Case 2 Conflict

Dumont prioritised his people's needs over his own. Throughout the 1880s and 1890s, he was sought after to defend Métis rights in Canada and the United States because he was an articulate speaker despite being illiterate. Dumont dictated his memoir in "incipient Michif," which is believed to be his first language. He used Cree syntax and a few verbs, with a vocabulary that was mostly French. Dumont is known to have spoken Blackfoot, Sioux, Crow, Cree, French, and English.

Dumont’s first-person account of the details of his early life, leading up to the events variously referred to as the Riel Rebellion, the Northwest Rebellion or the War of 1885, provide a third reading of the “Rebellion” from the point of view of its military leader, as well as many personal, cultural and historical revelations worthy of examination. In addition, Dumont’s sheer strength of narrative carries these decisive events with a conviction, drama and suspense that only the tradition of oral history can deliver.

Nonetheless, this is only the beginning of what one can learn about Indigenous culture. Fights, misunderstandings and discrimination have permeated the history of both peoples, and Carr has unilaterally documented and recounted the existence of these events. The road to understanding is still long.