Gabriel dumont biography

DUMONT,GABRIEL, Métis hunter, merchant, ferryman, and political and military leader; b. December 1837 in the Red River settlement (Man.), second son of Isidore Dumont, known as Ekapow, and Louise Laframboise; m. 7 Sept.

1857 Madeleine Wilkie at St Joseph (Walhalla, ); they had no children but adopted a son and daughter; d. 19 May 1906 in Bellevue (St-Isidore-de-Bellevue), Sask.

Gabriel Dumont is remembered principally for his role as Louis Riel*’s military commander during the North-West rebellion of 1885.

Although some historians have endeavoured to portray him as a leader of broader scope, there is not much evidence to support such a view. He was the last, and in some ways the greatest, of the traditional Métis chiefs whose status was based upon prowess as hunters and fighters and extensive kinship networks.

On the two occasions that he attempted to exert political influence beyond the circle of kinship, in the campaign for recognition of land ri