The speeches closed with a poem, Women’s Declaration of Peace, originally composed by Virginia Pésémapéo Bordeleau et Hélène Pedneault for the 300th anniversary of the Great Peace treaty in 2001, and read for the ceremony by the Wendat actress Dominique Pétin.
At that point, the outdoor portion of the ceremony began to wrap up as the clouds darkened. The procession towards the Archaeological Museum left around 2:00 p.m. – almost making it to the museum before the rain started.
Ella Paulin The Eastern Door
“It held up until the very end – the timing was almost perfect,” Ray Deer told The Eastern Door. “We got caught up in the rain, but Mother Nature’s going to do her thing, and we have to respect her for that.”
Once safely inside the museum, participants had the opportunity to see the original copy of the Great Peace of Montreal treaty. The treaty, which is permanently housed in an archive in France, was last displayed in Montreal 25 years ago for the 300th anniversary of the signing.
“What is really touching is that the treaty was signed here – really here, on this place, because Callière’s house was right here. In fact, we are probably standing in his garden,” Christiane Dufresne, director of exhibitions at the museum, told The Eastern Door.
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Ella Paulin The Eastern Door
Dufresne went on to explain that while there were likely multiple copies of the treaty at one time, the one displayed at the Archaeological Museum this summer is the only known remaining copy.
The treaty is well preserved and clearly shows both the French written component of the agreement as well as 39 pictograms drawn by the 39 Indigenous nations that signed the treaty. Many of the pictograms represent important animals, tools, or parts of the landscape.
While the ceremony is over, the treaty remains on display at the museum until September 20.