The Oka Crisis was a 78-day standoff between the Kanesatake Mohawk people (soon joined by other Mohawk people), and the Surete du Quebec followed by the Canadian army in July to September 1990. People in the town wanted to expand a golf course that was already built on disputed land, where there was a significant Mohawk cemetery. The Mohawk people have been trying to continuously press the government into recognising their land rights long before that. Since the construction was to happen anyway regardless of concerns from Quebec’s Minister of Environment and Minister of Native Affairs, Mohawk protesters barricaded the construction site, soon joined by protesters from other reserves. The Oka Crisis is an example of how unjust we can be to …show more content…
Native Americans for our own gain, and how conflicts like these could have been avoided. To start off, this incident had many conflicts that added together to fuel the impending Oka Crisis.
The Sulpicians, European settlers who were granted the land in the 18th century, started the first disputes with the Aboriginals who resided there. During the subsequent centuries after their settlement, there were many land disputes. The Sulpicians claimed the Kanesatake had no real rights to the land, and the Algonquins and some of the Mohawks left the area as a result. The Kanesatake had always tried to prove their existence, with multiple failed attempts to get their few scattered land recognized as Aboriginal reserves. They first tried in 1961, to get their lands legally affirmed as a reserve, but ultimately failed. They tried some other times in the 70’s, along with two other Mohawk groups, but were rejected again, due to being “unable to prove occupancy”. The breaking point was when the golf course in Oka was planned to extend into the disputed land , near a historic cemetery no less. A nine-hole golf course had been built in 1961 on the grounds despite Mohawk protests, that was referred to as the Pines. The mayor of Oka at the time (1989), Jean Ouellette, declared the golf course would soon be expanded to 18 holes. Oka crisis had many circumstances that led up to the riot, that could have easily been avoided if the Kanesatake were treated with the respect they deserved from the …show more content…
beginning. After the extension to the golf course and potentially a condo, a group Kanesatake Mohawks decided to form a barricade around the selected area for construction in March of 1990. Soon, they were joined by warriors from Akwesasne and Kahnawake, barricading the forest where the golf course would be built. The mayor of Oka tried give an injunction to clear the barricade twice, but after the warriors failed to do so, he had the Surete du Quebec interfere. Later in the year, on July 11, 1990, a large faction of Surete du Quebec officers arrived at the scene, armed with assault rifles and anti-riot items. They used tear gas and concussion grenades to attack the barricade and incite confusion, causing a shootout. This is when the SQ Corporal Marcel Lemay was killed, apparently by a stray bullet, but the shooter has yet to be identified. When this occurred, the police had to retreat, and eventually the RCMP were called in by the government. The police also tried to retaliate by making blockades on the roads. In August, around the same time, the RCMP was called, the premier of Quebec requested the assistance of the Canadian army. They were ordered to end the stand-off with little or no casualties. The Kahnawake also blockaded a major highway prone to traffic, which led to a small movement among First Nations people who also blockaded highways in solidarity to the Mohawk in Quebec. The Kahnawake were Mercier Bridge, connecting the south of Montreal to the center, but they were put under a lot of pressure from the additions of more soldiers. Eventually, the Kahnawake blockade was dismantled and the bridge reopened at the end of August to the beginning of September. But in Kanesatake, the Mohawk protesters held out, until finally surrendering to the army on September 26, 1990. Many were detained and charged by police, but few served jail time. The barricade that was once manned by only one group received high-scale media attention and was the first time the army was called out against Natives since the Northwest Rebellion in 1885. In the end, after the 78-day standoff, the federal government had tried to solve the problem, but there was still residue.
They bought the disputed land, The government had bought the disputed land, but it did not technically belong to the Kanesatake. The clash strained the relationship of the Mohawk and the residents of Oka, causing the residents to discriminate to the Natives. Residents from Oka and Montreal causing racism toward the Mohawk, and battling the police, as they were angered by the highway blockades. When people had to be relocated from Kahnawake, including women, children, and the elderly, non-Native inhabitants of nearby communities threw projectiles such as rocks and bottles at their cars. However, the expansion of the golf course was cancelled, due to the land being owned by the federal government. As mentioned before, the federal government purchased the land and halted any further development of the golf course. The event gave attention to Aboriginal rights, and altered the way future land disputes would be solved. The Oka crisis may have ended, but the aftermath and issues still
remain. To conclude, the Oka Crisis was a situation that was caused by ignorance in a small town that eventually escalated into something dire. It started by a preposterous plan to build something as insignificant as a golf course on already disputed land. The crisis escalated when the Surete du Quebec was called to control the barricade of Mohawk warriors, resulting in a brawl that had one fatality. After the standoff ended, there was hatred between the Kanesatake and the people of Oka that took a while to recover from. In conclusion, the Oka Crisis was a terrible event in Oka’s history that could have been avoided if there was more respect towards Native people.
The Oka Uprising was initially a peaceful protest over the expansion of a golf course on Mohawk territory that turned violent after Quebec’s provincial police, the Sûreté du Québec, responded to the protest with tear gas and flash-bang grenades, eventually escalating to a gun battle between protesters and police. Years after the stand-off, revisionist military historians have praised the Canadian military for avoiding bloodshed because of their “personal commitment [and] calm and attentive approach to native reality,” in which they ought to be commended for “carrying the burden of peace” (Conradi 548). However, Robinson rejects this notion and instead proposes a re-imagining of the Oka conflict through the “adjustment” of First Nations people who fought at Oka with the “bombing of the last Canadian reserve” (Robinson 211). Through “carrying the burden of peace” the Officers are given the power to destroy any semblance of Indigenous tradition, such as the potlatch, and to violently corral all First Nations people to sectioned off “Urban Reserves”. By disrupting popular Canadian perception of law enforcement Robinson succeeds in creating a dystopian image of corrupted power that allows readers to sympathize with the subjection of First Nations people of
The Calder Case was the spark that led to the Canadian government recognizing Aboriginals and their rights. Firstly, the aboriginals used the Calder Case to inform the government that they were taking away their rights. The Calder Case was launched after the Attorney General of British Columbia declared “that the Aboriginal Title, other wise known as the Indian Title, of the Plaintiffs to their ancient tribal territory...has never been lawfully extinguished.”1 The statement made by the government claimed that the Aboriginal Title did not exist in the eyes of the law and before the Calder Case, it allowed them to ignore Aboriginal land rights all over the country. In addition, The Calder brought the issues the Aboriginals were facing with land claims to the attention of the Canadian government. “According to Kainai Board of Education The case made it all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada where the court ended up rejecting the native's claims after being split on it's validity. However, the Supreme Court of Canada's recognition required new respect for Aboriginal land claims.”2 The Supreme Court of Canada's recognition of the Calder Case benefited the Aboriginals as the government was...
In the month of March 1990 Mohawk protesters constructed a barricade to prevent access to the Kanehsatake reserve to prevent construction of a 9-hole golf course. Then on July 11, 1990, Canadian police attack the barricade and a standoff begins. What was once in the name of the Kanehsatake reserve now became a civil rights movement for the First Nations across Canada. Throughout the standoff, police disregarded the basic rights of the Mohawk and negotiations were incredibly difficult resulting in the situation degrading rapidly. What was shown during the Oka Crisis is that the Canadian government failed to recognize that the First Nations as a people and treated them unfairly.
The Grassy Narrows (Asubpeeschoseewagong) First Nation is an Ojibwa First Nation located north of Kenora, ON. The community has been fighting against environmental injustices imposed on them from various actors over the last 40 years (Rodgers, 2009, para. 10), involving issues with mercury poisoned fish (para. 1) clear cutting of their lands (para. 27) and subsequent degradation of their land, water and food sources. This essay will detail the environmental justice struggles of the Grassy Narrows First Nation, point out the unfair treatment and environmental racism they have been subject to and will also question the role that authority, power and litigation have played within the community.
The land of the Native Indians had been encroached upon by American settlers. By the
People know about the conflict between the Indian's cultures and the settler's cultures during the westward expansion. Many people know the fierce battles and melees between the Indians and the settlers that were born from this cultural conflict. In spite of this, many people may not know about the systematic and deliberate means employed by the U.S. government to permanently rid their new land of the Indians who had lived their own lives peacefully for many years. There are many strong and chilling reasons and causes as to why the settlers started all of this perplexity in the first place. There was also a very strong and threatening impact on the Native Americans through the schooling that stained the past and futures of Native Americans not only with blood but also with emotion. It was all a slow and painful plan of the "white man" to hopefully get rid of the Indian culture, forever. The Native American schools were created in an attempt to destroy the Native American way of life, their culture, beliefs and tradi...
As Americans sought to expand their settlements into Cherokee land, the Cherokee faced three choices: assimilate, leave their native land, or defend their sovereignty. The Cherokee Indians had lived on these lands of thousands of years before the colonist claimed it for the United States. Five million acres of land in Georgia was trying to be peaceably obtained from the Indians. The Cherokee Indians having already given portions of their lands in numerous Georgia treaties wanted to hold onto what little land they had left. When the Americans continued to occupy land that they believed they deserved the Cherokee Indians were left with no alternative but to try to defend their sovereignty.
The 19th century set the stage for different policies that lead to the extending of America’s power, which is defined as imperialism. Imperialism started for different reasons like the Americans wanting the U.S. to expand or explore the unknown land, or even some feared existing resources in U.S. might eventually dry up. The reason imperialism started doesn’t really matter, but more of what it caused. Imperialism lead to Cuban assistance, the addition of Hawaii and Alaska to America, and Yellow Journalism.
In comparison to other slaves that are discussed over time, Olaudah Equiano truly does lead an ‘interesting’ life. While his time as a slave was very poor there are certainly other slaves that he mentions that received far more damaging treatment than he did. In turn this inspires him to fight for the abolishment of slavery. By pointing out both negative and positive events that occurred, the treatment he received from all of his masters, the impact that religion had on his life and how abolishing slavery could benefit the future of everyone as a whole; Equiano develops a compelling argument that does help aid the battle against slavery. For Olaudah Equiano’s life journey expressed an array of cruelties that came with living the life of an
Natives were forcefully removed from their land in the 1800’s by America. In the 1820’s and 30’s Georgia issued a campaign to remove the Cherokees from their land. The Cherokee Indians were one of the largest tribes in America at the time. Originally the Cherokee’s were settled near the great lakes, but overtime they moved to the eastern portion of North America. After being threatened by American expansion, Cherokee leaders re-organized their government and adopted a constitution written by a convention, led by Chief John Ross (Cherokee Removal). In 1828 gold was discovered in their land. This made the Cherokee’s land even more desirable. During the spring and winter of 1838- 1839, 20,000 Cherokees were removed and began their journey to Oklahoma. Even if natives wished to assimilate into America, by law they were neither citizens nor could they hold property in the state they were in. Principal Chief, John Ross and Major Ridge were leaders of the Cherokee Nation. The Eastern band of Cherokee Indians lost many due to smallpox. It was a year later that a Treaty was signed for cession of Cherokee land in Texas. A small number of Cherokee Indians assimilated into Florida, in o...
The Indian Act no longer remains an undisputable aspect of the Aboriginal landscape in Canada. For years, this federal legislation (that was both controversial and invasive) governed practically all of the aspects of Aboriginal life, starting with the nature of band governance and land tenure. Most importantly, the Indian act defines qualifications of being a “status Indian,” and has been the source of Aboriginal hatred, due to the government attempting to control Aboriginals’ identities and status. This historical importance of this legislation is now being steadily forgotten. Politically speaking, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal critics of the Indian act often have insufferable opinions of the limits of the Indian Act’s governance, and often argue to have this administrative device completely exterminated. Simultaneously, recent modern land claim settlements bypass the authority of the Indian Act over specific groups.
Nearly three decades have passed since the eleven-week armed stand-off between the Mohawk Warrior Society, Sûreté de Québec, and Canadian Armed Forces, commonly known among Settlers as the Oka Crisis. While the relative success of the conflict on the behalf of the Kanien’kehá:ka people is still widely debated today, it is undeniable that it fundamentally changed Indigenous-State relations in Canada. One concrete measure that stemmed out of the stand-off was the creation of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal peoples (RCAP) a year later in 1991. The largest and most expensive commission in Canadian history, RCAP was tasked with contextualizing the history of the Indigenous-State relationship and producing recommendations for its improvement.
Despite the fact that these agreements were a clear violation of existing British law, they were used later to justify the American takeover of the region. The Shawnee also claimed these lands but, of course, were never consulted. With the Iroquois selling the Shawnee lands north of the Ohio, and the Cherokee selling the Shawnee lands south, where could they go? Not surprisingly, the Shawnee stayed and fought the Americans for 40 years. Both the Cherokee and Iroquois were fully aware of the problem they were creating. After he had signed, a Cherokee chief reputedly took Daniel Boone aside to say, "We have sold you much fine land, but I am afraid you will have trouble if you try to live there."
What followed was a series of treaties and land grants for the Menominee people.... ... middle of paper ... ... However, this strategy backfired, and the United States became even more determined to buy up the remaining Potawatomi lands (Milwaukee Public Museum). The Potawatomi eventually had to sell all their lands to the government and were forced to move from Wisconsin.
In “The Fish” by Elizabeth Bishop, the narrator attempts to understand the relationship between humans and nature and finds herself concluding that they are intertwined due to humans’ underlying need to take away from nature, whether through the act of poetic imagination or through the exploitation and contamination of nature. Bishop’s view of nature changes from one where it is an unknown, mysterious, and fearful presence that is antagonistic, to one that characterizes nature as being resilient when faced against harm and often victimized by people. Mary Oliver’s poem also titled “The Fish” offers a response to Bishop’s idea that people are harming nature, by providing another reason as to why people are harming nature, which is due to how people are unable to view nature as something that exists and goes beyond the purpose of serving human needs and offers a different interpretation of the relationship between man and nature. Oliver believes that nature serves as subsidence for humans, both physically and spiritually. Unlike Bishop who finds peace through understanding her role in nature’s plight and acceptance at the merging between the natural and human worlds, Oliver finds that through the literal act of consuming nature can she obtain a form of empowerment that allows her to become one with nature.