Gabriel Dumont Speaks 2nd Edition

by Gabriel Dumont, Michael Barnholden (Translator)

In 1903, eighteen years after leading the Métis Army against the Northwest Expeditionary Force and the Northwest Mounted Police at Fish Creek, Duck Lake and Batoche, Louis Riel’s Adjutant General Gabriel Dumont dictated his memoirs to a group of friends, one of whom is thought to have written Dumont’s stories out in longhand during that epic meeting. This manuscript languished unseen and unpublished in the Manitoba Provincial Archives as part of L’Union nationale métisse de Saint-Joseph collection until its discovery there by Michael Barnholden in 1971. Now re-translated into English, it preserves the record of an unrepeatable oral recital, offering us a rare opportunity to view one of the central events in the history of the Métis in a new context: as perceived by one of their key heroes.

Like Riel, Dumont put the interest of his people ahead of his own. Although he could neither read nor write, he was an eloquent speaker, sought after to defend Métis rights both in Canada and the United States throughout the 1880s and 1890s. Known to have spoken Blackfoot, Sioux, Crow, Cree, French and English, Dumont dictated his memoir in “incipient Michif,” thought to be his first language: using Cree syntax and some verbs, with a vocabulary that was primarily French.

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.

Genres: History, Canada, Nonfiction

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[Brett Lambert · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an oral history given by prominent Metis leader Gabriel Dumont who fought alongside Louis Riel in the 1885 Red River Rebellion. He told his story in the early 1900s which was transcribed and left buried in an archive until the 1970s.

The first half provides context to the Metis experience and Dumont’s life and the last half is the actual oral history.

Very fascinating read and it makes me want to dive deeper into this aspect of Metis history.

[Kyra · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very cool (and quick read) on some of the events surrounding the Métis resistance in his own words. I picked this up to read for that reason and ended up recognizing a handful of my own ancestors mentioned in his stories so that was cool!

[Devogenes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Neat to read Dumont in what are approximately his own words. The first half of this very short book is actually not Dumont but rather the translator's introduction, which I found to be not particularly interesting.

George Woodcock's book on Gabriel Dumont is a much richer historical account of the Metis rebellions, and I recommend it to anyone interested in the topic. This book is a great supplementary resource, but might be a bit sparse on context for those not already familiar with the history.

[John-marshall Neshwaueshwa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A clear, almost modernist in traditional simplicity, text, Gabriel Dumont's recitation of the events of the Métis revolt provides the greater public with one of the few contemporary Métis voices beyond the rare poems of Pierriche and the last speeches of Louis Riel.

Told in the confused, awkward tongue of a first-language Michif speaker, this account's blankness, devoid of the gesticulations, laughs, and tears that may have characterized the original telling, is nothing but offensive to the trained Western reader. The simple act of transcribing the story turned Dumont unintentionally into the first writer of the Iceberg Theory.

Every Métis victory is fleeting, every casualty briefly reminisced on and quickly forgotten. The austerity of Dumont's braggadocio must leave any outside reader with a disorientation only befitting of such an odd war. To Dumont, it was a war of dignity set in the realist landscape of the Canadian prairie. It's left to the sentiments of the reader to determine the validity and even the levity of bloodshed.

I read this account on a rainy day, one that I imagine resembled the day of Riel's execution. Expecting more the flagrancy of Lord Byron, Gabriel Dumont gave me the words to "American Gothic". I read this with the intent of flaring my Métis nationalist spirit, and I was left with just that.

There is nothing but pure, cacao-bitter Americanness in this story, so naturally many reacted with a disgust, expecting the latte of war poetry in the style of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain or the Springtime of Nations.

However, if you read this telling of the 1885 rebellion, already aware that this is all a prologue to the surrender at Batoche and the trial and execution of the messianic Louis Riel, you will find an unusually modern and fleetingly beautiful story of impatience, faith, damnation, pride, and everything that can be put in the context of Hemingway's famous saying, "A man can be destroyed but not defeated."

[T. Strange · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this book. It's hilarious. This is seriously one of the funniest books I've ever read. The shenanigans this man got up to!

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a quick read, and keeping track of the action might take a bit of effort if your not familiar with the events it relates to. There are also problems of representation which undermine the book as a piece of scholarly history. But with some of these problems in mind, Gabriel Dumont Speaks is still a valuable volume for anyone interested in this under appreciated figure from Canadian history.

For the full review go to my bl0g:
'Out of the Oubliette'
https://kdbellblog.wordpress.com/