Hamilton, from the point at which it was first colonized by settlers, has benefited from its geographical proximity to major land and water transportation routes along the Niagara Peninsula and Lake Ontario. Its strategic importance has created, by Canadian standards, a rich military history which the city preserves. Prior to colonization, Hamilton was occupied by the Chonnonton, or Attiwandaronk, an Iroquois-speaking nation referred to by French explorers as the "Neutral" people. Since then, there have been successive waves of immigration.