Flourishing under Dawson. The campus that never was. The birth of three sports. Founding Macdonald College. Blazing trails: McGill's women. Maude Abbott's gift to cardiology. Breaking the bonds of genetic destiny. The team who saved millions of lives. McGill Pioneers. If there are specific edits, additions, or resources you would like to share, please contact us at parc ssmu. Long before the founding of McGill or the confederation of Canada, Indigenous peoples resided in the territories on which the university has been constructed.
The most famous documentation of Indigenous life on these lands was written in by French explorer Jacques Cartier, who initiated the colonial project of New France at the behest of King Francis I. Lawrence Iroquoian village located near present day Quebec City.
Lawrence River. It is possible that their warning was a ruse meant to deter Cartier from further exploration. Regardless, their predictions did indeed prove accurate that coming winter. Before facing the harshness of winter however, Cartier explored the St.
Lawrence river and arrived in Hochelaga on October 2, While the exact location of Hochelaga is unclear, Cartier writes of a village surrounded by expansive cornfields at the base of a large mountain Mount Royal. As such, many suspect that Hochelaga was situated near where McGill currently stands. The fortified village was surrounded by three rows of palisades and contained at least fifty bark-covered longhouses — historians estimate that its population was around to residents.
In other words, Hochelaga was not a small settlement but a major center and capital of sorts. This custom of twice meeting a distinguished guest resembles an Iroquois ceremony that is still celebrated today on the Six Nations reserve near Brantford, Ontario. During the welcome ceremony, Cartier was introduced to the chief of Hochelaga. And in order to win and keep their friendship, the Captain [Cartier] made them a present of some knives, beads, and other small trifles, whereat they were greatly pleased.
The following day, Cartier ascended the mountain, which he named Mount Royal in honour of his patron. Cartier realized the top of the mountain to be an ideal location for settlement, as its panoramic view provided a strategic advantage.
The view from the top of Mount Royal also alerted Cartier to the Lachine Rapids and the impossibility of proceeding down the St. The following day, on October 4th, Cartier and his men began the journey back to Stadacona. Donnacona, Chief of the Stadacona, helped Cartier and his crew overcome the threat of scurvy and starvation that winter. However, he was kidnapped by Cartier and died in France the following year. No other known account of Hochelaga exists and no material remains have been discovered.
Meanwhile, Indigenous histories not recorded by settlers are often dismissed as unverifiable. Furthermore, many early accounts of Hochelaga are adulterated by colonial fantasies. With regard to the latter, the general consensus among historians is that European colonization up the St.
Lawrence River through the 17th century gave rise to greater conflict between and among various Indigenous nations and rivalling European colonies for control of the lucrative fur trade. Evidence from the oral tradition suggests that Hochelaga was inhabited by St.
Lawrence Iroquoians before the Haudenosaunee confederacy— formed in response to colonialism— became the primary occupant of the territory. James McGill was a prominent Scottish merchant who made a fortune trading furs and other goods in the colonial New World. Mainstream historical narratives represent James McGill as working hard to accumulate the capital that would eventually be used to create the University. McGill spent his first decade on the continent earning a fortune in the fur trade.
He and other fur traders were active mostly during the winter as winter pelts were more valuable , trading with multiple Indigenous communities who awaited their annual arrival. This group of men saw relations with Indigenous people as a conflict between civilization and savagery, to which they sacrificed themselves and emerged victorious.
In , he sold four enslaved Indigenous people to Jacques Lefrenier on behalf of the Department of Indian Affairs which had promised to replace any enslaved soldiers who were killed while fighting for the British.
James McGill had signed a report advocating for the abolition of slavery in this same year. However, when the House of Assembly of Lower Canada introduced an abolition bill in , McGill — a member of the House — voted in favour of maintaining slavery. James McGill was also a slave owner himself. In the same year he signed the abolitionist document, he owned at least one enslaved woman named Louise.
Still, removing monuments that were erected specifically to honour the very men that helped create the institutions that systemically oppress People of Colour every single day would certainly be a start. Wikimedia Commons. Join the conversation Load comments. Someone just spotted one of the weirdest looking fish washed up in Canada. Bear in Calgary caught eating Halloween pumpkins while residents were sleeping. Vancouver woman shoved out of bus after spitting on a fellow passenger.
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