Riel ya kasance mafi tsufa na 'ya'ya goma sha ɗaya a cikin dangin da aka girmama a cikin gida. Mahaifinsa, wanda ya kasance daga Franco-Ojibwa Métis, ya sami daraja a cikin wannan al'umma ta hanyar shirya ƙungiyar da ta goyi bayan Guillaume Sayer, wani Métis da aka ɗaure shi don kalubalantar cinikin kasuwanci na tarihi na HBC. Lokacin da aka saki Sayer saboda tashin hankali da kungiyar Louis Sr. ta yi, ya ƙare ya ƙare, kuma sunan Riel ya zama sananne a yankin Red River. Mahaifiyarsa ita ce 'yar Jean-Baptiste Lagimodière da Marie-Anne Gaétboury, ɗaya daga cikin iyalan fari da suka zauna a Red River Settlement a 1812. An lura da Riel don sadaukar da kai ga Katolika da kuma dangantaka mai karfi da iyalinsu.
farkon shekara ta 1866