This optimistic scene of 19th Century Toronto shows energy and cooperation among many nationalities and races — but with a critical omission.
Early Toronto’s waterfront bristles with boats in the background as a very British Goddess of Fortune blesses the crowd.
Although the eager group of builders and shakers includes Europeans, Africans, an Oriental man in a turban, and a Greek sculptor presenting a goddess, it lacks any Indigenous figures.
However the upper section (next photo) does portray a “classical” indigenous man (identifiable by his feathered headdress) in the heraldic array similar to the crest of both the City and the Bank, of Montreal.
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- Robert McCausland, Toronto 1898
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