Riel surrenders to Middleton.
May 26 – Poundmaker and his councillors are arrested at Battleford. Poundmaker is tried for treason August 17
and sentenced to three years in Stony Mountain Penitentiary.
June 3 – The Battle of Loon Lake. Low on ammunition and supplies, Wandering Spirit surrenders to the
North-West Mounted Police.
July 2 – Big Bear surrenders at Fort Carleton. Tried on September 11 for treason, he is sentenced to three years in
Stony Mountain Penitentiary.
July 28 – Louis Riel’s trial begins in Regina. He is found guilty of treason. Despite forceful public outcry in
Francophone Canada and the jury’s recommendations, Judge Hugh Richardson sentences Riel to death.
November 16 – Louis Riel is hanged at the Regina barracks of the North-West Mounted Police. His body is
transported to Manitoba and he is buried at the Saint-Boniface Cathedral on December 12.

2019
May 23 – Poundmaker is exonerated by the Canadian government. Calls continue for the exoneration of chiefs
Big Bear and One Arrow.

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GABRIEL DUMONT
(1837–1906)
Gabriel Dumont was the Métis military leader during the
Northwest Resistance. Born in the Red River Settlement
to a family of prominent free traders and bison hunters,
he fought his first battle at Grand Coteau when he was
just 13 years old. He left Manitoba soon after the Red
River Resistance, and became a Chief of the Hunt in the
District of Saskatchewan. He was well known as a skilled
diplomat and marksman, and he spoke seven languages.
The decline of the bison herds and rise of settlements
prompted Dumont—as president of the Council of
St. Laurent—to address the many challenges facing the
Métis. In 1884, Dumont was a member of the delegation
who traveled to Montana to convince Riel to lead the
Métis in Saskatchewan.
In 1885, after the Canadian government refused to respond to dozens of petitions sent from the newly formed
Provisional Government, led by Riel, residents called for armed response to ensure their rights to lands would
be respected. The Northwest Resistance had begun, with Dumont as military leader and Riel as political
leader. The Métis were finally outnumbered (250 to 1000) by Canadian forces at the Battle of Batoche
(May 5 to 12, 1885).
Soon after the fall of Batoche, Dumont made his way to Montana and was soon joined by his wife Madeleine,
who died the following year. After that, he had a brief stint performing with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, and
traveled extensively around Quebec and the east coast of the United States. He did not return to Batoche
until 1890.

REFERENCES
Dumont, Gabriel. Transl. by Michael Barnholden. Gabriel Dumont Speaks. Vancouver: Talonbooks, 2009.
Hildebrandt, Walter. The Battle of Batoche: Small British Warfare and the Entrenched Métis. Vancouver:
Talonbooks, 2012.
LaPrairie, Jean. Ill. by Sheldon Dawson. Times of Trouble: Based on the Memoirs of Isabelle Branconnier.
Illustrated Métis History Series. Winnipeg: Louis Riel Institute, 2010.
Teillet, Jean. The North West Is Our Mother: The Story of Louis Riel’s People, The Métis Nation. Patrick Crean
Editions. Toronto: HarperCollins Canada, 2019.

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© 2020 Katherena Vermette (text)
© 2020 Scott Henderson (illustration)
Excerpts from this publication may be reproduced under licence from Access Copyright, or with the
express written permission of HighWater Press, or as permitted by law.
All rights are otherwise reserved, and no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopying, scanning,
recording, or otherwise – except as specifically authorized.
In memory of Lawrence Barkwell.
HighWater Press gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the Province of Manitoba through
the Department of Culture, Heritage & Tourism and the Manitoba Book Publishing Tax Credit, and the
Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund (CBF) for our publishing activities.
The publisher also acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, which last year invested
$153 million to bring the arts to Canadians throughout the country.
Nous remercions le Conseil des arts du Canada de son soutien. L’an dernier, le Conseil a investi
153 millions de dollars pour mettre de l’art dans la vie des Canadiennes et des Canadiens de tout le pays.

Printed and bound in Canada by Friesens

Design by Relish New Brand Experience
Content reviewer: Lawrence Barkwell, Coordinator of Metis Heritage and History Research,
Louis Riel Institute

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Title: A girl called Echo. vol. 3, Northwest resistance / by Katherena Vermette ; illustrated by
Scott B. Henderson ; coloured by Donovan Yaciuk.
Other titles: Northwest resistance
Names: Vermette, Katherena, 1977- author. | Henderson, Scott B., illustrator. | Yaciuk, Donovan,
1975- colourist.
Identifiers: Canadiana (print) 20190205148 | Canadiana (ebook) 20190205164 | ISBN 9781553798316
(softcover) | ISBN 9781553798934 (EPUB) | ISBN 9781553798941 (PDF)
Classification: LCC PN6733.V47 G57 2020 | DDC j741.5/971—dc23
23 22 21 20 1 2 34 5

www.highwaterpress.com
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Treaty 1 Territory and homeland of the Métis Nation
Incredibly well-done...blending art, storytelling, and What I love most about these books is the sense of NORTHWEST RESISTANCE

Vermette • Henderson • Yaciuk

history together in a captivating way for readers identity Echo is gaining as the books progress. Each

A Girl
young and old. time she learns about her heritage she discovers a
—NetGalley reviewers piece of herself.

Echo Desjardins just can’t stop slipping back and forth in time. In Northwest Resistance, she travels to a period of
turmoil. The bison are gone, settlers from the East are arriving daily, and the Métis and First Nations of the Northwest
face hunger and uncertainty as their traditional way of life is threatened. The Canadian government has ignored their

Called
petitions, but hope rises when Louis Riel returns to help. However, battles between Canadian forces and the Métis and
their allies lead to defeat at Batoche. Through it all, Echo gains new perspectives about where she came from and what
the future may hold.
Northwest Resistance is volume three in the graphic novel series, A Girl Called Echo.

Author Katherena Vermette is a Métis

writer from Treaty 1 territory, the
heart of the Métis nation, Winnipeg,
Manitoba, Canada. Her first book,
North End Love Songs (The Muses
Company), won the Governor
General’s Literary Award for Poetry,
Illustrator Scott Henderson is the
author/illustrator of the sci-fi/
fantasy, The Chronicles of Era and
has illustrated select titles in the
Canadian Air Force’s For Valour
series, Tales From Big Spirit series,
the 7 Generations series, select
Since 1998, colourist Donovan Yaciuk
has done colouring work on books
published by Marvel, DC, Dark
Horse Comics, and HighWater Press,
including A Girl Called Echo series
and This Place: 150 Years Retold.
Donovan holds a Bachelor of Fine
N O RTHWEST RES ISTANC E
ECHO
V O L. 3

and her novel The Break (House of stories in This Place: 150 Years Arts (Honours) from the University
Anansi) won the 2017 Amazon.ca Retold, and is an Eisner-award of Manitoba and began his career
First Novel Award. She is also the nominee, for A Blanket of Butterflies. as a part of the legendary Digital
author of HighWater Press’s The He is a recipient of the C4 Storyteller Chameleon colouring studio. He lives
Seven Teachings Stories (2015). Award (2016). in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
www.katherenavermette.com @Ouroboros09 @yaciuk

$18.95

Katherena Vermette Scott B. Henderson Donovan Yaciuk