Wanting to know more about the history of Manitoba, some officers of MaCCFA and OFSAM visited Louis Riel’s house in St. Vital and his grave at St. Boniface Cathedral last Monday, Febuary 17, a day proclaimed as a Louise Riel Day.
Louis Riel is the founder of Province of Manitoba and the spiritual leader of the Metis people residing in the Canadian prairies. His resistance movements against the Canadian government which resulted to a death penalty when he was hanged for treason in November 16, 1881, at the age of 41.
(To know more about the contributions of Louis Riel in the formation of Manitoba; and to know more about his heroic acts for the sake of the Metis and native people, and various events which had led to recognize Louis Riel as one of the Canadian heroes, you can visit the wikepedia.)
On that Louis Riel Day, the Festival du Voyageur was going on and because of a warm weather, hundreds of Winnipeggers and Manitobans attended the yearly celebration. After a wonderful tour at the various historic and cultural presentations at the festival, courtesy of the Filipino Journal, under the leadership of Ron Cantiveros, CEO and publisher, the officers and members of MaCCFA and OFSAM went to St. Vital to visit a birthplace of Louis Riel and then, to his grave a the St. Boniface Cathedral.
“Being Filipino Canadians and happily living in Manitoba,we must know how Manitoba joined the Confederation, thru the life story of this great hero, Louis Riel,” Letty Antonio said, president Original Filipino Seniors Association of Manitoba (OFSAM.)
“Filipinos love history; everyone knows who is Dr. Jose Rizal, our national hero; and as a Filipino Canadian, I found the parallelism between the lives of Louis Riel and Dr. Jose Rizal. Both were accused of treason; Riel was hanged; Rizal was executed by the firing squad. And to know the two heroes would give us more meaning being a Manitoban, first; a Canadian, second,” Rod Cantiveros said, president of Manitoba Council of Canadian Filipino Associations, Inc.
Photos by Rod E. Cantiveros | Filipino Journal
