[this is a paper I wrote for Geography, on a Canadian issue..
posted because I'm a hardcore nerd. 8)]
The Conflict of Oka, 1990: Native Land Disputes and Status Abuse
Through out the years Canada’s diverse cultural base has caused clashes between different groups. Most of those conflicts are accented by the racial differences. Race is the match that ignites the fire, which then blossoms into all the issues that that group feels are wrongs against them. Using their race as a label to push their “human rights” and achieve their, more often than not, distantly related demands.
One of those particular conflicts is know as the “Oka land dispute”. It happened in the summer of 1990, near Montreal Chateauguay, in the small community of Oka. The issue that started the stand off was that of a land dispute. Typical in the way of native and “settler” communications, the government made a move to lease, or sell a piece of land to a local golf course, who had the intention to expand the course. This was offensive to the Mohawks of the Kahnawake reserve, because they claimed that the land encroached on their burial ground. Then-current Oka Mayor Jean Ouellette said that the land belonged to the municipality. And so the property struggle began.
Over the next year, the Mohawks tried to prevent the golf course expansion through legalities, and the courts. When this did nothing, they became angry and violent. Mohawk warriors set up barricades across the roads and barbed wire around the forest in question. Once they had blocked all access to the area they took up occupancy among the forest known as ‘The Pines’. Exactly where they were was the strip of land that the town council wanted to bulldoze for the golf course.
The Quebec police shocked the media audience and the community by storming the barricades, clad in riot gear. They attacked with tear gas and a ‘hail of bullets’. After about 15 minutes of chaos, the police retreated just as quickly as they had arrived. All that the strike had done was claim the life of police officer Marcel Lemay. In the question of who had provoked the attack by firing first, each side claimed it was the other.
While the physical battleground of the protest was heating up, that of the leadership crumbled; Quebec Native Affairs Minister John Ciaccia, the leadership that had the power to make decisions walked away from negotiations. Originally Ciaccia was sympathetic to the Mohawks, but then said that they had purposely wrecked a deal to end the confrontation. The federal government finally stepped in as an official decision making party, but refused to resume negotiations with the protestors until the barricades were dismantled, and taken away. This was the point at which it became obvious the protest was now about a lot more than the expansion of the municipal golf course.
While Oka’s dispute continued to frustrate and infuriate both sides of the negotiations, the rest of the nation watched. And more Mohawk bands took action. Bands from Quebec, Ontario and even New York State also filed land claim conflicts. This action was evident of the way the native people across Canada, across the continent, rallied in support.
The tension between the two groups rose yet again as the Canadian Army arrived in the small town of Oka. Over 2,500 soldiers were reported to “descend” upon the town. People prepared for the worst as the army approached the main barricade at the edge of the Mohawk guarded territory. The army was decked out in full combat fatigue and in command of tanks. They appeared ready to remove all the occupants, but instead they waited. A scene that has become a signature, symbolic of the friction between the two groups, is that of a dramatic stare-off between a Canadian soldier and a Mohawk warrior, named Lasagna.
Soon after the Army moved in, after 78-days of stand-off, which started with the death of Corporal Lemay on July 11th, it suddenly ended. In surprise surrender the masked Mohawk warriors put down their weapons and left the woods. This caught the soldiers off guard and the scene dissolved into a mass of pushing, shoving and screaming. Though it was violent and disorderly, no shots were fired, and 34 people were eventually arrested. Those people were held and questioned, but none were convicted, or taken to trial, and were soon after released.
My opinion of the Oka conflict is that the Mohawks of Kahnawake took advantage of their privileged status to achieve their goals. From my research I find that the land was only NEAR to the burial ground, and not actually on, or destroying , it. With a little co-operation, both sides could have learned to share, and had what they wanted. I am not personally of the opinion that a golf course is worth fighting over, considering the lack of interest I find based in such a sport, but that aside. The highly publicized and intense conflict was uncalled for, from both sides. I believe that the Quebec police’s attack was out of line, and a warning of eviction, or removal, should have been issued. After which, if unanswered, an orderly removal, arrest, and detainment of those offending parties should have been conducted. However, I do realize that the situation applied a lot of pressure to act, on the police, and what looks good on paper, and in after thought isn’t always plausible, or thought of, in the moment.
Overall, the issue addressed, and echoed throughout the native versus white land disputes, is one of selfishness and abuse of native peoples’ status. The views of Canada are one of acceptance, one that encourages new immigrants, and enjoys it’s patchwork of different cultures. Why can we not establish that which is rightfully the aboriginal people’s? After such an agreement is created, the strain of the “rights” lines would be considerably easier not to violate. What is written out, and mapped, is comprehend able, and unarguable, and therefore considerably more peaceful.
Resources:
http://archives.cbc.ca/politics/civil_unrest/topics/99/
http://www.firstnationsdrum.com/fall2000/hist_oka.htm
sorry that the formatting messed up, and kudos if you're nerd enough (like me) to read this through. :)
