Oka Crisis
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The Oka Crisis (french: links=no, Crise d'Oka), also known as the Kanehsatà:ke Resistance (), was a
land dispute A territorial dispute or boundary dispute is a disagreement over the possession or control of land between two or more political entities. Context and definitions Territorial disputes are often related to the possession of natural resources s ...
between a group of
Mohawk people The Mohawk people ( moh, Kanienʼkehá꞉ka) are the most easterly section of the Haudenosaunee, or Iroquois Confederacy. They are an Iroquoian-speaking Indigenous people of North America, with communities in southeastern Canada and northern Ne ...
and the town of
Oka, Quebec Oka is a small village on the northern bank of the Ottawa River (''Rivière des Outaouais'' in French), northwest of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Located in the Laurentians valley on Lake of Two Mountains, where the Ottawa has its confluence with t ...
, Canada, which began on July 11, 1990, and lasted 78 days until September 26, 1990, with two fatalities. The dispute was the first well-publicized violent conflict between
First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: **First Natio ...
and provincial governments in the late 20th century.


Historical background


Early settlement

Haudenosaunee The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian Peoples, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Indigenous confederations in North America, confederacy of First Nations in Canada, First Natio ...
(Iroquois) people, mainly members of the
Mohawk nation The Mohawk people ( moh, Kanienʼkehá꞉ka) are the most easterly section of the Haudenosaunee, or Iroquois Confederacy. They are an Iroquoian-speaking Indigenous people of North America, with communities in southeastern Canada and northern N ...
(Kanien’kehà:ka), first settled in the
Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...
area in the late 1660s, moving north from their homeland in the
Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between Ne ...
valley. The several hundred people who migrated at the time went on to develop three distinct Mohawk communities in the region; Kahnawá:ke, Kanehsatà:ke and
Ahkwesáhsne The Mohawk Nation at Akwesasne ( ; french: Nation Mohawk à Akwesasne; moh, Ahkwesáhsne) is a Mohawk Nation (''Kanienʼkehá:ka'') territory that straddles the intersection of international (United States and Canada) borders and provincial ( O ...
. Around 1658, the Mohawk had displaced from the area the
Wyandot people The Wyandot people, or Wyandotte and Waⁿdát, are Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands. The Wyandot are Iroquoian Indigenous peoples of North America who emerged as a confederacy of tribes around the north shore of Lake Ontario ...
(or Hurons), with whom the
Haudenosaunee The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian Peoples, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Indigenous confederations in North America, confederacy of First Nations in Canada, First Natio ...
(of which the Mohawk were a tribe) had long been in conflict. In the fall of 1666, hundreds of French soldiers, as well as Algonquin and Huron allies, attacked southward from Lake Champlain and devastated four Mohawk villages near Albany, then negotiated a peace between the Haudenosaunee and the French and their allies which lasted for the next 20 years. In 1673, the Jesuit mission at Saint-François-Xavier brought about forty Mohawks from the village of Kaghnuwage, on the Mohawk River, in present-day New York state. In 1680, the Jesuits were granted the seigneurie Sault-Saint-Louis, now named the village of Kahnawá:ke, with a current area of over 4000 hectares. Starting in the 1680s, there was a military conflict between the English allied to the Mohawks and the French allied with other indigenous tribes. In the early 1690s, the Mohawks were weakened through a prolonged and severe military effort by the French. In 1676, the
Society of the Priests of Saint Sulpice The Society of Priests of Saint-Sulpice (french: Compagnie des Prêtres de Saint-Sulpice), abbreviated PSS also known as the Sulpicians is a society of apostolic life of Pontifical Right for men, named after the Church of Saint-Sulpice, Paris ...
(Sulpician Fathers), a Roman Catholic order, then based in Paris, France, founded
Montreal Island The Island of Montreal (french: Île de Montréal) is a large island in southwestern Quebec, Canada, that is the site of a number of municipalities including most of the city of Montreal and is the most populous island in Canada. It is the main ...
's first mission at the foot of
Mount Royal Mount Royal (french: link=no, Mont Royal, ) is a large intrusive rock hill or small mountain in the city of Montreal, immediately west of Downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The best-known hypothesis for the origin of the name Montreal is the ...
to minister to the needs of Iroquois / Mohawk,
Algonquin Algonquin or Algonquian—and the variation Algonki(a)n—may refer to: Languages and peoples *Algonquian languages, a large subfamily of Native American languages in a wide swath of eastern North America from Canada to Virginia **Algonquin la ...
and Huron neophytes and to distance them from French settlers in Ville Marie. In 1696, the Sulpicians moved the mission to one on the edge of the , near the rapids, in north end Montreal Island. In 1717, the was granted a concession (3.5 of frontage, 3 deep) named . In 1721, the Sulpicians moved the mission to two villages on territory with the Algonquins and Nipissings being assigned the village to the east and the Mohawks being assigned the village to the west including territory known since the late 1880s as "The Pines" (formerly "sand dunes behind the village ... part of the Common Lands on which the Mohawks pastured their cattle") and the adjacent indigenous cemetery. This meant the Indigenous inhabitants were forced to move once again. To cushion the blow, they were promised ownership of the land they would inhabit. The was expanded through two grants, one in 1733, consisting of small pie-shaped segment with 2 of frontage to the east of initial concession land, and, in 1735, a larger segment representing about 40% of the seigneurie's total area. In all three grants the land was provided under the guarantee it would be used for the benefit of Indigenous residents.


Land dispute

Following the
conquest of New France Conquest is the act of military subjugation of an enemy by force of arms. Military history provides many examples of conquest: the Roman conquest of Britain, the Mauryan conquest of Afghanistan and of vast areas of the Indian subcontinent, ...
in 1760, the Act of Capitulation of Montreal guaranteed that all the "Indians" who had been allied to the French would be free to remain on the land they inhabited unless those lands were formally ceded to the Crown. This was restated by the Treaty of Paris and again in the Royal Proclmation of 1763. Hence, the Mohawk began advocating for the recognition of their land rights to British officials. Similar claims in Kahnawá:ke and
Ahkwesáhsne The Mohawk Nation at Akwesasne ( ; french: Nation Mohawk à Akwesasne; moh, Ahkwesáhsne) is a Mohawk Nation (''Kanienʼkehá:ka'') territory that straddles the intersection of international (United States and Canada) borders and provincial ( O ...
were recognized, but the Kanehsatà:ke requests to be released from the rule of the Sulpicians and reporting of seminary officials to white settlers were ignored. When the Sulpicians aided the British in crushing the Patriot's War of 1837–38, the seminary's land title was confirmed. The Mohawk continued pursuing their right to the land, petitioning, and failing, to obtain the recognition of
Lord Elgin Earl of Elgin is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, created in 1633 for Thomas Bruce, 3rd Lord Kinloss. He was later created Baron Bruce, of Whorlton in the County of York, in the Peerage of England on 30 July 1641. The Earl of Elgin is the h ...
's recognition of their claims in 1851. Eight years later, the
Province of Canada The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report on the ...
extended the official title of the disputed land to the Sulpicians. In 1868, one year after
Confederation A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a union of sovereign groups or states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical iss ...
, the chief of the Oka Mohawk people, Joseph Onasakenrat, wrote a letter to the seminary claiming that its grant had included about reserved for Mohawk use in trust of the seminary, and that the seminary had neglected this trust by granting themselves (the seminary) sole ownership rights. In 1869, Onasakenrat attacked the seminary with a small armed force after having given the missionaries eight days to hand over the land. Local authorities ended this stand-off with force. In 1936, the seminary sold the territory under protest by the local Mohawk community. At the time they still kept cattle on the common land. By 1956, the Mohawk were left to six remaining square kilometres from their original 165. In 1959, the town approved the development of a private nine-hole golf course, the , on a portion of the disputed land. The project area bordered The Pines, as well as a Mohawk burial ground in use, at that time, for nearly a century. The Mohawk suit filed against the development did not succeed. Construction also began on a parking lot and golf greens adjacent to the Mohawk cemetery. In 1977, the Kanehsatà:ke
band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary *Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania *Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, I ...
filed an official land claim with the federal Office of Native Claims regarding the land. The claim was accepted for filing and funds were provided for additional research of the claim. In 1986 the claim was rejected on the basis that it failed to meet key legal criteria. In March 1989, the announced plans to expand the golf course by an additional nine holes. As the Office of Native Claims had rejected the Mohawk claim on the land three years earlier, his office did not consult the Mohawk on the plans. No environmental or historic preservation review was undertaken. Protests by Mohawks and others, as well as concern from the Quebec Minister of the Environment, led to negotiations and a postponement of the project by the municipality in August pending a court ruling on the development's legality.


Lead-up to the crisis

On June 30, 1990, the court found in favour of the developers, and the mayor of Oka, Jean Ouellette, announced that the remainder of the Pines would be cleared to expand the golf course to eighteen holes and to construct 60
condominium A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership structure whereby a building is divided into several units that are each separately owned, surrounded by common areas that are jointly owned. The term can be applied to the building or complex ...
s. Not all residents of Oka approved of the plans, but opponents found the mayor's office unwilling to discuss them. On March 11, as a protest against the court decision to allow the golf course expansion to proceed, some members of the Mohawk community erected a
barricade Barricade (from the French ''barrique'' - 'barrel') is any object or structure that creates a barrier or obstacle to control, block passage or force the flow of traffic in the desired direction. Adopted as a military term, a barricade denot ...
blocking access to the dirt side-road between Route 344 and "The Pines". A court injunction in late April ordering the dismantling of the barricade was ignored, as was a second order issued on June 29. Mayor Ouellette demanded compliance with the court order, but the
land defender A land defender, land protector, or environmental defender is an activist who works to protect ecosystems and the human right to a safe, healthy environment. Often, defenders are members of Indigenous communities who are protecting propert ...
s refused. On July 5, the Quebec minister of Public Security, Sam Elkas, said, regarding the land defenders at the Pines, that "they have until the 9th
f July F, or f, is the sixth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ef'' (pronounced ), and the plural is ''efs''. His ...
after that date it's going down." The next day, the Quebec Human Rights Commission alerted
John Ciaccia John Ciaccia (March 4, 1933 – August 7, 2018) was an Italian-born Canadian politician who was provincial cabinet minister from Montreal, Quebec. Ciaccia served as a member of the National Assembly of Quebec from 1973 to 1998, representing the M ...
and Tom Siddon, respectively the provincial and federal native affairs ministers, of the rapidly increasing threat of conflict near Oka and the need to establish an independent committee to review the historical Mohawk land claim. Ciaccia wrote a letter of support for the Mohawk, saying that "these people have seen their lands disappear without having been consulted or compensated, and that, in my opinion, is unfair and unjust, especially over a golf course." This did not sway the mayor.


Crisis


Police raid

At 5:15 a.m. on July 11, police officers arrived at the Mohawk barricade blocking the southern entrance to the Pines. Police cars and vans, as well as rental trucks parked in front of the barricade. Police officers took tactical positions from high vantage points in the trees or hid in ditches, semi-automatic weapons at the ready. Others walked to the barrier. At the same moment, another police contingent approached the northern barricade, referred to as “Sector Five”. In total, about a hundred officers, including a tactical intervention squad and riot police, surrounded the Mohawk warriors and their allies. The previous day the mayor of Oka, Jean Ouellette, had asked the SQ to intervene with the Mohawk protest, citing alleged criminal activity at the barricade. While the protesters had expected town officials or municipal workers, they had been promised by an SQ officer that the police would not intervene in this civil injunction. While they were reportedly willing to be arrested in the defence of their land, they had hoped to avoid violence. The Mohawk women present at the southern barricade purportedly took charge of the interactions with authorities as they recognized the protection of the land as their own duty. A dozen of them, arms stretched out to signify their being unarmed and having no violent intent, walked towards the police. Authorities said they would speak only to a designated leader, while the group of women said that they were all representing the interests of the group and no single leader existed. Tensions escalated as the authorities would not discuss matters with the Mohawk women. Eventually the group compromised and asked a male protester to come forward and talk with the officers. This was in vain. The SQ deployed their
Emergency Response Team An incident response team (IRT) or emergency response team (ERT) is a group of people who prepare for and respond to an emergency, such as a natural disaster or an interruption of business operations. Incident response teams are common in public s ...
(ERT), a
police tactical unit A police tactical unit (PTU) is a specialized police unit trained to handle situations that are beyond the capabilities of ordinary law enforcement units because of the level of violence (or risk of violence) involved. A police tactical unit's tas ...
, threw
tear gas Tear gas, also known as a lachrymator agent or lachrymator (), sometimes colloquially known as "mace" after the early commercial aerosol, is a chemical weapon that stimulates the nerves of the lacrimal gland in the eye to produce tears. In ...
canisters and concussion grenades at the protesters in an attempt to force them to disperse. The Kahnawá:ke Warrior Society was called in for reinforcements, and by 6:20 a.m. they were seizing Mercier Bridge and the highways which fed into it. They gained control of the two lanes of Highway 138, and then pushed back the thousands of cars to Châteauguay. Over the next three hours they created a no-man's land between two barricades while other contingents blocked Highways 132 and 207 as well as Old Châteauguay Road. Around 7:30 a.m. a front-end loader (sometimes cited as a bulldozer) and helicopter arrived, and the police moved closer to the barricade. Trees were sawed down by the Mohawk and added to the barricade while additional police cars arrived. Members of the surrounding Mohawk communities joined those already present at the Pines as tear gas canisters were thrown at the southern barrier. Around 8:30 the front-end loader rammed the barricade. Then armed police officers moved into the Pines, and gunshots were fired from both sides. Then the police retreated, abandoning six cruisers and a bulldozer. Although an initial account reported that 31-year-old SQ Corporal Marcel Lemay had been shot in the face during the firefight, a later inquest determined that the bullet which killed him struck his "left side below the armpit, an area not covered by isbullet-proof vest". Despite a 1985 SQ directive mandating that all officer communications be recorded, no record of the events was provided to the court, which the coroner decried as "unacceptable" and "even comical".


Siege

Upon their return, SQ officers established a perimeter around the protesters both at Kahnawáːke and Kanehsatàːke, blocking all access routes with rows of police cars and sandbags, preventing supplies like food and medication to be delivered and blocking ambulances from intervening. Representatives from the Quebec Human Rights Commission were also prevented from entering. In turn, protesters fortified their barricades and erected new ones, but police forced their way in to arrest, search and interrogate. On July 12, at the request of the Quebec minister of Public Securit, the Canadian Army began sending plain clothes military officers, C-7 rifles, night-vision equipment, bulletproof vests and armoured vehicles. Before the raid, there were approximately 30 armed Mohawk in and around the barricade; following the gun battle, this number grew to 60–70 and later grew to 600. The Mohawks seized six vehicles, including four police cars, and commandeered the front-end loader to crush the vehicles and use them to form a new barricade across Route 344. The Mohawk established a network for communications among the Mohawk villages/reserves of Ahkwesáhsne, Kanehsatàːke and Kahnawáːke, using hand-held radios, cellular phones, air raid sirens and fire hall bells, as well as local radio stations, and patrols. The local Mohawk were joined by Indigenous people from across Canada and the United States. People from Micmac communities, as well as a Buddhist monk and Filipina acupuncturist joined the protesters in the early weeks of the fight. Fifteen activist-students were sent from all over Canada by the
Canadian Federation of Students The Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) is the largest student organization in Canada, representing over 530,000 students from across Canada. Formed in 1981, the stated goal of the Federation is to represent the collective voice of Canadian ...
to write a policy paper, but most of the students decided to stay on in aid to the Mohawk cause instead. Additionally, over a hundred
Oneida people The Oneida people ( autonym: Onʌyoteˀa·ká·, Onyota'a:ka, ''the People of the Upright Stone, or standing stone'', ''Thwahrù·nęʼ'' in Tuscarora) are a Native American tribe and First Nations band. They are one of the five founding ...
from New York, Wisconsin and southern Ontario, a Quebec Algonquin man and several women from western Canada and Mexico all came to help. The Mohawk Warriors and protesters also received support from Indigenous populations across the country. The
Mercier Bridge Mercier is French for ''notions dealer'' or ''haberdasher'', and may refer to: People * Agnès Mercier, French curler and coach * Annick Mercier (born 1964), French curler * Amanda H. Mercier (born 1975), American Judge *Armand Mercier, (1933–2 ...
was blockaded at the point where it passed through Mohawk territory, thereby sealing off a major access between the
Island of Montreal The Island of Montreal (french: Île de Montréal) is a large island in southwestern Quebec, Canada, that is the site of a number of municipalities including most of the city of Montreal and is the most populous island in Canada. It is the main ...
and Montreal's densely populated South Shore suburbs. This frustrated commuters, which resulted in violent confrontations. At the peak of the crisis, the Mercier Bridge and routes
132 132 may refer to: *132 (number) *AD 132 *132 BC __NOTOC__ Year 132 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Laenas and Rupilius (or, less frequently, year 622 ''Ab urbe condita'') ...
,
138 138 may refer to: *138 (number) *138 BC *AD 138 Year 138 ( CXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Niger and Camer ...
and 207 were all blocked, creating substantial disruption to traffic. Corporal Marcel Lemay's funeral was held on July 16, and was attended by around 2000 people, including police officers from across Canada and the SQ director. The Warrior flag was lowered to half-mast in the Pines. On July 17, the Red Cross was granted entrance by police to provide food relief, but this access was rescinded quickly, forcing residents to smuggle provisions in. The Mohawk coalition, speaking on behalf of the resistance, agreed on three preconditions for negotiations: free access to food and advisors, and the presence of independent international observers, which both the provincial and federal governments firmly opposed. Anger grew among residents as the crisis dragged on. A group of
Châteauguay Châteauguay ( , , ) is an off-island suburb of Montreal, in southwestern Quebec, located both on the Chateauguay River and Lac St-Louis, which is a section of the St. Lawrence River. The population of the city of Châteauguay at the 2021 Cen ...
residents started building an unauthorized, unplanned roadway circumventing the Kahnawáːke reserve. Long after the crisis, this unfinished roadway was eventually incorporated into Quebec Autoroute 30. Residents of Châteauguay assaulted a Mohawk women trying to buy groceries, tried to prevent her from leaving the store, from which she had to be escorted by police, and threw tomatoes at her and her children. They also burned multiple effigies of Mohawk warriors while chanting "" (savages). By August 12, the crowd at Mercier Bridge had become a riot several thousand strong, destroying police vehicles and wounding officers. The SQ lost control of the situation, and the
Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal and national police service of Canada. As poli ...
(RCMP) were deployed. This resulted in 35 people, including ten constables, being hospitalized for their injuries. The heated context of the "failed" Meech Accords and earlier that summer, as well as the tensions between French and English speakers in the province complicated public sentiment vis-a-vis the Kanehsatàːke resistance. Radio host
Gilles Proulx Gilles Proulx (born April 5, 1940) is a Canadian radio and television host in the province of Quebec. His radio career began in 1962, notably working for CHMP-FM and currently for Quebecor and Radio Ville-Marie. A strong Quebec nationalist, kno ...
raised tensions with comments such as the Mohawks "couldn't even speak French", while Simon Bédard of CJPR called for "cleaning everything up" by killing "fifty, one hundred, one hundred and twenty-five" people, burying them and forgetting about it. These remarks inflamed tempers that had been running especially high from comments preceding this crisis, including those by Ricardo Lopez, the federal Member of Parliament for Châteauguay, who denigrated the Mohawk.


Intervention by the army

Nightly gatherings at the blockaded Mercier Bridge grew in size and violence, adding to the pressure put on SQ forces, leading the
Quebec premier The premier of Quebec (French: ''premier ministre du Québec'' (masculine) or ''première ministre du Québec'' (feminine)) is the head of government of the Canadian province of Quebec. The current premier of Quebec is François Legault of th ...
Robert Bourassa Robert Bourassa (; July 14, 1933 – October 2, 1996) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd premier of Quebec from 1970 to 1976 and from 1985 to 1994. A member of the Liberal Party of Quebec, he served a total of just un ...
to announce that in accord with Section 275 of the ''
National Defence Act The ''National Defence Act'' (NDA; ; ''LDN'') is an Act of the Parliament of Canada, which is the primary enabling legislation for organizing and funding the military of Canada. The Act created the Department of National Defence, which merged th ...
'', he was requesting official military support from the Canadian Army on August 27. The same day Mulroney appointed Quebec Chief Justice Alan B. Gold as special mediator to negotiate an agreement with the land defenders. On August 28, press conferences were held by military leadership to announce the upcoming intervention and by Mulroney to denounce the actions of the protesters. Lieutenant-General Kent Foster announced the upcoming use of three Leopard tanks and that Brigadier-General Armand Roy was given full autonomy to attack at will with the objective of obtaining "unconditional surrender" from the Warriors. In response, families with children and elderly members attempt to flee Kahnawáːke, and were met at the barricades by a crowd throwing stones. Though the SQ had guaranteed safety for the evacuees, they did not attempt to stop the crowd from breaking windshields and windows. Several people were wounded and Mohawk elder Joe Armstrong, 71, was struck in the chest by a large rock, and suffered a fatal heart attack the following day. The following morning, army forces replace SQ officers surrounding Kahnawáːke and Kanehsatàːke. General
John de Chastelain Alfred John Gardyne Drummond de Chastelain (born 30 July 1937) is a British-Canadian retired army officer and diplomat. De Chastelain was born in Romania to Scottish and American parents and was educated in England and Scotland before his famil ...
, Chief of the Defence Staff, placed Quebec-based troops in support of the provincial authorities; 2,500 regular and reserve troops from 34 and
35 Canadian Brigade Group 35 Canadian Brigade Group (35CBG; french: 35e Groupe-brigade du Canada) is part of 2nd Canadian Division, under the Canadian Army of the Canadian Forces. It is headquartered in Quebec City, Quebec. It is the successor of the Cold War era Quebec M ...
s and
5 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group 5 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group (french: 5e Groupe-brigade mécanisé du Canada) (5 CMBG) is a Canadian Forces brigade group that is part of 2nd Canadian Division of the Canadian Army. It is based at CFB Valcartier, near Quebec City, Quebec. ...
were put on notice. On August 20, a company of the Royal 22e Régiment, known colloquially in English as the "Van Doos", led by Major Alain Tremblay, took over three barricades and arrived at the final blockade leading to the disputed area. There, they reduced the stretch of
no man's land No man's land is waste or unowned land or an uninhabited or desolate area that may be under dispute between parties who leave it unoccupied out of fear or uncertainty. The term was originally used to define a contested territory or a dump ...
, originally implemented by the SQ before the barricade at the Pines, from 1.5 kilometres to 5 metres. Additional troops and mechanized equipment mobilized at staging areas around Montreal, while reconnaissance aircraft flew air photo missions over Mohawk territory to gather intelligence. On August 29, the Mohawks at the Mercier Bridge negotiated an end to their protest blockade with Lieutenant-Colonel Robin Gagnon, the "Van Doos" commander who had been responsible for the south shore of the St. Lawrence River during the crisis. While the Warriors at Kahnawáːke had reached an agreement with government officials and had begun dismantling their barricades, Kanehsatàːke was now more vulnerable and isolated. Though the land dispute which had led to the crisis was resolved in principle, since the federal government had secured the purchase of the land from the developers and the town of Oka, it had yet to transfer the land title into Mohawk hands. Furthermore, the protesters at Kanehsatàːke were still waiting on safety guarantees for themselves and their allies before risking giving up their last bargaining chips. Nonetheless, Bourassa announced that negotiations were over and demanded that international observers leave. They reluctantly submitted to his request, and were replaced by local church and human rights observers. Multiple parallel and sometimes secret talks were held, unbeknownst to many of the parties involved. With the bridge no longer occupied and Kahnawáːke essentially neutralized, the armed forces entered Kanehsatàːke on September 1. They dismantled the last barricade on Highway 344 on September 2. The next day, only 24 Warriors were left defending a territory of only a few hundred meters and were surrounded by ravines, the lake, over 400 soldiers with machine guns, armoured vehicles and helicopters. They were sheltered in a treament centre, at the top of a hill, with dormitories, a kitchen, food reserves, and communication equipment. What followed was the last leg of a prolonged siege. By September 6, the Mercier Bridge was functional again. Journalists were forbidden from approaching the Warrior stronghold and the army cut all cellphone service to the treatment centre. Anyone who left the compound was arrested, including legal counsel Stanley Cohen.


Resolution and aftermath

September 25 witnessed the final engagement of the crisis: a Mohawk warrior walked around the perimeter of the blockade area with a long stick, setting off flares that had been originally installed by the Canadian Forces to alert them to individuals fleeing the area. The soldiers turned a water hose on this man, but it lacked enough pressure to disperse the crowd surrounding him. This crowd taunted the soldiers and began throwing water balloons at them, but the incident did not escalate further. Finally, after 78 days of fighting and 26 days of siege without supplies being let through, the land defenders decided to end the struggle. The remaining protesters began walking home, but all were arrested either while leaving Kanehsatà:ke or while entering Oka. As the military began arresting land defenders and some began to flee, 14-year-old
Waneek Horn-Miller Waneek Horn-Miller (born November 30, 1975) is a Canadian water polo player from the Kahnawake Mohwak Territory. She was a member of the Canadian women's water polo team that won a gold medal at the 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg. Horn-Mill ...
was stabbed near the heart by a Canadian
bayonet A bayonet (from French ) is a knife, dagger, sword, or spike-shaped weapon designed to fit on the end of the muzzle of a rifle, musket or similar firearm, allowing it to be used as a spear-like weapon.Brayley, Martin, ''Bayonets: An Illustr ...
, and nearly died. The journalists who had managed to stay with the Mohawk people in the treatment center were now held and interrogated. The Kanehsatà:ke Resistance was over. Among those charged and convicted for their participation was Ronaldo Casalpro (who used the alias Ronald "Lasagna" Cross during the conflict). Casalpro was beaten by Sûreté du Québec officers after his arrest, and while three were suspended without pay, the case took so long to process that they had already left the force. Two SQ officers were suspended and investigated for allegedly beating Casalpro while in captivity, but were not subsequently charged. Cross served a six-year sentence for assault and weapons charges related to his role in the crisis and died of a heart attack in November 1999. Casalpro's brother, Tracy Cross, later served as the best man at the wedding of slain SQ Corporal Lemay's sister, Francine, who had reconciled with the community after reading ''At the Woods' Edge'', a history of Kanesatake. The golf course expansion that had originally triggered the crisis was cancelled and the land under dispute was purchased from the developers by the federal government for $5.3 million. The municipality initially refused to sell the land until Mohawk barricades were dismantled, but acquiesced when the government threatened to
expropriate Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...
the land without compensation. The federal government of Canada did not transfer this land to into Kanehsatà:ke ownership nor establish it as a land reserve. The Oka Crisis motivated the development of a national First Nations Policing Policy to try to prevent future incidents, and brought Indigenous issues into the forefront in Canada. In 1991, Ouellette was re-elected mayor of Oka by
acclamation An acclamation is a form of election that does not use a ballot. It derives from the ancient Roman word ''acclamatio'', a kind of ritual greeting and expression of approval towards imperial officials in certain social contexts. Voting Voice vot ...
. He later said of the crisis that his responsibilities as mayor required him to act as he did.


In media

The Oka Crisis was extensively documented and inspired numerous books and films. Canadian filmmaker
Alanis Obomsawin Alanis Obomsawin, (born August 31, 1932) is an Abenaki American Canadian filmmaker, singer, artist, and activist primarily known for her documentary films. Born in New Hampshire, United States and raised primarily in Quebec, Canada, she has wri ...
has made
documentaries A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in term ...
about the Oka Crisis, including '' Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance'' (1993) and '' Rocks at Whiskey Trench'' (2000). These and two additional documentaries on the crisis were all produced by the
National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary fi ...
: Christine Welsh directed ''Keepers of the Fire'' (1994), which documents the role of Mohawk women during the crisis, and Alec MacLeod created ''Acts of Defiance'' (1993). ''
Montreal Gazette The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of t ...
''
journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...
Albert Nerenberg switched careers after smuggling a video camera behind the barricades and making his first documentary, called ''Okanada''. Gerald R. Alfred, a Kahnawá:ke Mohawk who was part of the
band council In Canada, an Indian band or band (french: bande indienne, link=no), sometimes referred to as a First Nation band (french: bande de la Première Nation, link=no) or simply a First Nation, is the basic unit of government for those peoples subjec ...
during the crisis, and who later became a professor of
political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and ...
, wrote ''Heeding the Voices of Our Ancestors: Kahnawake Mohawk Politics and the Rise of Native Nationalism'' (1995). This was based on his
PhD dissertation A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144 ...
, which examined the issues. John Ciaccia, the
Minister of Native Affairs Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of governmen ...
for Quebec at the time, wrote a book about the events related to the Oka Crisis. His book, titled ''The Oka Crisis, A Mirror of the Soul'', was published in 2000. Harry Swain, then the federal deputy minister of
Indian Affairs and Northern Development Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asi ...
, wrote "Oka: a Political Crisis and its Legacy," in 2010.
Robin Philpot Robin Philpot (born 1948) is a Quebec journalist and 2007 electoral candidate for the Parti Québécois. Background Originally from Thunder Bay, Ontario, where his father Roderick Philpot was an alderman of the city of Fort William, Philpot ...
wrote a book about
English Canada Canada comprises that part of the population within Canada, whether of British origin or otherwise, that speaks English. The term ''English Canada'' can also be used for one of the following: #Describing all the provinces of Canada tha ...
's use of the crisis as a political tool following the failed
Meech Lake Accord The Meech Lake Accord (french: Accord du lac Meech) was a series of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada negotiated in 1987 by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and all 10 Canadian provincial premiers. It was intended to persuade the gov ...
: (1991). Anarchist author and activist
Peter Gelderloos Peter Gelderloos (born ) is an American anarchist activist and writer. Biography In November 2001, Gelderloos was arrested with 30 others for trespass in protest of the American military training facility School of the Americas, which trains ...
said that the Oka Crisis should serve as a model for activists to get what they want for four reasons.
#"It succeeded in seizing space. #It spread ideas of indigenous sovereignty and inspired many others in North America to fight back. #It did not have elite support. #The golf course expansion on their lands was defeated, and the conflict came to a dignified conclusion for the Mohawk."
The 2020 film ''Beans'', which won the
Canadian Screen Award for Best Motion Picture The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television presents an annual award for Best Motion Picture to the best Canadian film of the year.Maria Topalovich, ''And the Genie Goes To...: Celebrating 50 Years of the Canadian Film Awards''. Stoddart Publishi ...
, portrays the incident through the eyes of a young Mohawk girl.
Tracey Deer Tracey Penelope ''Tekahentakwa'' Deer (born February 28, 1978, Mohawk nation, Mohawk) is a screenwriter, film director and newspaper publisher based in Kahnawake, Quebec. Deer has written and directed several award-winning documentaries for Rezol ...
, who lived through the crisis when she was twelve years old, directed and co-wrote the film.


In art

Joseph Tehawehron David, a Mohawk artist who became known for his role as a warrior during the Oka Crisis in 1990, developed a body of artistic work that was deeply influenced by his experience "behind the wire" in 1990.


In popular culture

In the 1999 film '' The Insider'',
Al Pacino Alfredo James Pacino (; ; born April 25, 1940) is an American actor. Considered one of the most influential actors of the 20th century, he has received numerous accolades: including an Academy Award, two Tony Awards, and two Primetime Emmy ...
's character Lowell Bergman says "Everybody thinks Canadian Mounties ride horses and rescue ladies from rapids. Mike, they backed locals in Oka in a fight with Mohawks over building a golf course on their burial site, they beat up protestors at Kanesatake". The Canadian punk rock band
Propagandhi Propagandhi is a Canadian punk rock band formed in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba in 1986 by guitarist Chris Hannah and drummer Jord Samolesky. The band is currently located in Winnipeg, Manitoba and completed by bassist Todd Kowalski and guitar ...
wrote a song titled "Oka Everywhere", which was released in 1995 on a 10-inch split album with
I Spy I spy is a guessing game where one player (the ''spy'' or ''it'') chooses an object within sight and announces to the other players that "I spy with my little eye something beginning with...", naming the first letter of the object. Other players a ...
. It was later re-released on their 1998 compilation album ''
Where Quantity Is Job Number 1 Propagandhi is a Canadian punk rock band formed in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba in 1986 by guitarist Chris Hannah and drummer Jord Samolesky. The band is currently located in Winnipeg, Manitoba and completed by bassist Todd Kowalski and guitar ...
''. The Canadian indigenous hip hop duo
Snotty Nose Rez Kids Snotty Nose Rez Kids are a First Nations hip hop duo composed of Haisla rappers Darren "Young D" Metz and Quinton "Yung Trybez" Nyce. They are originally from Kitamaat Village, British Columbia, and currently based in Vancouver. Their 2017 album ...
reference the Oka Crisis in their song "Cops With Guns Are The Worst!!!".


See also

*
Face to Face (photograph) ''Face to Face'' is a photograph of Canadian Pte. Patrick Cloutier and Anishinaabe warrior Brad Larocque staring each other down during the Oka Crisis. It was taken on September 1, 1990 by Shaney Komulainen, and has become one of Canada's most fa ...
*
Timeline of Quebec history This article presents a detailed timeline of Quebec history. Events taking place outside Quebec, for example in English Canada, the United States, Britain or France, may be included when they are considered to have had a significant impact on Q ...
*
Gustafsen Lake Standoff The Gustafsen Lake standoff was a land dispute that led to a confrontation between the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the Indigenous occupiers (Ts'peten Defenders) in the interior of British Columbia, Canada, at Gustafsen Lake (known ...
*
Ipperwash Crisis The Ipperwash Crisis was a dispute over Indigenous land that took place in Ipperwash Provincial Park, Ontario, in 1995. Several members of the Stoney Point Ojibway band occupied the park to assert claim to nearby land which had been expropriated ...
*
Grand River land dispute The Grand River land dispute, also known as the Caledonia land dispute, is an ongoing dispute between the Six Nations of the Grand River and the Government of Canada. It is focussed on lands along the length of the Grand River in Ontario known a ...
* Seton Portage#Land claims issues *
Burnt Church Crisis The Burnt Church Crisis was a conflict in Canada between the Mi'kmaq people of the Burnt Church First Nations ( Esgenoôpetitj) and non-Aboriginal fisheries in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia between 1999 and 2002. Supreme Court ruling As Indigenou ...
*
2020 Canadian pipeline and railway protests The 2020 Canadian pipeline and railway protests were a series of civil disobedience protests held in Canada. The main issue behind the protests was the construction of the Coastal GasLink Pipeline (CGL) through of Wetʼsuwetʼen First Nation ...
*
Fairy Creek old-growth logging protests Protests against old-growth logging in the southern Vancouver Island region of British Columbia, Canada escalated through later 2020 and into 2021. These events, many coalescing around the Fairy Creek watershed northeast of Port Renfrew, represe ...


Notes & references


Footnoted citations


References

* * * * * * * * * * *Canada Govt, * * * * * * *
IMDb
* * * * * * * * * * * * *. Note: Prepared under contract for the Treaties and Historical Research Centre Comprehensive Claims Branch Department of Indian and Northern Affairs. *


Further sources

A vast amount has been written in both English and French on the Oka crisis, including the following: English works * Taiaiake Alfred (1999). ''Peace, Power, Righteousness: An Indigenous Manifesto'' Don Mills: Oxford University Press * Alan C. Cairns (2000). ''Citizens Plus: Aboriginal Peoples and the Canadian State'', Vancouver: UBC Press; * Canada, Parliament of; House of Commons (1991). Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs, The Summer of 1990
Fifth Report of the Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs
Ottawa; * John Ciaccia (2000). ''Oka Crisis: A Mirror of the Soul'', Dorval, QC: Maren Publications; * Tom Flanagan (2000). ''First Nations? Second Thoughts'', Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press; * Donna Goodleaf (1995). ''Entering the War Zone: A Mohawk Perspective on Resisting Invasions'', Penticton, BC: Theytus Books; * Rick Hornung (1991). ''One Nation Under the Gun: Inside the Mohawk Civil War'', Toronto: Stoddart; * Craig Maclaine (1990). ''This Land is Our Land: the Mohawk Revolt at Oka'', Montreal: Optimum Publishing; * J.R. Miller (2004). ''Lethal Legacy: Current Native Controversies in Canada'', Toronto: McCelland & Stewart Ltd.; * Donald B. Smith (1982).

, in ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography'', vol. 11, University of Toronto / Université Laval, 2003–, accessed November 16, 2021'; French works * Gilles Boileau (1991)
Oka, terre indienne
''Histoire Québec'', 5(2), 35–39; * John Ciaccia (2000). ''Crise d'Oka : miroir de notre âme'', Montréal: Leméac; * Francois Dallaire (1991). ''Oka : la hache de guerre'', Sainte-Foy, Québec: Éditions de la Liberté; * Jacques-A. Lamarche (1990). ''L'Eté de Mohawks : bilan des 78 jours'', Montréal: Stanké; * Robin Philpot (1991). ''Oka : dernier alibi du Canada anglais'', Montréal: VLB; * Hélène Sévigny (1993). ''Lasagne : l'homme derrière le masque'', Saint-Lambert, PQ: Éditions Sedes. Documentary films * ''Acts of Defiance'' (1992). Montreal: National Film Board of Canada; *
Rocks at Whiskey Trench
' (2000). Montreal: National Film Board of Canada * ''My name is Kahentiiosta'' (1995). Montreal : National Film Board; *''Spudwrench: Kahnawake Man'' (c. 1997). Montreal : National Film Board of Canada; *''The Oka Legacy'' (c. 2016). CBC/Sonia Bonspille Boileau.


External links

*
Socialist Studies Special Issue: 20 Years After Oka



Oka Timeline: An Unresolved Land Claim Hundreds of Years in the Making
(CBC-TV, The Oka Legacy, 23Sep'17).


Historica – The Oka Crisis



LegalEase CKUT Radio Program podcast: The Oka Crisis at 20 Years
{{Authority control 1990 in Canada Conflicts in Quebec Indigenous conflicts in Canada Indigenous rights in Canada Mohawk tribe History of Canada (1982–1992) First Nations history in Quebec Land rights movements Protests in Canada Aboriginal title in Canada Mohawks of Kanesatake Royal 22nd Regiment