Singing Louis Riel: The Centennial Quest for Representative Canadian Heroes

Abstract

"The most striking thing about the afterlife of Louis Riel is his metamorphosis from an enemy of Canada into the quintessential Canadian hero. After having been hanged for treason in 1885, the Métis politician, poet, and mystic has emerged as an iconic figure in Canadian culture. One of the pivotal texts in this transformation is the 1967 opera Louis Riel, composed by Harry Somers, with a libretto by Mavor Moore in collaboration with Jacques Languirand. The opera was actually a Canadian Centennial project, designed to celebrate the hundredth anniversary of the very country that twice had clashed militarily with Riel and that was responsible for his death. The desire to articulate a more inclusive vision of Canadian citizenship is evident in the number of cultures and languages included in the text. Of course, it is not possible for a country to convert a former foe into a national hero without effacing its earlier defenders, or at least caricaturing them for their now ostensibly anachronistic worldviews. No less important, as the controversial 2017 remake of the opera has illustrated, some of those individuals and groups that one claims as kin may resist the fraternal embrace. Still, whatever the aims of its creators, Louis Riel remains a testament to the challenges of fashioning a national culture in a multination state."