Two months after the French capture of Antananarivo, popular resistance to French rule emerged. The resistance was largely by the peasants in the countryside. This guerrilla war against foreigners, Christianity, and political corruption, quickly spread throughout the island. The rebellion did not seek to restore the authority of the queen, who had been deposed by the French who had then set up Madagascar as a protectorate. One if its main motivations was the restoration of traditional ancestor veneration, and the rejection of corvee labour (fanompoana), which had become increasingly common in the Malagasy political order and which the church promoted and relied on. The rebellion destroyed hundreds of churches and killed an unknown number of Malagasy religious figures as well as five foreign missionaries. Although this was a leaderless popular rebellion, French colonial military officer Joseph Simon Gallieni concocted a conspiracy theory that the rebellion was led from high officials within the protectorate so he could dissolve the protectorate and create a military government with himself as head of state. The rebellion lasted until July 1897, involving over 300,000 people at its height. Smaller scale revolts against French rule continued until 1903.

Gabriel Dumont was an important Métis leader best known for his leadership in important battles during the North-West Rebellion including the battles at Duck Lake and Batoche. Dumont could speak seven languages including Michif, Blackfoot, Sioux, Cree, Crow, and French, and was a buffalo hunter in the last generation of Métis buffalo hunters. Before his leadership in the North-west Rebellion he also helped negotiate a treaty with the Blackfoot in 1862 which led to a lasting peace between Métis and Blackfoot. As a leader in his community he was on councils and sent petitions to Ottawa, demanding they recognize Métis land holdings. After being ignored, Dumont, James Isbister and other representatives of the Métis community traveled to Montana to request Louis Riel's assistance. He led successful battles against the superior in number and arms forces of the North-west Mounted Police. After their ultimate loss at Batoche, Dumont went into hiding, staying in Batoche for a day after the loss distributing blankets to Métis women and children before fleeing to the United States. He was given amnesty by the Canadian government in 1886 and returned to Saskatchewan where he lived the rest of his life in 1893.

Māori of Ngāti Pou from Whangaroa Harbour in Aotearoa (New Zealand) killed ~70 Europeans on the British brigantine Boyd. This was the highest number of Europeans killed by Māori in a single event in New Zealand. The attack was retaliation for the whipping of a Māori on board named Te Ara. The ship had just brought convict settlers to Australia and was stopping in Aotearoa for wood. Local people were already tense and inflamed due to the fact that a year earlier, the crew of the Commerce had caused an outbreak of disease that killed a number of Māori. News of the events delayed the first missionary visits to the country, and caused the number of shipping visits to fall to "almost nothing" over the next few years. A pamphlet in Europe warned sailors to ‘avoid if at all possible’.