City opens ‘new chapter’ with Indigenous Peoples
Reconciliation plan includes adding First Nations symbol to flag, coat of arms
Montreal is making two symbolic changes in a bid to reconcile with Indigenous Peoples, but a First Nations chief says concrete measures will have to follow.
On Wednesday, the city added a symbol representing First Nations — a white pine — to its flag and coat of arms, and announced it will rename a street commemorating British general Jeffrey Amherst, who advocated the use of smallpox-infected blankets as a weapon against Indigenous Peoples.
Mayor Denis Coderre said the changes are part of the city’s reconciliation plan.
The moves were praised by Assembly of First Nations regional chief Ghislain Picard. The new flag and coat of arms acknowledge “our historical and contemporary presence” in Montreal, while the renaming of Amherst St. will erase “an insult to our people,” he told reporters.
Asked what practical measures the city should undertake, he added: “The list is not limited — there’s so much more that we can do.”
Much needs to be done to deal with homelessness and to allow Indigenous Peoples to “live their cultures whether they live in their respective communities or in the city of Montreal,” he said.
In addition, “many people are coming to the city for health reasons, for education. I have heard talk over time of maybe a building that would be dedicated to our peoples to facilitate their integration into the city.”
Picard said about 20,000 members of Indigenous communities live in Montreal.
Coderre said adding the white pine to the flag is “a matter of respect, it’s a matter of dignity. We’re not jeopardizing the flag, we’re just adding (to it). And by adding, I think that we’re having a major impact, and that’s what reconciliation is all about.”
Montreal’s flag and coat of arms now include five emblems: a white pine (representing the original Indigenous presence in Montreal), along with symbols representing the French (fleur-de-lis), the English (rose), the Scottish (thistle) and the Irish (clover).
Finding a new name for Amherst St. will remove a “stain on our history,” Coderre added.
The street is located just south of Lafontaine Park, stretching more than 1.5 kilometres between Sherbrooke and Notre-Dame Sts.
For more than 200 years, the street has commemorated the British conqueror of Montreal in 1760. Amherst later urged the use of biological warfare. “You will do well to inoculate the Indians by means of (smallpox-infected) blankets,” Amherst wrote in a 1763 letter.
Coderre said a new name will be found soon — perhaps that of an Indigenous leader or “Rue de la Réconciliation.”
More practical measures are also in the works, he added. Montreal will train city employees about Indigenous Peoples and police officers will work closely with Indigenous groups, Coderre said. Montreal will also create the position of Commissioner for Indigenous Peoples, and will work with Indigenous communities on economic development.
“This is the beginning of a great new chapter, but first things first,” Coderre said. “We have to recognize that they have rights (and) we have to recognize what happened in the past.”
Coderre spoke to reporters after giving a speech at a conference about the 10th anniversary of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, adopted on Sept. 13, 2007. “Ville Marie (as Montreal was known at its founding) was born 375 years ago, but the history of the territory that we find ourselves on goes back several millennia,” Coderre told the conference. “Recognizing that fact and recognizing that we are an unceded traditional Mohawk territory is at the basis of our reconciliation strategy.”
We have to recognize that they have rights (and) we have to recognize what happened in the past.