The Great Peace signed in 1701 by Louis-Hector de Callières, Governor General of New France, his Aboriginal allies and the Iroquois put an end to nearly a century of bloody conflict. Gathering together for the first time, representatives of some forty nations came to Montréal from regions as far away as Acadia, with the Abenaki, who spoke an Algonquian language; from south of Lake Ontario, with the Goyoguoin, who spoke an Iroquoian language; and from west of Lake Michigan, with the Puant, who spoke a Siouan language. The orators' speeches and chiefs' pictogram signatures sealed an agreement that brought peace to a vast territory.