350-Kilometre Reconciliation Trek Passed Through Ottawa to Montreal

A journey through the region

The expedition, called Mamu Nikantetau, departed September 21 from Kitigan Zibi in the Outaouais. Over the following days the group passed through Ottawa, then continued on to Kanesatake in the Laurentians and Kahnawake in the Montérégie before reaching Montreal. In total, the 29 participants, described as representing all of Quebec's First Nations alongside non-Indigenous allies, covered the distance on foot and in a rabaska, a large traditional canoe.

Led by an Innu surgeon

The trek was led by Dr. Stanley Vollant, an Innu surgeon, professor and speaker who is president and co-founder of Puamun Meshkenu, the organization behind the expedition.

What Mamu Nikantetau means

In Innu-aimun, Mamu Nikantetau means "let's move forward together." Organizers said that is exactly what they set out to do: the expedition aimed to create occasions for meeting and dialogue between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. As one organizer put it, reconciliation means giving people chances to understand, listen to and see one another, rather than treating it as an abstract idea.

Ottawa's place on the route

For Ottawa residents, the expedition's path offered a direct, visible marker of reconciliation work happening close to home rather than somewhere distant. It followed closely on other recent reconciliation stories touching the Ottawa area, including ottown's earlier report on Indigenous leaders saying the Quebec election campaign across the river in Gatineau had largely ignored First Nations issues.

A ceremony to close it out

The expedition ended at Hangar 1825, a national historic site on the Lachine Canal in Montreal. More than a hundred Montreal residents, most dressed in orange, joined the group for the final march to the site. The event closed with a traditional Mohawk ceremony, marking the formal end of the nine-day journey that began in the Outaouais and ran through Ottawa before reaching its final stop.

Sources: Le Canada Français (Canadian Press wire), CHGA FM, Ma Côte-Nord