Oka Crisis
The Mohawk warriors were peaceful protestors, and succeeded in protecting their land. They resisted great pain and suffering and were rewarded for their sacrifice.
The Mohawk warriors at Oka did carry the burden of peace because they were peacefully protecting their land, there was no act of violence shown by the Mohawk warriors at Oka against the army, and in the end they had peacefully walked out without putting a fight. According to Marian Scott form the Montreal Gazette, the Mohawks had used the Pines, to graze their livestock and cut wood. Since the 18th century Mohawk members and Mohawk warriors have been protesting peacefully and pressing the government to recognize their land claims, but their requests would always be
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ignored. In 1961, a nine-hole golf course was built on the Mohawk land of Kanesatake reserve (known as Pines); despite the peaceful protests from the Mohawks to preserve their land and scared ground which included a burial ground; the Mohawk claim was rejected and the golf course was built. “We’d always been using the Pines because it was ours,” said Gabriel, 58, whose family home overlooks the contested woods. “I grew up, literally, in the woods here with my cousins. And it was great.” “We had freedom. We were out in the woods all day, every day. One of our parents would call us for supper and we’d come running like little puppies,” he said. “There’s a pond we used to go to. We used to drag shovels over there and spend a couple hours shovelling off the snow on the pond and we’d make our own rink. You’d have about 20 kids and six dogs playing hockey. It was really idyllic back then.” (montrealgazette) For generations Mohawk have used the Pines for ceremonies, playground uses such as lacrosse, and part of the Pine was being a graveyard for the Mohawks. But their land has been taken away from them. However, it didn’t stop there. In 1989, the mayor of Oka, Jean Ouellette announced that the golf course would be expanded from a nine-hole to an 18-hole golf course. He also authorized the construction of 60 luxury condominiums on the Mohawk land. Despite the peaceful protest by the Mohawk of Kanesatake, and the concerns expressed by the Quebec Minister of environment and the Minister of Native Affairs, construction was scheduled to begin of the 18-hole golf course and the 60 condominiums on Mohawk lands. Mohawk protesters constructed a barricade, blocking the access to the area. Mohawk warriors from the two reserves, Kahnawake and Akwesasne joined the peaceful protest, and help build the barricades. War broke out when the mayor of Oka, Jean Ouellette, told the provincial police force, the Sûreté du Québec to intervene. On the morning of 11 July 1990 the Sûreté du Québec attacked the barricades, by using gas tears and concussion grenades against the Mohawks. Gabriel a person who was opposing the golf course and 60 luxury condos said “At the beginning, when it started, it was agreed no weapons. It was agreed it was ecumenical, so there was no politics, no religion.” (montrealgazette). The Mohawks and the Oka mayor agreed there are no need of guns for this issue. But the mayor wasn’t truly honest with the agreement that was made, and sent Sûreté du Québec to attack the barricades. “The ultimate goal of the warrior society is to defend indigenous lands and people from external threats, particularly state authorities, in order to achieve justice and eventually peace.” (jmss). From the very start the Oka warrior’s objective was to protect their land until justice is served to its people. The Oka warriors neither threw tear gas or flares at the army but remained calm and peaceful with the army. On September 26 after a long and tense standoff, the armed Mohawks burned their weapons and peacefully walked out of the final area that they had been contained in, refusing to surrender. The Mohawk warriors were arrested and taken to court. "We didnt get our land," Debbie Etienne said. "But I think on the inside we gained a lot, because our kids saw the truth.... It proved what my grandparents [told me] and their grandparents told them ... We are not a violent people; they created the violence." (cbc). This Oka crisis showed the truth to Mohawk people how cruel, brutal, and savage the government can be. In the end, the Mohawk were truly victorious because they inspired indigenous resistance and set the tone for indigenous resistance for history. Not only that but the golf course and the condominium project was cancelled. We can see in the end how the Mohawk warriors at Oka truly did carry the burden of peace. They went through all the pain and suffering for protecting their land and did it peacefully with no violence involved. The Mohawk warrior’s society were portrayed as a band of goons because the media was misinformed by the army. Throughout the siege the military were the ones that held the media conferences, and told the media only from their perspective. A video was released by the military for the media showing Mohawk warriors bunkers, traps, trenches, and assorted small arms. They also showed that the Mohawk warriors had M-72 anti-tank weapons, as well as 50-calibre machine guns. They basically portrayed the Mohawk warriors as a formidable enemy. “Even a handful of combat-ready warriors could be a difficult challenge… if a large number of warriors are committed to armed resistance, casualties on both sides will inevitably be serious” (warriorpublications).” The army is trying to show that the Mohawk warriors can be a great threat to deal with if they use weapons. They portrayed the Mohawk warriors as radical, extremist terrorists. The local residents of Oka and Chateauguay are long suffering neighbours and the Surete du Quebec are uniformed thugs.
The Oka and Chateauguay have been suffering from the 18th century pressing the government to recognize their right to the land. When the war broke out, the Mohawks seized the Mercier Bridge with arms as an act of solidarity and also put pressure on the Quebec government. The Mercier bridge was the Mohawks only major bargaining chip. Closing the bridge “was the only major deterrent we had to not have confrontation,” said Two Rivers. For neighbouring suburbs and residents of Châteauguay the summers became hell for them. It was hell for them because the barricades on the highway trapped people inside or outside the besieged communities, because of scarce food. The Surete du Quebec are uniformed thugs because they intervened in the Oka crisis without knowing about the situation. “At dawn, more than 100 black-clad, helmeted Sûreté du Québec officers, led by the SWAT team, massed outside the Mohawk barricade to launch an ill-fated assault on the Pines.” (montrealgazette). They Surete du Quebec attacked the barricades, using tear gas and concussion grenades, they also established blockade down hill from Mohawk warrior blockade. The Surete du Quebec were just uniformed bullies, ready to beat Mohawk
people. Ottawa is to blame for the events that escalated leading to Canadian Soldiers pointing all their military night at the Mohawk residents of Kanesatake because Oka could have been avoided if Ottawa had listened to the Mohawks land claims. “Ciaccia says Ottawa could have bought the land at the heart of the dispute and transferred it to Mohawk control, but federal officials dragged their feet.” (cbc). It was in Ottawa’s hand to listen to what the Mohawk people were saying but they chose not to and instead ended up with a 78-day armed stand-off that left one Quebec officer died, killing a couple of Mohawk people, and transforming Mohawk communities into battlegrounds. Ottawa could’ve stop this Oka crisis if only they agreed to the Mohawks land claim. In conclusion, after a long-lasting and tense standoff between the army, the Mohawk warriors succeeded in protecting their land. Not only that but also truly inspired indigenous resistance and set the highest tone. Work Cited Zig, Zig. "Oka Crisis, 1990." Warrior Publications. N.p., 11 June 2015. Web. 22 Mar. 2017. Mckenna, Kate. "Mohawks mark 25 years since Oka Crisis." CBCnews. CBC/Radio Canada, 11 July 2015. Web. 22 Mar. 2017.
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
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