When was the first golf course built on the Kanesatake reserve?
In 1961, a nine-hole golf course was built on land that had been claimed by the Mohawk of the Kanesatake reserve as their Commons (known as the Pines); despite protests that the land included a burial ground, the Mohawk claim was rejected, and the golf course was built.
When was the first golf course built on the Pines?
In 1961, a nine-hole golf course was built on the Pines. Despite the fact that the land came very close to a traditional Mohawk burial ground, the Mohawk claim was rejected, and the golf course was built.
What happened to the land at Oka?
The golf course expansion was cancelled and the land was purchased by the federal government. However, it did not establish the land as a reserve, and there has since been no organized transfer of the land to the Mohawks of Kanesatake. Summer 1990. There was a long history behind the crisis at Oka.
What happened at the Mohawk Golf Course?
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 blocking access to the dirt side road between Route 344 and "The Pines".
How many Mohawks died in the Oka Crisis?
two fatalitiesThe Oka Crisis (French: Crise d'Oka), also known as the Kanesatake Resistance, was a land dispute between a group of Mohawk people and the town of Oka, Quebec, Canada, which began on July 11, 1990, and lasted 77 days until September 26, 1990, with two fatalities.
How long did the Oka Crisis last?
This summer marks the 30th anniversary of the so-called “Oka Crisis,” which lasted from July 11 to Sept. 26, 1990.
Who killed Corporal Lemay?
17. Gilbert ruled the AK-47 assault rifle that fired the shot which killed Cpl. Marcel Lemay, July 11, 1990 was held by a Mohawk Warrior whose intention was to kill.
What happened to the Oka golf course?
The golf course expansion was cancelled and the land was purchased by the federal government. However, it did not establish the land as a reserve, and there has since been no organized transfer of the land to the Mohawks of Kanesatake.
Was the golf course built in Oka?
The golf course that had been approved was never built and the Oka crisis today remains as one of the most notable conflicts between Canadian Armed Forces and Native people. Many documentaries and books have been written about the Oka crisis to include one of the most known Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance.
Who is Marcel Lemay?
Thirty-one-year-old Quebec police corporal Marcel Lemay had been gunned down in a botched police raid on a Mohawk barricade in the disputed pine forest, just a stone's throw from the Oka golf clubhouse and the tiny Mohawk graveyard nestled next to it.
Why was the Canadian military deployed at Oka?
The Canadian Armed Forces were called in on August 6 because of the escalating tensions between the Quebec provincial police and the armed Mohawk protesters. By August 20 the military had taken over the police barricades and were responsible for delivering food, medicine, and clothing to the cut-off Mohawk community.
How were the events at Oka a turning point for aboriginal peoples?
The event was widely publicized in the media, and is arguably a turning point in relations between First Nations and the Canadian government, creating awareness of land claims issues, systemic racism and leading to the establishment of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples.
Who got killed in the Oka Crisis?
Marcel LemayThe only casualty was Marcel Lemay, whose wife was pregnant with their second child. No one was charged with the murder. Some native leaders condemned the standoff at Oka, but others suggested it was a logical and inevitable outcome of five hundred years of inequality.
Who shot first in the Oka Crisis?
The ensuing conflict came to a head on July 11, 1990, when provincial police raided a protest camp in the Pines. Shots were exchanged. A police officer, Sûréte du Québec Cpl. Marcel Lemay was killed — sparking the 78-day standoff known as the Oka Crisis.
What year was the Oka Crisis?
July 11, 1990Oka Crisis / Start date
Why was the Canadian military deployed at Oka?
The Canadian Armed Forces were called in on August 6 because of the escalating tensions between the Quebec provincial police and the armed Mohawk protesters. By August 20 the military had taken over the police barricades and were responsible for delivering food, medicine, and clothing to the cut-off Mohawk community.
When was the Oka Crisis?
July 9, 2020. The Oka Crisis, also known as the Kanesatake Resistance or the Mohawk Resistance at Kanesatake, was a 78-day standoff (11 July–26 September 1990) between Mohawk protesters, Quebec police, the RCMP and the Canadian Army .
Where did the Oka Crisis take place?
It took place in the community of Kanesatake, near the Town of Oka, on the north shore of Montreal.
Why was the Oka Crisis important?
The Oka Crisis played an important role in the creation of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. It was established by Prime Minister Mulroney on 26 August 1991 to investigate questions about Indian Status and other issues that the resistance brought to the fore.
When did the Mohawk expand the golf course?
In March 1989 , the Club de golf d'Oka 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.
When was the Oka Crisis published?
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, wrote "Oka: a Political Crisis and its Legacy," in 2010.
How many people died in the Oka Crisis?
1 killed. 75+ wounded. The Oka Crisis ( French: Crise d'Oka ), also known as the Kanesatake Resistance, was a land dispute between a group of Mohawk people and the town of Oka, Quebec, Canada, which began on July 11, 1990, and lasted 78 days until September 26, 1990, with two fatalities.
What was the protest against the golf course expansion?
As a protest against the court decision to allow the golf course expansion to proceed, some members of the Mohawk community erected a barricade blocking access to the area. A court injunction in late April ordering the dismantling of the barricade was ignored, as was a second order issued on June 29, 1990. Mayor Ouellette demanded compliance with the court order, but the land defenders refused. Quebec's Minister of Native Affairs John Ciaccia wrote a letter of support for the Mohawk, stating 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."
When did the Kanesatake band claim land?
Construction also began on a parking lot and golf greens adjacent to the Mohawk cemetery. In 1977, the Kanesatake band 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.
When did Oka expand its golf course?
March 01, 1989. Oka Announces Plan to Expand Golf Course. The Town of Oka announces its plan to build a townhouse complex and expand the golf course into the Pines and over the Kanesatake ancestral cemetery. Since the Kanesatake Band ’s land claim had been rejected in 1986, they were not consulted.
When was the 9 hole golf course built?
January 01, 1961. 9-hole Golf Course Built. In 1959, the Club de golf Oka begins renting part of the Pines from the town of Oka. A 9-hole golf course is built in the Pines two years later without the consent of the Mohawks of Kanesatake. January 01, 1968.
What was the Oka Crisis?
The Oka Crisis, also known as the Kanesatake Resistance or the Mohawk Resistance at Kanesatake, was a 78-day standoff (11 July–26 September 1990) between Mohawk protesters, Quebec police, and the Canadian Army. It took place in the community of Kanesatake, which includes a commons area known as “the Pines.” It is near the Town of Oka, on the north shore of Montreal. Related protests and violence occurred in the Kahnawake reserve, to the south of Montreal. The crisis was sparked by the proposed expansion of a golf course and the development of townhouses on disputed land in the Pines that included a Mohawk burial ground. Tensions were high, particularly after the death of Corporal Marcel Lemay, a Sûreté du Québec police officer. Eventually, the army was called in and the protest ended. The golf course expansion was cancelled and the land was purchased by the federal government. However, it did not establish the land as a reserve, and there has since been no organized transfer of the land to the Mohawks of Kanesatake. The resistance inspired Indigenous peoples across Canada to take action. It has been linked to the Idle No More movement, as well as demands for an inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada.
Where is the Kahnawake Reserve?
It is near the Town of Oka, on the north shore of Montreal. Related protests and violence occurred in the Kahnawake reserve, to the south of Montreal. The crisis was sparked by the proposed expansion of a golf course and the development of townhouses on disputed land in the Pines that included a Mohawk burial ground.
Was the golf course expansion cancelled?
The golf course expansion was cancelled and the land was purchased by the federal government. However, it did not establish the land as a reserve, and there has since been no organized transfer of the land to the Mohawks of Kanesatake. The resistance inspired Indigenous peoples across Canada to take action.
Build-up to the blockades
Beginning in the 20th century, the federal government set up channels for Indigenous communities to file for land recognition, but they have always been totally farcical. The land claim process is sluggish, without any promise that the claims will ever go anywhere. By the 1990s, some claims had been in the process for more than 15 years.
The blockades go up
On July 11, at around 5 a.m., a fleet of SQ cars and trucks composed of about 100 officers were sent into The Pines to tear down the barricades. They came armed with riot shields and assault rifles. The police came in the middle of a traditional tobacco ceremony and, without warning, fired smoke and concussion grenades into the blockade camp.
The need for class solidarity
The Mohawk blockades were met with incredible enthusiasm by Indigenous people from coast to coast. Protests spilled across the entire country. Blockades and demonstrations popped up in Manitoba, Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Ontario and Nova Scotia. Some of these protests are detailed in People of the Pines:
Reaction
Certain backwards and racist elements were enraged by the blockades, and without a clear lead from the labour leadership, these people were able to gain support and organize counter demonstrations during the standoff.
Legacy of Oka
Oka helped spark an important turning point in how the Canadian state deals with Indigenous issues. For centuries, they bulldozed over native people with total disregard. This in turn alienated Indigenous people from the state. They rightfully felt that the Canadian government didn’t have their interests in mind.
Revolution, not reconciliation
What Oka teaches us is that Indigenous workers and poor should not have the slightest faith in the government. Canadian capitalism was built on the oppression of Indigenous people. To this day, this very same oppression remains an essential feature of the Canadian government.
Where did the dispute between the Mohawk and Oka begin?
It began with argument over land between a Mohawk reserve and the small town of Oka, about 60 kilometres north-west of Montreal. The small area of land claimed by the Mohawk reserve of Kahnestake had been in dispute for centuries. The original land grant of 1717 by the governor of New France, granted the Catholic church trustee rights to ...
How many days did the Oka crisis last?
The forest and golf course however is still part of an ongoing land-claims negotiation involving 673 sq.km. The 78-day Oka crisis resulted in several books written by politicians, journalists, Mohawk, and others, as well as a number of documentary films.
Historical Background
Golf Course Expansion
- In 1961, a nine-hole golf course was built on the Pines. Despite the fact that the land came very close to a traditional Mohawk burial ground, the Mohawk claim was rejected, and the golf course was built. In 1989, the mayor of Oka, Jean Ouellette, announced a plan to build a townhouse complex and expand the golf course into the Pines and over the K...
Blockade and Police Raid
- To halt further development of the Pines, a group of people from Kanesatake constructed a barricade on a local road, blocking access to the area. Mohawk from two nearby reserves— Kahnawake and Akwesasne — along with a group of activists called the Mohawk Warrior Society, joined the protest, helping man the barricades. After two injunctions to remove the roadblock we…
Escalation
- Resistance continued, with Indigenous supporters from the area and across the country joining the Mohawk warriors at the barricades. The SQ constructed their own blockades and checkpoints on roads leading to Oka and Kanesatake. Mohawk from the nearby Kahnawake reserve blockaded the Mercier Bridge in support; this cut off access between Montreal’s southern suburbs and the I…
Federal Involvement
- In mid-July, the RCMP was brought in to help the SQ. At the same time, Quebec Premier Robert Bourassa requested the help of the Canadian Armed Forces. On 20 August, the armed forces’ Operation Salon began. Four thousand soldiers took up positions in and around Kanesatake and Kahnawake, along with armoured military vehicles, helicopters, artillery, police vessels on the Ott…
Tekakwitha Island Standoff
- On 18 September 1990, SQofficers and army soldiers landed on Tekakwitha Island, on the outskirts of Kahnawake, and proceeded towards the community. At the bridge into the reserve, they were met by hundreds of Mohawk. The soldiers attempted to lay razor wire, but it was dismantled by Mohawk, who also threw rocks and assaulted the soldiers. The soldiers fired tear …
The Resistance Ends
- The deployment of troops in both Oka and the Persian Gulf dominated the debate in Parliament when it resumed its fall session on 24 September. In the House of Commons the next day, Prime Minister Mulroneypromised to meet some of the Mohawk’s unspecified demands. The resistance ended on 26 September 1990. Thirty men, 16 women and six children suddenly left the centre; th…
Public Response
- There was substantial media coverage of the resistance across the country and internationally. Public opinion on the matter varied widely. Many Quebecers, especially those living in the immediate area, were angered by the blockades. In one incident (captured in Alanis Obomsawin’s 2000 documentaryRocks at Whiskey Trench), local residents stoned about 75 cars containing m…
Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples
- The Oka Crisis played an important role in the creation of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. It was established by Prime Minister Mulroney on 26 August 1991 to investigate questions about Indian Statusand other issues that the resistance brought to the fore. The Commission released its report in 1996. The main conclusion was the need for a complete restr…
Aftermath
- During the crisis, the federal government agreed to purchase the Pines to prevent further development. The golf course expansion and townhouse construction were cancelled. After the crisis had ended, the government purchased additional plots of land for Kanesatake. In 2001, the Kanesatake Interim Land Base Governance Act confirmed that the land was to be reserved f…
Overview
The Oka Crisis (French: Crise d'Oka), also known as the Kanesatake Resistance, was a land dispute between a group of Mohawk people and the town of Oka, Quebec, Canada, which began on July 11, 1990, and lasted 77 days until September 26, 1990, with two fatalities. The dispute was the first well-publicized violent conflict between First Nations and the Canadian government in the late 20th century.
Historical background
Mohawk people first settled in the Montreal area in 1673, moving north from their homeland in the Hudson River valley. In about 1658, the Mohawk displaced the Wyandot people (or Hurons) native to the area, with whom the Haudenosaunee (of which the Mohawk were a tribe) had long been in conflict. In the fall of 1666, hundreds of French soldiers and Algonquin and Huron allies, attacking southward from Lake Champlain, devastated four Mohawk villages near Albany, which brought p…
Crisis
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 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, 1990. Mayor Ouellette …
Resolution and aftermath
On August 29, the Mohawks at the Mercier Bridge negotiated an end to their protest blockade with Lieutenant-Colonel Robin Gagnon, the "Van Doo" commander who had been responsible for the south shore of the St. Lawrence River during the crisis. This stand-down eventually contributed to the resolution of the original siege on the Kahnawake reserve, and on September 26 the Mohawks there dismantled and burned some of their weapons. During the surrender, as the military bega…
In media
The Oka Crisis was extensively documented and inspired numerous books and films. Canadian filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin has made documentaries 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: Christine Welsh directed Keepers of the Fire (1994), which documents the role of Mohawk wom…
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'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 wrote a song titled "Oka Everywhere", which was relea…
See also
• Face to Face (photograph)
• Timeline of Quebec history
• Gustafsen Lake Standoff
• Ipperwash Crisis