Rediscovering Indigenous peoples

Why is it that we know so little about Aboriginal peoples? How has a prevalent, often disdainful view of the first peoples to inhabit Québec taken root?

A significant part of the answer lies within the educational curricula and history textbooks we’ve relied on until very recently—and in what they’ve failed to teach us.

Photo credit:  Photographer unknown, collection of Pierre Lepage

From narratives of conquest and compulsory assimilation to notions of savagery and superior civilization, certain myths about native peoples are hard to dispel. Let’s cast a different light on the early interactions between Europeans and Indigenous nations.

Explore the undeniable influence and contributions of the First Peoples to the development and sustenance of the new colony.

Learn more about some Enduring Myths.

Key Figures

Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal men and women who have shaped the history of Québec—both the well-known and the lesser-known.

Tom Longboat

First Indigenous Person to Win the Boston Marathon

  • Key events
  • Famous figures

Mathieu André

Nicknamed Mestenapeu ("The Big Man")

  • Aboriginal leaders
  • Key events
  • Economy

Nicolas Vincent Tsawenhohi

Grand Chief of the Huron-Wendat Nation

  • Aboriginal leaders
  • Aboriginal movements
  • Self-determination

William Commanda

Keeper of the wampum

  • Culture
  • Aboriginal leaders
  • Politics

William Johnson

Representative of the British Crown

  • Treaties and Agreements

The Sioui Brothers

Charged with cutting down trees

  • Ways of life
  • Treaties and Agreements
  • Key events
Discover their contributions
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