other · North America and Oceania

Provisional Government of Assiniboia

1869 CE – 1870 CE · capital Upper Fort Garry

The Métis-led government formed by Louis Riel at Red River in 1869, whose negotiations with Ottawa created the province of Manitoba.

Origins

In 1869 the Hudson's Bay Company agreed to sell Rupert's Land to Canada without consulting the people of the Red River Colony. Alarmed by Canadian surveyors, the Métis formed a National Committee, turned back the incoming lieutenant governor, William McDougall, and in November seized Upper Fort Garry. A provisional government followed in December, with Louis Riel as president from late that month.

Rule and society

Riel's government drew in English-speaking delegates through a convention that drafted a List of Rights, including provincial status, bilingual institutions and protection of land. It held prisoners from the Canadian party, and in March 1870 executed one of them, Thomas Scott, an act that inflamed Protestant Ontario. Delegates sent to Ottawa negotiated the terms that became the Manitoba Act.

Decline and legacy

The Manitoba Act of May 1870 created the province. When the Wolseley Expedition arrived in August, Riel fled. Promised land for the Métis was largely lost, but Riel is now honoured in Manitoba as its founder.

Lineage

Rupert's Land 1670 CE – 1870 CEProvisional Government of AssiniboiaCanada 1867 CE – present

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Provisional Government of Assiniboia. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/provisional-government-of-assiniboia
MLA
“Provisional Government of Assiniboia.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/provisional-government-of-assiniboia. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Provisional Government of Assiniboia.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/provisional-government-of-assiniboia.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Provisional Government of Assiniboia’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/provisional-government-of-assiniboia (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻