The Oka Crisis
Direct Consequence: After requests to remove the barricade were ignored by the Mohawks, the mayor of Oka asked the provincial police (the 'SQ') to intervene. The police used tear gas and concussion grenades to create confusion. During the firefight, police corporal Marcel Lemay was killed by a Mohawk warrior (Arbuckle).
Indirect consequence:
After the killing of the police corporal, Quebec Premier Robert Bourassa asks Prime Minister Mulroney for military intervention in Oka. Deployment of Canadian Armed Forces around Montreal the following week ("Oka Timeline")
Indirect consequence:
The use of force by the SQ angered local residents, and relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people continued to deteriorate. Indigenous residents were irate about the lack of recognition around their land rights ("Oka Timeline")
Definition: The Oka Crisis was a land dispute between a group of Mohawk protestors, police, and the Canadian army. At the heart of the issue was a proposed expansion of a golf course and development of condos. This was on disputed land that included a Mohawk burial ground. In 1961, a nine-hole golf course was built on land claimed by the Kanestake reserve (known as the 'Pines'). In 1989, the Mayor of Oka announced the golf course would be expanded to 18 holes. In order to prevent further development of the area, a group of militants constructed a barricade, blocking access to the area ("The Oka Crisis"). This kicked off a chain of event that continues to impact the relationship between First Nations people and the Canadian government, even today.
Continuity and Change: As a result of the Oka Crisis, the struggle for land rights for Indigenous groups across Canada continues. While the event brought the issue to the forefront of media attention, many First Nations are still left with unresolved land claims. That being said, the crisis help spur greater awareness around the issue, and has forced the Canadian government to take the issue more seriously. All things considered, it has ultimately resulted in a positive change for First Nations people.
Most important cause: This is the most important cause because the building of the golf course shows the how the town of Oka clearly disregarded the Kanehsatà:ke peoples land rights. It clearly contributed to the intensity of the crisis, and the building relates directly to the First Nations setting up the barricades, which kicked off the Crisis. Indeed, without the expansion of the golf course, the likelihood of the Oka Crisis breaking out would have been significantly diminished.
Most important consequence: The commission report is the most important consequence to come about from the Oka Crisis as it signifies the desire to implement real change in terms of the relationship between the government and First Nations people. The consequences of the report have been long lasting as evidenced by the Truth and Reconciliation report, and its impacts have been widespread, as it gives hope to a generation of First Nation youth across Canada that continues to seek better recognition of land rights and Indigenous autonomy in Canada moving forward. It also connects with other important indirect consequences that came out of the Crisis, such as the racial sentiments expressed by local Quebecois residents, and seeks to reconcile differences between the majority and minority community, and implement real change.
Indirect consequence: The SQ and local residence mourned the loss of police corporal Marcel Lemay. A report by the SQ concluded Lemay was indeed shot by one of the Mohawk warriors (exactly who could not determined), and the shooting was deliberate. This angered local Quebecois residence ("Report Finds Mohawk Warrior").
Indirect consequence:
Sympathy blockades were setup by a sister tribe on Mercier Bridge in Montreal. In response, commuters rioted and burned Mohawk effigies. Cries of "les sauvages" ('savages' in French) could be heard.
Underlying Cause: In 1676 the Seminary of St-Sulpice, a Roman Catholic order based in Paris, establishes a mission on Mount Royal (Montreal). Its objectives and obligations included evangelizing the Kanienkehà:ka, Algonquin and Nipissing ("Oka Timeline"). Later, in 1717, when the governor of New France granted the land formally to a group of Roman Catholic priests to further their mission in the region.
Definition
Causes
Consequences
Continuity and change
Most important cause/consequence
Underlying cause:
In 1959 the municipality of Oka rents out part of the Pines to the Club de Golf Oka. A 9-hole golf course is "built in the Pines without Mohawk consent" ("Oka Timeline").
Underlying cause:
In 1979, the Mohawk people of Kahnawake, Kanehsatà:ke and Akwesasne put forth a land claim demanding Aboriginal title to lands along the St-Lawrence River, which includes both the Ottawa River and the Lake-Of-Two-Mountains. The court ultimately determined that "the Mohawks had not possessed the land continuously since time immemorial, and that any Aboriginal title had been extinguished" ("Oka Timeline")
Immediate Cause: . In 1988 the mayor of Oka puts an end to the moratorium and gives the go-ahead for the golf course expansion to 18 holes. The Kanehsatà:ke people immediately erected a barricade on the dirt road that leads to the disputed land ("Oka Timeline")
Indirect consequence: The Sureté du Québec- backed by the Canadian Armed Forces - raids Kahnawake and seizes weapons. The altercation between police officers, soldiers and the Mohawk people leave almost one hundred people, mostly civilians are injured ("Oka timeline").
Indirect consequence: Given the the tensions that were unearthed at Oka, including the racial sentiments that were expressed by local quebecois residents, in 1996 the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples released its report. It set out a 20-year agenda to implement real change in the relationship between Canada and its Indigenous population, and urged Canadians to begin a national process of reconciliation ("Oka Timeline")
Indirect consequence: After the crisis officially ended, the plans for the golf course were officially ended. At the same time, however, the land dispute remained largely unresolved.
Immediate cause:The Municipality is granted an injunction by the Court. The members of the Kanehsatà:ke community occupying the dirt road are ordered to remove the barricades ("Oka Timeline"). The Kanehsatà:ke disregard the order and leave the barricade up.
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MLA Citations:
Arbuckle, Alex Q. “July 11-Sept. 26, 1990 The Oka Crisis.” Mashable, mashable.com/2016/08/20/oka-crisis/.
Marshall, Tabitha. “Oka Crisis.” The Oka Crisis, The Canadian Encyclopedia, 11 July 2013, www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/oka-crisis.
“Oka Timeline: An Unresolved Land Claim Hundreds of Years in the Making.” The Oka Legacy, www.cbc.ca/firsthand/m_features/oka-timeline-an-unresolved-land-claim-hundreds-of-years-in-the-making.
Legend
What stayed the same for Indigenous people?
1) Continued struggle for land rights (unresolved land claims)
2) Continued treatment as second class citizens
What changed?
1) Greater awareness around the land claim issue
2) More media coverage
Citations