Crucially, though, there is a group that is far too often left out of this dialogue. I said the French were the first Europeans to arrive here, but were they the first people here? Of course not! As in all of the Americas, the history of Montreal starts with the indigenous populations, and here that’s the Mohawk nation. Mohawk communities suffer far more violence, discrimination, and maltreatment than any French or English nieghborhoods here. In past history, the Mohawks were forced out of their homes and land, and they were murdered. They still have very little say in political decisions, and their language is not commonly spoken. So, to whom does Montreal “belong”? Is it the first group of colonizers or the second group of colonizers...or is it the people who were here for thousands of years before the British or the French even showed up?
