Bank Of Montreal replaces plaques commemorating killing of Iroquois chief

MONTREAL — Two stone markers on the facade of a Bank of Montreal building in the city’s tourist district that commemorated the murder of an Iroquois chief in 1644 are being replaced today.

Members of Montreal’s First Nations community had been calling for the removal of the stones for years because they felt they negatively depicted Indigenous Peoples.

One English-language and one French-language plaque were located on the BMO building in the historic Place d’Armes square, across from a statue of Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve, founder of Montreal.

The markers told the story of how Maisonneuve killed the Iroquois chief with his own hands in March 1644.

Workers had removed the old stones around noon today and were getting ready to replace them with new, less provocative plaques.

The new stone markers now say the city’s founders first met the Iroquois around the Place d’Armes area and defeated them in 1644.

Calls to take down the stones grew last year as people across the country began debating what to do with statues and other historic markers that were deemed offensive to native peoples.

The BMO building in Place d’Armes square has been designated a heritage site and authorization was needed from the provincial government before the plaques could be replaced.

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