During the 2001 First Peoples' Festival, an installation by artist and commissioner Virginia Pésémapéo Bordeleau.

The project "Totem poles for peace" consists in marking the Montréal landscape with the active presence of its first inhabitants in the symbolic universe of the city.

The installation of 40 totem poles rests on the central elements of Native spirituality and is a reminder of the 40 signatories of the Peace of 1701.

Virginia Pésémapéo Bordeleau is both an invited artist and the commissioner of the installation. Her artistic approach based on the specific contributions of Amerindian traditions and the exploration of contemporary practices has resulted in a magnificent symbiosis of these elements in her installations.

Her totem poles have been erected at the Jardin des Tuileries during the Printemps du Québec event in Paris in 1999 and in Roskilde, Denmark.

Virginia Pésémapéo Bordeleau, Cree, painter and installer, for this project has surrounded herself with artists whose work she knows full well, who are involved in their community and whose approach illustrates with maturity and originality the authenticity of their commitment.

This project allows for the implication of Native artists at the heart of one of the highlights of the summer of 2001 in Montréal.