What was the Great Peace of Montreal of 1701?

The Great Peace of Montreal of 1701 (la Grande Paix de Montréal) was a peace treaty signed at Montreal on August 4, 1701 between the French Governor of New France Louis-Hector de Callière and the chiefs of 39 Indigenous nations including the Five Nations of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy (Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca). It ended almost a century of intermittent warfare between the Haudenosaunee and the French and their Indigenous allies, securing peace in the Great Lakes region for several decades and dramatically expanding French commercial and diplomatic reach.

The wars between the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and France's Indigenous allies (the Wendat, Algonquin, Innu, and others) had begun in the early 17th century and intensified during the Beaver Wars of the 1640s and 1650s, when the Haudenosaunee destroyed the Wendake Confederacy in 1649. The conflicts continued through the late 17th century, with the Lachine Massacre of August 5, 1689 and Frontenac's 1693 and 1696 raids representing the late phase of violence. By 1700 both sides faced exhaustion and strategic pressure.

The peace negotiations were led for the French by Governor de Callière, who succeeded Frontenac in 1698, and by the Jesuit and other missionaries who had developed extensive Indigenous-language expertise. The Iroquois were represented by leaders including Teganissorens (Onondaga), Aradgi (Mohawk), and Tonatakout (Cayuga). The French allies included the Wendat at Lorette under Kondiaronk (the Tionontati-Petun chief whose oratory and diplomatic skills were widely admired), the Algonquin, the Mi'kmaq, and many western nations including the Ojibway, Odawa, Potawatomi, Miami, Mascoutens, and Illinois. The 1,300 Indigenous delegates who came to Montreal made it one of the largest diplomatic gatherings in pre-modern North American history.

The treaty contained several core provisions: a general peace among all signatory nations; Haudenosaunee neutrality in any future French-English wars (a strategic coup for France); the release of war prisoners; and recognition of the right of the western nations to trade freely with the French. Kondiaronk, who delivered a famous oration at the proceedings, died of fever during the negotiations on August 1, 1701. The treaty was ratified by 39 wampum belts, one for each participating nation. The Great Peace held for decades and made possible the French expansion to the Mississippi Valley under d'Iberville and Bienville. The treaty is recognised as a major achievement of Indigenous-French diplomacy and is commemorated by a Place de la Grande-Paix-de-Montréal in Old Montreal.