Settler Urbanization and Indigenous Resistance: Uncovering an Ongoing Palimpsest in Montreal's Cabot Square.

This article examines Cabot Square, a public space in downtown Montreal, Quebec, as a site where settler colonialism, Indigenous displacement, marginalization, and resistance intersect and shape urban dynamics. It highlights how the Square's history reflects layers of Indigenous dispossession alongside ongoing Indigenous place-keeping practices that assert cultural presence and sovereignty despite colonial urban planning and gentrification efforts aimed at displacement. The study situates Cabot Square within broader settler-colonial frameworks, emphasizing the tensions between Indigenous conceptions of relational land and colonial capitalist property regimes, and documents Indigenous-led initiatives that resist exclusion and foster community amid socio-economic challenges. By framing the Square as a palimpsest, the article reveals the complex, overlapping histories and power relations inscribed in urban spaces, underscoring the importance of recognizing Indigenous contributions and claims to the city in processes of urban transformation.