The Oka Crisis
Language Warning
Historical Context
While Quebec was looking into the idea of
holding a new referendum on sovereignty, the
Canadian First Nations were attempting to gain
their own recognition as an independent people
within Canada.
http://www.cbc.ca/archives/categories/politics/civilunrest/the-oka-crisis-1/not-on-our-land.html
Summary
• WHO: Mohawk Nation, Kanesatake Reserve,
Quebec
• WHAT: Dispute over plans to expand a golf
course on Native land.
• WHEN: April 1990 – September 1990 (standoff
lasted 11 weeks)
• HOW: A barricade was erected at Oka
• WHY: The land which the mayor of Oka and
other citizens of the city were eyeing for the new
golf course was being claimed as long-held
ancestral land by the Mohawks.
The Stand Off Begins
• On July 11, 1990, the police attacked the
barricade being guarded by Natives. Shots
were fired and Marcel Lemay, police officer, was
killed. – killed
• The conflict took on an intirely new perspective
from that moment on. The Mohawk claims were
no longer strickly territorial in nature, but rather a
demand for recognition of Native independence.
http://www.cbc.ca/archives/categories/politics/civilunrest/the-oka-crisis-1/bubbling-frustration-andanger.html
Negotiations Fail
• The government refused to negotiate while the
Mohawk barricades were up and sent in the
provincial police to erect its own barricades in
the roads leading to the municipality of Oka and
the Kanesatake reserve.
• http://www.cbc.ca/archives/categories/politics/civ
il-unrest/the-oka-crisis-1/tempers-flare.html
The Showdown
• Neither group was willing to dismantle their
barricades and therefore Robert Bourassa (then
Premier) called in the Canadian Armed Forces.
• Dispite the armed presence, negotiations were
slow, and it took several weeks before roads
were able to reopen to regular traffic.
• http://www.cbc.ca/archives/categories/politics/civ
il-unrest/the-oka-crisis-1/the-stand-offbegins.html
Conclusion
• Twenty days later, on September 26,
1990, the last barricades were taken down
and the Warriors gave up the fight.
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyA0STMA3g&feature=bf_prev&list=PL035F08
C81C74AD98
Discussion Questions
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What were the main causes of the crisis?
Who were the major individuals involved?
What were the main events of the crisis during the summer of 1990?
How did the crisis eventually end - cause?
What was the impact of the crisis on the relationships between First
Nations peoples and the government of Canada?
What were the main reasons for the First Nations peoples’ resentment
against the government in Oka in 1990?
How did the Mohawk dramatize their anger and grievances against the
government in the actions they took during the summer of 1990?
Do you think the Aboriginal people of Oka were right to be so angry with
the government?
Do you think the Aboriginal people of Oka were right to take the steps
they did to dramatize their anger and frustration? Could they have
adopted any other means of protest?