Joseph-Noël Ritchot

Noel-Joseph Ritchot (born December 25, 1825, died March 16, 1905) - a Catholic missionary working in the 19th century in Canada.

Ritchot joined the mission service in 1855, working in the Rupert land areas, and eventually became the parish priest of the parish dominated by the Saints. Norbert. In 1869 he found himself in the center of the rebellion on the Red River. In 1870 he was included in the three-man delegation of the rebellious colony for negotiations with the Canadian government in Ottawa, which resulted in the creation of a new province of Manitoba. Ritchcot, out of three negotiators, has moved to a dominant position, firmly insisting on rebel demands.

Ritchot spent the rest of his life in Manitoba. In 1897 he was appointed vicar general of the diocese of Saint. Boniface (Manitoba), and shortly before his death in 1905 its dean.

Members of the delegation were selected to represent three main groups of people living in the colony. Ritchot was a spokesman for the Metis, Black residents of the Anglo-Saxons, and Scott residents of the United States. During the negotiations, Scott, not representing more power, was generally ignored. Black already declared his support for governmental proposals. Only Ritchot was a tough negotiator. In particular, he insisted on requesting the amnesty to all rebels. Ritchot also demanded a guarantee that the agreement would be kept, which he never received. Canadian Governor General John Young gave him an oral assurance, honoring them with a word of honor, and representatives of the Canadian Prime Minister John Macdonald and his close associate George-Étienne Cartier just a very general note. After the return of the negotiators from Ottawa, the tension in the colony continued for one and a half month, when the agreement was finally ratified. The only deviation from the agreement was the lack of amnesty for the rebels. However, this did not really matter if the government had neither the intention nor the possibility of pursuing the rebels.

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