Ko Riel te matamua o nga tamariki tekau ma tahi i roto i te hapu rongonui o te rohe. Ko tana papa, he uri no te Franco-Ojibwa Métis, i rongonui i roto i tenei hapori na te whakarite i tetahi roopu i tautoko i a Guillaume Sayer, he Métis i hereherea mo te whakahe i te mana hokohoko o te HBC. I te mutunga o te tuku a Sayer na te whakaohooho a Louis Sr., ka mutu te mana motuhake, na reira i mohiotia te ingoa Riel i te rohe o Red River. Ko tana whaea te tamahine a Jean-Baptiste Lagimodière me Marie-Anne Gaétboury, tetahi o nga whanau ma tuatahi ki te noho ki te Red River Settlement i te tau 1812. I mohiotia a Riel mo o raatau whanaungatanga Katorika me o raatau whanaungatanga kaha. I whakaakohia a Riel e nga tohunga Katorika i raro i a Petit St. Boniface. I te ra 13 o Maehe 1864, i haere tonu tana tamaiti ki te whare wananga i raro i te ture Katorika. I te wa o te mate o tona papa, i
te tīmatanga o te tau 1866