Introduction

Moira McCaffrey, McCord Museum, 2007

In 2001 Montreal commemorated the 300th anniversary of the "Great Peace" - an agreement that ended decades of warfare among the French, the Iroquois and close to forty other Aboriginal nations. For the signing over two thousand people descended on Montreal to smoke the calumet, feast, dance and listen to speeches by Aboriginal and French diplomats.

Diplomacy as practised by 18th-century Europeans was shaped by social and political traditions vastly different from those of the Aboriginal nations. French officials saw themselves as rulers and equated power with coercion. They sent soldiers to overpower the Aboriginal people, and missionaries to instruct them. But the French quickly realized that the survival of their colony depended on Aboriginal nations becoming trading partners and allies. This involved a process of creative accommodation and cultural exchange that brought the European and Aboriginal worlds together in a sort of "middle ground."

Aboriginal diplomats were talented orators and masters in the use of metaphor. They were also adept at creating networks of symbolic kinship through gift exchanges. By showing a peace pipe, or calumet, a diplomat could walk safely among enemies, and when negotiations were successful a calumet ceremony ratified the peace. Wampum belts were exchanged to confirm and record the words spoken at important encounters.

Marking their bodies, wearing distinctive clothing and carrying beautiful or unique objects were all ways in which Aboriginal diplomats expressed their values and status. Most of the garments and accessories were created by women, who painted and stitched them with powerful cosmological motifs. The basic tenet of this Aboriginal worldview was the belief that the natural world is animated by a multitude of spirits, called manitos. European materials such as cloth and glass beads were given new meaning and purpose in this distinctive Aboriginal universe.

Very few Aboriginal objects have survived from the 18th century. Therefore, most of the objects shown here actually date from the 19th and early 20th centuries. In fact, many elements of protocol - the use of metaphor, wampum, pipes and elaborate garments - remain strong features of Aboriginal diplomacy today.