Montreal Street Renamed to Erase Tribute to Amherst, Honour Indigenous History

A Montreal street named after the British general Jeffery Amherst is being renamed Atateken Street in honour of the local Indigenous population. A new street sign showing the renamed Rue Atateken is seen during a press conference in Montreal on June 21, 2019. Sidhartha Banerjee/The Canadian Press

Montreal removed the name of British general Jeffery Amherst’s from its street map on Friday in favour of Atateken Street—a Mohawk word that means brotherhood.

City and Indigenous leaders were on hand Friday to announce the name change that will erase traces of the British general who openly expressed a desire to eradicate Indigenous populations and advocated using blankets laced with smallpox to quell their rebellions.