Grade 8 · Social Studies · Unit 5 of 15
The Métis & the Resistances
Red River, Batoche and the Métis Nation
What your child practises
Who the Métis are, why the Red River Métis formed a Provisional Government, what the Manitoba Act promised, why the Métis and some Cree leaders acted in 1885 and what happened to them, and why the words historians choose matter. This unit needs review with Métis partners before launch.
Ontario Curriculum expectation: History A1.2, A1.4, A2.3, A3.1, A3.3, A3.7, A3.8 · the Red River Resistance, the Manitoba Act, the North-West Resistance, and the actions of Métis and Cree leaders
Sample questions
A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.
Question 1
Where did the Battle of Batoche take place in 1885?
- in British Columbia
- in Ontario
- in what is now Saskatchewan
- in Nova Scotia
Show answer
in what is now Saskatchewan
Hint: The Métis community of Batoche was on the South Saskatchewan River.
Question 2
Today, Métis governments and organizations represent Métis citizens. What does this show?
- No Métis live in Canada now
- Métis culture ended in 1885
- The Métis are a living people with their own governance
- The Métis are the same as all Canadians
Show answer
The Métis are a living people with their own governance
Hint: Métis communities continue to thrive across the Homeland.
Question 3
Why did the Métis in the Saskatchewan region take action in 1885?
- They wanted to build a railway.
- They wanted to move to Europe.
- They wanted to end farming.
- They were concerned about land titles, rights and the government's slow response.
Show answer
They were concerned about land titles, rights and the government's slow response.
Hint: Petitions to the government had gone unanswered for years.
Question 4
The Métis buffalo hunt was important because it provided…
- gold
- food and goods for trade, and organized community life
- railway tickets
- steel
Show answer
food and goods for trade, and organized community life
Hint: It was a large, well-organized annual activity.
Question 5
Why did Métis people at Red River worry about surveyors arriving in 1869?
- They wanted to leave
- They wanted the surveyors to build roads
- They had no land
- Their long, narrow river lots might not be recognized
Show answer
Their long, narrow river lots might not be recognized
Hint: The Métis farms were laid out in strips along the rivers.
Question 6
Why did the Métis move west to the Saskatchewan River area in the 1870s?
- The buffalo were disappearing, and they wanted land and a livelihood
- To build the CPR
- To leave Canada entirely
- To trade for oil
Show answer
The buffalo were disappearing, and they wanted land and a livelihood
Hint: Many families left Red River as settlers arrived and land promises went unmet.