MONTREAL, 1701
PLANTING THE TREE OF PEACE

Montreal, August 2001 – The Société Recherches Amérindiennes au Québec and the McCord Museum of Canadian History are pleased to announce their joint publication of Montreal, 1701: Planting the Tree of Peace, by Gilles Havard.

The Great Peace of Montreal of 1701 was a significant event in the history of Canada. Very few know of it today, and yet this was the peace treaty that put an end to almost a century of war between the French and their Native allies on the one hand and the Five Nations Iroquois on the other. Historian Gilles Havard, an expert in the history of French-Native relations, first opened the door on this little-known period of our past with the publication by Recherches amérindiennes au Québec in 1992 of his now classic La Grande Paix de Montréal de 1701 : Les voies de la dilpomatie franco-amérindienne.

Havard has adapted his earlier work to produce Montreal, 1701, a 73-page booklet that provides a detailed account of the events and exchanges leading up to the signing of the Great Peace of Montreal in a form that is both accessible and engaging. Containing reproductions of the treaty, maps and original illustrations and documents, the booklet also includes additional information on Native practices and terminology, a chronology of events, and lists of all the principal Native and European figures involved, making it an important and accessible source work on the period.

The McCord Museum of Canadian History and Recherches amérindiennes au Québec are committed to the scholarly exploration and diffusion of Aboriginal culture and history. We are therefore extremely pleased to make available to the public Gilles Havard's expertise in this area, and to help restore to the public mind the Aboriginal faces and identities of this largely forgotten but pivotal event in Canadian history.

Available at the very affordable price of $10, Montreal, 1701 is a wonderful resource for high school and college-level students.

Its publication coincides with the 300th anniversary of the signing of the Great Peace of Montreal. To further commemorate this important event, Recherches amérindiennes au Québec has devoted the summer 2001 issue of its scholarly journal to the Great Peace - Le temps des alliances: la Grande Paix de Montréal de 1701 (vol. 31, no. 2, 2001) - and the McCord Museum pays homage to the Aboriginal diplomats who distinguished themselves throughout the 18th century in an exhibition entitled Living Words: Aboriginal Diplomats of the 18th Century, which continues to September 9, 2001.

MONTREAL, 1701: PLANTING THE TREE OF PEACE
is on sale at the McCord Boutique
and at other bookstores.
$10 plus tax, 73 p.

You may also purchase the book by contacting
La Société Recherches amérindiennes au Québec
6742, rue Saint-Denis, Montréal Québec H2S 2S2
Telephone: (514) 277-6178 (VISA cards accepted)

Montreal 1701 is also available in French.

 

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Information: 

Wanda Romer Taylor
Publisher
McCord Museum of Canadian History
(514) 398-7100, extension 229
wanda@mccord.lan.mcgill.ca

Source: 

Nike Langevin
(514) 398-7100, extension 251
nike.langevin@mccord.mcgill.ca

 

Montreal, 1701: Planting the Tree of Peace received funding from the ministère de la Culture et des Communications du Québec and the Historica Foundation.

A full-length English translation of Gilles Havard's 1992 work, entitled The Great Peace of Montreal of 1701: French-Native Diplomacy in the Seventeenth Century, is also available from McGill-Queen's Press.